CUCKOO Review – Fantasia International Film Festival 2024

With a great lead performance from Hunter Schaefer and a terrific off-the-wall performance from Dan Stevens, Tilman Singer’s “Cuckoo” is one of the zaniest films to come out of Fantasia.

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Gretchen reluctantly leaves America to live with her father at a resort in the German Alps. Plagued by strange noises and bloody visions, she soon discovers a shocking secret that concerns her own family.

Review
Based on advertisements you’ve probably seen, you can guess that Tilman Singer’s second feature “Cuckoo” is probably….well, just that – crazy. And you wouldn’t be wrong – the thing that separates “Cuckoo” from other horror films is that…it’s not just crazy, it’s indescribable. If I were to explain to you every scene that happens in this film, you still wouldn’t be able to replicate the same experience as actually watching the film. “Cuckoo” needs to be experienced, it may not terrify you but it will definitely creep you out. Forced to live with her father and stepmother in the German Alps, Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) is a teenager that notices strange occurrences as her father’s boss Herr König (Dan Stevens) plans a sinister experiment. As a plot, “Cuckoo” is rather simple but it’s the concept of the film’s “monster” that gives the film its off-the-wall thrills.

Hunter Schafer is the perfect actress to portray Gretchen, she’s the crux of this story experiencing all this weirdness alongside us. She brings palpable depth to this complex character – she’s simultaneously an emotional victim of her parents’ torrid divorce and a stranger in a strange land. She brings great trembling fear in her moments of evading the film’s “big bad creature” (a hooded woman with sunglasses whose echoing, strange voice rivals that of the monster from “The Grudge”). She elicits sympathy in her moments of loneliness and she has the perfect “weirded out” reaction shots to Dan Stevens’ ridiculous one-liners. Stevens, no stranger to great character driven roles (the FX series “Legion” and the film “The Guest” to name a few) is right at over-the-top home with the role of Herr König. He’s the perfect idiosyncratic villain for a strange film like this. His purposefully flaky German accent matched with his straight-laced delivery of strange dialogue is in perfect sync with this off-kilter atmosphere Singer has created. That’s not to say all his scenes are just gut-bustingly hilarious (though some are), he also has scenes that are effectively creepy – all in all, he has the perfect manic energy for this story. Marton Csokas delivers solid work as Luis, Gretchen’s estranged father that pays less attention to her than he does to her mute half-sister Alma. As he carries the right amount of “barely-there, ignorant dad” energy, one of the few sins this film commits is criminally underusing Jessica Henwick in the role of Gretchen’s stepmother Beth. While she has a few lines here and there, she doesn’t leave much of an impact as she could given the actress’ range (“The Royal Hotel”, “The Matrix Resurrections”). But the cast’s secret weapon, lies within the performance of Kalin Morrow as the Hooded Woman herself. This is indeed a creepy role that will stay with audiences more than the plot or even the film itself. Her terrifying facial expressions (including one chilling close up towards the climax) will stay with you long after the film ends.

A film like “Cuckoo” demands a manic zany tone to match its manic thrill ride and director Tilman Singer nails cojoining the two. The offbeat humor syncs with the macabre in solid stride. The monster of the film itself is ingenious and terrifying in design but unfortunately, not so much in action. Let me explain – the “Hooded Woman” is a villain worth adding to the “Cult Favorite” list but as far as stakes, bloody or mortal, she falls flat. We have to remember – this is a horror film. When you are selling a horror film with the pretense that things are going to get bloody and messy, it can be a bit of a disappointment when things don’t become so. The Hooded Woman as a “monster” is interesting on paper and in design but when it comes to her actions or her wrath, she’s more creepy and icky than actually…terrifying. Maybe that’s part of Singer’s design to make a horror film that’s not only indescribable in its experience, but subversive in its execution. Either way, the attacks and kills are not as gruesome as they could be and feel just a bit held back.

Closing Thoughts
“Cuckoo” is a wild ride and one of the more zany films to come out of the Fantasia International Film Festival. It’s a great showcase for Hunter Schaefer and Dan Stevens, two actors delivering vastly different performances and yet meeting in perfect sync. While its monster may be creepy in design but lacking in threat or stakes, there is still plenty of reason to mark this film as a future cult classic. It has the tone, it the thrills, the laughs and the chills – that should count for enough.

Trailer