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Cuckoo movie review: Hunter Schaefer can't save this logically chaotic horror film, it simply goes crazy on its own.
BERLIN: Director Tillmann Singer returns with a chaotic Alpine film that, while deprecating itself for its absurdity, still takes itself too seriously.
What is the story of Cuckoo Cuckoo? What really happens in the film? Does it matter if the plot of the movie is plausible? None of these questions can be answered. "The Cuckoo" is equally unanswerable – it's undoubtedly a well-made and engaging psychological thriller set in a mysterious Alpine resort, emphasizing that it's not clear what actually happens in the film.
Still, some basic messages are clear: Hunter Schaefer plays Gretchen, a 17-year-old girl, a tormented soul. After the death of her mother, she is forced to live with her father, Louis (Martin Gorcas), stepmother Beth (Jessica Henwick), and her young stepsister Alma (Mira Liu). Gretchen's insistence on distancing himself from Alma seems to be a gratuitous cruelty that sets the stage for a later stage of the film (though this may not be explicitly shown in the film).
The basic plot of Cuckoo is that there are some strange pregnancies and ** events at the resort, and Gretchen's father helps build the place with his boss, who is an over-the-top Bond-esque villain who is instantly recognizable by his sharp dress choices and odd emphasis on the pronunciation of Gretchen's name. Mr. Conig (Dan Stevens) not only owns the resort, but also lives in a nearby hilltop villa.
Stevens plays a character similar to Wizard Oz in the film, who seems to be in control of everything, except for the weather. His true purpose – the mysteries that constantly emerge in the film – is not clear, but his energy is enough to drive the plot forward in the film's early stages.
One might expect the film's plot to eventually be coherent, and that expectation would be enough for "The Cuckoo" to win some audience affection early on in the film; But soon, when it comes to realizing that the film will neither have any meaning nor bring any fun, that affection will fade away. In director Tillman Singh, these qualities seem to be characteristics rather than mistakes; His 2018 film Lutz is also a cerebral horror film full of supernatural hints, and its sheer genre fun foreshadows a lack of clarity and satisfaction in his subsequent works. This time, only die-hard fans of his esoteric style will be satisfied.
Despite the possible disappointment in the end, Cuckoo did well in the first 45 minutes. The horror plots are quite cleverly designed, and the whole gives the impression that they are leading to a revelation that is greater than the sum of their fright. Singer is a stylized director who portrays the Alps as a kind of closed prison for Gretchen, and the whole setting is made all the more intriguing by the vague hints that the entire resort may exist outside of linear time.
Schaefer's performance is equally impressive, and her breakthrough performance in "Euphoria" makes her particularly good in the lonely moments that Singer gives Gretchen, such as when she plays the guitar with headphones on, the chaos around her is playing out, or riding a bike alone at night, being chased by a demonic woman who may or may not be her mother. Schaefer is definitely fully committed and eager to embrace all the types she is able to try here; As a feature-length audition for her more interesting work in the future, Cuckoo must be seen as a success of some degree.
However, despite the fact that great sacrifices must sometimes be made for the sake of art, no one should put up with what is presented in the second half of The Cuckoo. No matter how hazy and exaggerated Mr. Conig's hidden secrets may be, or worse, it is still seeking some vague profundity. There's a talk in the film about how what happened at the resort mirrors the cruelty of cuckoos to their offspring (cuckoos and some other birds are involved in "nest parasitism", which places their eggs in the nests of other birds and leaves them to be raised by unwitting adoptive parents), but this is all explained so badly that little adds to the experience.
However, Cuckoo's biggest mistake is that it didn't fully commit itself to being a B-movie, which could have been its strong point. The actors' performances – especially Stevens's – are both comical and sincere, and the action scenes are professional enough to make "The Cuckoo" shine as a purely popular work. But the film makes a fatal mistake by taking itself too seriously and at the same time laughing at its own stupidity.
Think of one of the worst lines in the movie: Gretchen says to the people in the room how crazy Mr. Conig sounds (it's a kind of "wait, did the others just hear that?"). This moment of self-awareness derails the film's self-serious tone. However, the film immediately returns to complete sincerity, going straight into a very long final action sequence, which is (strangely) reminiscent of the fake Mexican-esque confrontation between Dwight, Michael, and Andy in The Office.
The film is more likely to be ridiculed – as most viewers did during the first screening of its Berlin premiere – than to be truly enjoyed. This was already too much to say for poor Gretchen, who was eventually helplessly ignored, feeling that everything around her had no meaning. This part, the audience will understand.
The Cuckoo premieres at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival.