Gretchen (Hunter Schafer), a troubled teenage girl grieving her mother’s recent death is forced to live with her estranged father Luis (Marton Csokas), his young wife Beth (Jessica Henwick), and their daughter Alma (Mila Lieu) in a a remote village in the German Alps because of Luis’ new job.
There, she meets Herr König (Dan Stevens), and when König offers Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) a job as a receptionist, she takes it, hoping to save money so she can escape back to the U.S.
Working alongside Trixie (Greta Fernández), she must follow strict rules: lock up by 10 p.m. and always get a ride home from König.
Cuckoo is a bit of a bizarre movie. Just when I thought I completely understood the story, the writer and director Tilman Singer adds in some extra weird stuff, and at times, I was left wondering what’s really going on. But that's OK, I like the weird stuff.
The film focuses on building a tense atmosphere rather than relying on any jump scares, as Gretchen tries to uncover what's happening at the resort, and while there are some answers, the third act lacks enough context to fully support the climax, and the ending feels a little a bit incomplete.
Singer's direction is impressive and stylish and the film looks great, and the makeup and effects are excellent. Singer also successfully creates a winning atmosphere, with tense scenes and the sound design is also especially strong.
Hunter Schafer fits into her role as Gretchen perfectly and goes through some intense scenes, where we feel her mental stress and pain, and Dan Stevens plays Herr König with a mix of charm and unsettling creepiness and both actors shine.
The film is definitely a bit different and quite interesting, which is a nice change from the usual horror movies (A24 horror movies aside).
It's quite vague, unsettling and a bit strange, but the final act lets it down a bit by going against the grain of what came and worked before and without spoiling anything, I wasn't a huge fan of the ending.
But, Cuckoo overall is a pretty decent movie that is well worth a watch, but that final act just lets it down a bit and stops it from being really good.
After the massive financial success of LongLegs and now a pretty decent movie in Cuckoo, Neon have already announced 3 horror movies releasing early in 2025 with The Monkey Hell of a Summer, and Presence aiming to deliver more of the same.
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