Cuckoo (15)

Following the death of her mother, teenager Gretchen begrudgingly moves to the Bavarian Alps with her father Luis, stepmother Beth and half-sister Alma, who does not speak. The relocation is connected to the construction of a hotel masterminded by Herr Konig. It's a tough readjustment for the teenager and Gretchen's disorientation is exacerbated by a series of strange occurrences at the hotel including the appearance of a menacing hooded woman.

LondonNet Film Review

Cuckoo (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Besides a melodic name derived from the male bird’s singsong call and a predilection for roosting in pendulum-driven wooden clocks, cuckoos are notable for belonging to a small group of brood parasites that lay their eggs in the nests of other species. While most of us wrestle with nature versus nurture, members of cuculus canorus rely on the good nature of neighbours and rivals to nurture their young. German writer-director Tilman Singer explores this mercenary approach to parenting in a warped horror thriller set in the Bavarian Alps, which ruffles the audience’s feathers until delirium manifests on screen in a hail of bullets…

Cuckoo tantalises and befuddles for its opening hour, spinning an otherworldly mystery from domestic disharmony. Singer’s script embraces an appealing and undated throwback aesthetic that extends to soundtrack choices and the use of retro technology at pivotal junctures (one character reminisces to messages stored on an answering machine’s tape cassette). Hunter Schafer’s compelling lead performance includes multiple emotional breakdowns on screen in disarming close-up, replete with snot and tears.

She treats the madness swirling around her character with utmost seriousness and nearly convinces us to do the same. A Sapphic romance is undernourished and surplus to narrative requirements but does provide another potential victim of macabre misfortune to exhibit on a Bavarian mortuary slab. Visual effects are predominantly physical and accomplished in camera, complemented by creepy and immersive sound design.

Following the death of her mother, teenager Gretchen (Schafer) begrudgingly moves to the grounds of Resort Alpschatten to live with her father Luis (Marton Csokas), stepmother Beth (Jessica Henwick) and half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu), who does not speak. The relocation is connected to the construction of a hotel complex masterminded by Herr Konig (Dan Stevens). Gretchen agrees to work on reception to earn money to finance her secret escape.

The teenager’s disorientation is exacerbated by a series of strange occurrences, such as female hotel guests vomiting in reception and the appearance of a hooded figure (Kalin Morrow). A dishevelled detective named Henry (Jan Bluthardt) discloses that the mysterious hooded woman is connected to at least one murder in the region and Gretchen joins a stakeout to catch the prime suspect in the act.

Cuckoo is a trippy fantasy that slaloms towards ridiculousness at considerable speed, diminishing any spine-chilling thrills to brief shudders of pleasure. Schafer puts her stricken heroine through the emotional wringer while Stevens walks a tightrope between blue-eyed menace and Teutonic buffoonery, compounding the disorienting tonal shifts. Singer’s picture goes cuckoo and hopes we’ll buckle up for a bumpy ride.

– Kim Hu