Cuckoo
Summary
Writer - director Tilman Singer ’s soph effortCuckooopens with a strange and fascinating sequence that already justify its title before cut to its Hunter Schafer ’s Gretchen , abide by her family to their Modern base in the Bavarian Alps from the advantage point of the moving van . If that vocalize like something of a non - sequitir , that ’s becauseCuckoorelies on keep us on our toes and need questions . The movie ’s atmospheric feeler to horror sometimes works against it , but stellar performance from Dan Stevens and Schafer ultimately make it a home run .
Cast
The main narration ofCuckoocenters on the inscrutable goings - on at a resort have by Herr König ( Stevens ) , who has far too sunnily welcomed his newfangled neighbor to townsfolk . Gretchen ’s mother latterly authorise away , forcing her to move from the U.S. to Europe with her don Luis ( Márton Csókás ) and stepmother Beth ( Jessica Henwick ) , as well as her young half - sister Alma ( Alma ) . The fact that they move around in separate vehicles is only the first of many clue of the piercing hereditary divide — and the gunpoint is driven home when König makes it clear Gretchen ’s bearing is a surprise .
Strong Character Work Is Cuckoo’s Biggest Asset
Cuckoowastes no timein establishing Herr König as unsettling , whose overly intimate comportment make even Luis uncomfortable . Such straightaway and straightforward grapheme sketches are vital when the secret plan is esoteric , and Singer ’s screenplay often divvy up in tachygraphy when it comes to human relationship detail . Alma , who still can not speak even as she come near her teenager long time , is similarly immediately shown to be a bright light with a winning personality — making it all the more upsetting when her terrifying convulsion lead to a diagnosing of childhood epilepsy .
Cuckoospends the most time on Schafer ’s characterization , highlighting how split she is from her father through a series of heartbeaking voice mail she leaves on her dead mother ’s answering machine .
Schafer plays the use of a disaffected teen admirably , being at the same time skeeved out by König yet estranged enough from her family to take his spooky hangout over prison term spent at home . Her choice to work for him put her in the path of inept face-off , including female guest spew in the lobby with fiddling to no explanation and a tacit but horrifying cleaning woman appearing to chase after her down dark streets . mate with moments where she seems thrown into a mini - time cringle , Cuckooalmost veers into the supernatural at time before the sickening realness of medical body horror come into focus .
There Will Be No Explanation, There Will Just Be Cuckoo
From the first unnamed adolescent who silently spasms to the replication of wench battle cry to Gretchen ’s potentially hallucinatory visions , vibes are the order of the day for much ofCuckoo . This is perfect for Schafer , who is well - versed in vibes thanks toher work on Euphoria , but it does leave us with more questions than answers as we reach the final enactment . It ’s clear that König is a malevolent force , that Alma is in his crosshairs , and that the rummy lady with glowing oculus and piercing screaming is emblematic of his desires … But there is n’t much clarity to his program .
While the metaphor of the cuckoo as a parasitic bird unlade its offspring is a tenet of the film ’s narrative , some of the concrete details that tie pronounce metaphor to the real creation are mislay in the shuffle .
Nevertheless , the climax of the moving-picture show is an engrossing one , both in condition of the intense face - off between Schafer and Stevens and thanks to the dear earned sibling bond paper forged between Gretchen and Alma . The end may have exit me with a confused expression on my face , but it sure as shooting offer mickle of food for thought and no small amount of agitation for Singer ’s next horror task .
Cuckooreleases in U.S. theaters on August 9 . The film is rated R for lyric , brief teen drug use , bloody images , and violence .
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On a trip to the German Alps with her father and stepmother , Gretchen ( Hunter Schafer from HBO ’s “ Euphoria ” ) discover that the stamping ground townspeople where they ’re staying blot out sinister mystery , as she ’s plagued by strange noises and fearsome vision of a woman act on her . before long , Gretchen feel herself pulled into a confederacy involving bizarre experiments by the refuge ’s possessor that echo back generations .
