In this unnerving and thrilling film of secrets, family and the ways of the cuckoo bird, Cuckoo follows the struggles of a teenage girl as she fights for her life in the mountains of Germany.
This film definitely delivers all the psychological horror the movie trailer had promised, engaging the audience immediately with a disturbing and confusing cold open. While the story was enjoyable, the execution was a bit of a letdown. It left unanswered questions, but not the kind that keep you thinking about the movie for days after.
All that being said, this movie was a fun and exciting watch that did have me on the edge of my seat until the end. It is a definite recommend, if only to just see Hunter’s great performance.
About Cuckoo
Cuckoo stars Hunter Schafer, who plays Gretchen, a 17-year-old girl who has just recently lost her mom. Having lived with her mother up until her death, Gretchen now has to move in with her father, Luis, stepmother, Beth, and her mute half-sister, Alma, all of whom have just moved to a resort in the Bavarian Alps. Luis and Beth are there to build a new hotel for the bizarre and unsettling resort owner Herr Köing, played by Dan Stevens, who Gretchen is instantly suspicious of. From the moment the family arrives at the resort, odd things begin to happen. Gretchen encounters multiple women vomiting within a two-day time span, Alma begins having seizures and strange reverberating shrieks can be heard throughout the woods.
One night, Gretchen rides her bike home and is chased off the road by a screeching woman with a hood and large sun glasses. Gretchen tries to seek help from the nearby hospital and accidentally slams her head into the glass door while fleeing the woman. When she recounts the events to the police and her family, nobody believes her, thinking the incident to be a possible prank. The next day, Gretchen is approached at the resort by a man named Henry. Henry claims he is a detective and has been looking for the hooded woman as she is wanted for murder. When he asks Gretchen for her help, she refuses but later agrees after Henry promises to help her leave the resort once all of this is over. The two team up and in the quest to arrest the hooded woman, they find themselves involved in something way bigger than murder case.
Schafer is stunning in this movie. Her range as an actor was obvious as she was able to switch seamlessly between comedy, horror and drama. Her body language and facial expressions were perfect. Her ability to play the typical horror role but as a realistic 17-year-old girl was refreshing and relatable and made connecting to Gretchen that much easier. She definitely has a knack for horror and hopefully she will be cast in more in the near future.
Cuckoo's cinematography was great, with interesting camera work that added to the thriller aspect of the movie.
Stevens plays weird and unsettling wonderfully. The moment he appeared on screen the vibe of the movie shifted from odd to unsettling. His performance is hair-raising in all the best ways.
The plot was very interesting although the direction leaves more to be desired. At parts the story became jumbled and confusing. Of course, it is typical for the intended story of a psychological thriller to be hard to understand in order to confuse the viewer. Then, usually during the climax or resolution there is an 'ah-ha' moment where the pieces start to come together. But in this movie there were several underdeveloped plot points limiting the 'ah-ha' moments. While somethings were explained, there seemed to be way more “okay but what's the reason?” questions when the lights came up.
Although Stevens does a great job playing the unsettling resort owner, his character, like almost every character other than Gretchen, were underdeveloped. While it is not necessary to know the backstory of every character in a film, there were a few characters, most notably Köing and Henry, that needed more explanation so that their choices and actions had more weight to them and didn’t just seem random.
While not over the top graphic, this movie might not be for you if you aren't a huge gore fan.
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