Tilman Singer’s 2024 film, Cuckoo, has so many aspects on paper that most would expect ruin the movie, yet it made the experience more enjoyable. I believe it is best to go into this movie blind, so I will do my best to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible.
With sequences of Dan Stevens’ character looking off into the German Alps playing the flute, or random women walking into the room and vomiting on the floor, and featuring ear-piercing sound design, Cuckoo earns its name, but not in the way you would expect from a typical horror film.
Starring Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, and Marton Csokas. The story is about a young teenage girl; named Gretchen, played by Schafer, who moves from America to the German Alps with her family so her father can build a new resort, only for odd events to occur. Gretchen’s family consists of her dad, Luis (Marton Csokas), stepmother Beth (Jessica Henwick), and half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu).
She feels disconnected from all of them, which is apparent from the first scene of the family together. Gretchen’s mother has recently passed away due to unknown circumstances, of course, it has had a very negative effect on her. She’s always in her own world listening to music or playing her guitar to escape from the horrible reality of her mother’s passing. Gretchen’s half sister Alma, wants to be accepted by her so badly, but Gretchen has become closed off.
From the first scene of the family arriving at their new home, Dan Stevens’ portrayal as Luis’ boss, Mr. König, immediately steals the show. Every scene featuring him had my entire sold-out screening in tears, myself included. I’m a sucker for absurdist humor, and this movie has so many great comedic moments I can’t count all of them on my hands.
I feel like it is tough to talk about this movie, the trailers have been vague in a good way and it doesn’t come out for another two and a half months, When it comes to the marketing of the film, Cuckoo, would have you believe it is a story about a young girl being stalked by a creature or person.
While that’s not entirely the case, the film juggles this typical horror setup with consistently more absurd comedic scenarios happening around our protagonist to make the audience feel like they are losing their minds; this isn’t a disturbing movie on any level, it oozes 70s European horror vibes from the gorgeous 35mm photography by Paul Faltz (who is a frequent collaborator with Singer) the over the top performances, and often humorous moments.
While being funny, director Tilman Singer can pull off some genuinely thrilling set pieces. Some, in particular, involve Schafer’s Gretchen riding her bike home in the pitch-black mountains, a third-act shootout in a hospital, and odd conversations with resort dwellers. However, at the same time, Singer doesn’t get a lot of his ideas across to audiences properly. If you went up to anybody after my screening and asked them what they thought about the third act reveal, they would probably reply by not understanding what the film was trying to say.
So while Cuckoo offers plenty of gorgeous visuals, and abrasive sound design, with hilariously tense moments, it fails to give the audience a concrete explanation of what they just watched. Maybe that was the intention of the film, it may work for some but I can easily see most audiences saying “What did I just watch and what was the point of any of that?” and for that, I loved the broad absurdity and chaotic energy it gave to me. One moment I was laughing hysterically then the next scene I was on the edge of my seat.
Cuckoo is a wild ride of a film that doesn’t offer much narrative-wise but it damn well deserves its title.
Cuckoo is written and directed By Tilman Singer, starring Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, and Marton Csokas. The film is distributed by Neon and will be released on August 2nd, 2024. This review was made possible by a screening at the 2024 Chicago Critics Film Festival.
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