Director: Tilman Singer Starring: Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick Running Time: 103 minutes
German filmmaker Tilman Singer is at the helm for Cuckoo in only his second full-length feature since his 2018 Supernatural horror Luz. Like his first entry, Cuckoo conjures up some stylish and hypnotic horror, but its story and pacing will likely test the patience of many.
The film opens with an unnerving introduction whereby we witness a young unnamed woman leave a house and experience an unknown episode after hearing an eerie screeching sound coming from a nearby woods. It is immediately difficult to tell which path is more unwelcome for our unnamed girl. The house she is leaving appears to be in the midst of a violent struggle, while the misty forest seems an even creepier environment. We don’t know the significance of this scene but, much like the titular cuckoo lays its egg, a seed is planted in the audiences’ minds which will hatch at the latter end of the 103-minute running time.
We then meet young Gretchen (Hunter Schafer). At the tender and transformative age of 17, Gretchen is clearly undergoing some adjustments in her family life. She is moving to an intimate town in the picturesque Bavarian Alps region. She travels with her father Luis, her stepmother Beth, and her half-sister Alma. At first glance, we can tell that Gretchen has a uniquely strained relationship with all three, but in seemingly different ways. Awkwardly clumped together, the family arrive at the resort town with the aim of constructing a new hotel on the site. Overseeing this is the mysterious Herr König (Dan Stevens). Herr König is equal parts friendly and creepy, and this is very much apparent to young Gretchen who he immediately takes a personal interest in. So much so that he offers her a job at the front desk of the existing hotel. It’s not quite clear whether this offer is genuine as a way of introducing Gretchen to the locals and giving her a sense of financial independence, or merely as a more surreptitious method of keeping her out of the way. In any event, it is evident that Herr König has a series of pressing matters to attend to. Upon taking up her new job, Gretchen notices a variety of perplexing and outright terrifying occurrences. Some of which appear to be subtle abnormalities, others are (literally) a lot more on the nose. As Gretchen’s experiences grow increasingly sinister, she begins to not only question the broader plans that Herr König has but also her family’s role in these plans.
Cuckoo’s engine is Hunter Schafer’s engaged performance. She is doing a lot of emotional heavy lifting here as the only other stand out character is König, but Dan Steven’s Austrian accent will likely irritate many viewers. Schafer has already impressed in her role as Jules in HBO’s Euphoria while also starring in the latest iteration of the Hunger Games franchise. This is still a big step up, but she meets the high expectations. Her facial acting, her ability to make a moody teenage character likeable, and her obvious commitment to the role are as commendable as they are compelling.
What may well trip a lot of viewers up is the sometimes muddled and arguably incoherent plot developments. In spite of a very strong lead performance from Schafer, there isn’t much in the way of character development, at least insofar as her estranged and complicated family dynamics are concerned. Singer appears to be sacrificing this in favour of ethical and philosophical quagmires that the German filmmaker is trying to make. This is very much commendable, especially in an era saturated with lazy revivals of dusty horror franchises. What’s more is that, as far as the actual horror is concerned, we are treated to some very crowd-pleasing jump scares. While fun, these moments of horror can’t help to alleviate the general feeling of deflation that really starts to become evident in the final act. In light of the frosty response that Singer’s previous entry Luz received for being too impenetrable, this will come as a disappointment for fans who were hoping for more from the German filmmaker’s second feature outing.
If you buy into the logic of Cuckoo, you’ll be impressed. If you are looking for scares, they will come but perhaps too few and far between.
(3 / 5)