Cuckoo

Okay. Sorry in advance for the rant.

Great buildup. Eerie atmosphere. An unusual isolated location. A compelling mystery. Imagery that's creepy in an uncanny way. Some interesting ideas. A visual style (and a couple other elements) that reminded me (positively) of A Cure for Wellness.

However, while something like the slasher genre can afford to have a number of unlikable characters due to their large casts and the fact that the majority of them are meant to be unsympathetic in order to grant a sense of catharsis when they're killed horribly, focused thrillers with one lead that you're supposed to be rooting for don't benefit from the same allowance. In Cuckoo, Gretchen has literally nothing to recommend her. Until a point halfway through the movie (which isn't hidden but she treats like any other so you kind of forget about it despite it completely changing her motivations), she's unfailingly moody, rude, incompetent, stupid, ungrateful, selfish, reckless, arrogant, lazy, awkward, aggressive, dishonest, entitled, and insincere, and despite all that, she's indescribably boring, ensuring that one couldn't care less what happens to her because she fails to display even a single positive personality trait. I actually had to triple-check to make sure it wasn't the same writer as Dark, the paragon of creating uninteresting, unlikable characters. Though Schafer's acting doesn't do her any favors either.

Besides that, there's sloppy, repetitive exposition and some glaring scientific/logical problems if you think about the plentiful explanations they provide for more than 5 seconds. I only finished it because Dan Stevens' charm, combined with the aforementioned elements, made it watchable, but jeez it was a slog.

Would not recommend.

"Cuckoo" follows teenaged Gretchen who begrudgingly moves to the German Alps where her father has been hired to design a new resort for proprietor Herr König. Once there, Gretchen takes a job running the reception area of the current (and decaying) resort lobby. After a series of odd occurrences, she finds herself being pursued by a strange cloaked woman.

I went into this film with tempered expectations, despite the fact that the trailers intrigued me, and I am happy to say that "Cuckoo" was a pleasant--albeit imperfect--surprise. Tonally and atmosphere-wise, writer/director Tilman Singer strikes gold. The Bavarian Alps locations are breathtakingly captured, and the set pieces (specifically the dusty, retro hotel lobby and bungalows scattered at the forested foot of a mountain) feel like a cross between "Twin Peaks" and Dario Argento's "Phenomena".

Script-wise, where "Cuckoo" works best is in its ability to keep the audience in a state of limbo and intrigue. The formula here is familiar: Protagonist comes to a new location; things are not as they seem. However, the parameters of utter strangeness that this story is stretched to really makes it completely unique and unlike anything I've ever seen. As it progresses, it veers into science fiction territory, and in moments reminded me of something like 1981's "Strange Behavior", a film about a teenager uncovering a strange plot in his small Midwestern town. "Cuckoo" similarly follows its own logic without reservation, and the outcome might be too much for certain tastes. As others have noted, I do think the film nearly goes off the deep end in the last act, as the plot threads established early on do not feel as though they fully coalesce.

While I did not find the film particularly scary, the strange cloaked mystery woman who serves as the chief antagonist here has some effective and bizarre appearances, and her overall getup (trench coat, boats, sunglasses) feels like something straight out of a giallo. Performances here are uniformly solid, with Hunter Schafer playing the rebellious but likable lead, and Dan Stevens as the strange resort owner. Jan Bluthardt is also great as a detective that ultimately ends up teaming up with Gretchen, and the two develop a quasi-buddy kinship. There is in general a consistent sense of humor throughout the film that most of these actors have the opportunity to tap into, and which makes the proceedings especially fun.

All in all, while I think the film could have benefitted from some tinkering in its last act, I nonetheless enjoyed "Cuckoo" for the mere fact that it is wholly original in more ways than one. The atmosphere and performances only give the film more bang for its buck, and the utterly strange places the story goes were more than enough to keep me intrigued. If you're hankering for a strange trip into the Alps, look no further. 7/10.

Saw it at Berlinale - Hunter Schafer is good and we, on a emotional level, really believe everything she is asked to do by the director. Her performance ankers this movie, there isn't much to complain about on her part. The main reason why this movie does not work is the main antagonist - from the first time we see him he comes of as strange, not in a creepy or uncanny way which this movie would have needed but like he didn't belong into this movie. The character is obviously supposed to be off-putting and mysterious with an eccentric touch but apart from the latter his performance fails to convey this. The plot gets more and more obscure with time, and it is clear a somewhat logical ending will not be possible. Which a movie does not necessarily need by the way! But it tries to string it together and that does not work, it becomes laughable at times and misses it's mark. Not to mention the irrational choices made by the other family members. Maybe the way it tries to explain itself is what ultimately breaks it. The multiple tonal shifts and pace changes as it gets closer to the credits result in losing emotional connection, but I can see how they could work for some viewers. A performance that really worked besides Schafers is her young sister. The cinematography is good. It may get you with some jump scares but if you are familiar with the genre you will see most of them coming.

Disappointment. It's made with such a serious tone, but the things that are happening are so silly and stupid that the whole theatre was laughing. If the director made it a campy horror movie, it would be fine but you can feel that Tilman Singer had absurdly high artistic vision for this. That movie really has an identity crisis - it wants to be a horror, family drama and some weird action movie but it's just unintentionally funny. The script is stupid and has weird twist that isn't fully explained, so the audience didn't really understood what's going on and WHY is that whole thing happening.

However when it comes to positives, it has interesting visual choices. I also adore that weird, surreal atmosphere and acting perfomances by Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens. And overall, that movie was fun to watch even if the comedy in that movie was unintentional.

Is it worth watching in cinema? No.

Is it worth watching at home? Yeah, if ur looking for fun, dumb horror movie,

While its narrative and style feels incoherent, the interesting atmosphere, beautiful camera work, and bizarre stylistic choices does offer some genuine fun moments.

Tilman Singer's direction on the camerawork, atmosphere, and style does offer some fun in-sights with its narrative, concept, and the characters in the setting and environment. Including great sound designs and great performances from Hunter Schafer & Dan Stevens. Schafer's energy and Stevens chaotic devilish personality within his character was entertaining to observe. Including some solid dialogue moments.

The writing and concepts are interesting but unfortunately loses focus within itself and feels way too silly. There are clear tones that it's being approached as a B-movie or giallo horror approach but the movie does take itself a bit too seriously at times which makes it not understand what it wants to be at times. Including dull characters and pacing problems.

Nevertheless, it's still a decent German horror flick with some great moments but I wish it did feel more coherent.