The crazy horror film cuckoo has finally arrived in theaters and we absolutely had to see it.
I am always looking for interesting horror films and cuckoo has been on my radar for a while. There was something so disturbing about the first trailer for the film that I just had to know what this story was about.
cuckoo was directed by Tilman Singer and is set in a remote resort deep in the Bavarian Alps. 17-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) is deeply unhappy about having to live with her father and his new family, and things only get more difficult when she starts hearing and seeing strange things all around her. As she starts investigating, it soon becomes clear that something very crazy is going on.
An area that cuckoo stands out is its ability to unsettle. This is especially true in the way the film uses sound. I’ve noted before that sound design can be a detail that makes or breaks a film, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen a film that uses it so well. It was almost as if the filmmakers were teaching the audience a language: at first, the various strange noises have no meaning and are somewhat confusing. But then, as the film progresses into the second half, more information starts to fit together and the viewer is forced to reevaluate everything they’ve heard and its actual meaning.
From the opening scene of cuckooit is quite obvious that something very incorrectbut the film designs the details in such a way that it leads you from one horror to the next without jumping so far ahead that you can see the ending before the director is ready to reveal that information.
Two performances that deserve to be highlighted are those of Hunter Schafer as Gretchen and Dan Stevens as the disturbingly affable Mr. Koenig. Hunter is brilliant as the teenage Gretchen, who feels completely overwhelmed and wants nothing more than to away. Gretchen’s frustration is understandable because she tries so hard to be heard by her family, especially her father, but no one seems to listen to her. This makes her situation even more stressful because there seems to be no family safety net to fall back on.
And then there is Dan Stevens. Between his crazy performance in Abigail beginning of the year and its twisted turn in cuckoo as Mr. King, I may never be able to see him the same way again. Dan Stevens has the disturbing ability to make you feel worried without ever saying anything overtly threatening. Even when he does ostensibly show concern, it’s presented in a way that feels fake, almost inappropriate. Once the story picks up in the second half, Stevens’ performance becomes one of the best parts of the film.
What the overall history of cuckooit’s actually really good. However, audiences will need to be patient as things don’t really pick up until the second part of the film. If the film has a weakness, it’s that the first part feels a bit disjointed as we don’t yet have the later context clues to inform us of what’s going on. cuckoo is one of those films that will probably be easier to endure the second time around.
One could argue that the film could have used a bit more explanation of what actually happens, but with horror films there’s a fine line between telling just enough to get by and ruining the suspense with too much info-dump. It feels like the filmmakers were too cautious with the amount of direct information the viewer is given, and that’s probably for the best. While I personally would have liked a bit more, I also understand the desire to leave the audience wanting more.
cuckoo is undoubtedly one of the best movies to come out this summer. Horror movie fans looking for a scary experience that isn’t just the same old story will find something to suit them. Be sure to see it on the biggest screen possible, it’s worth it.
