Cuckoo is writer/director Tilman Singer’s appropriately titled, defiantly bizarre, enjoyably unhinged horror film. An unhappy teenage girl- 17-year-old Gretchen (scrappy, sensational Hunter Schafer), is begrudgingly uprooted from America and forced to move with her architect father (Marton Csokas) to a desolate resort in the German Alps, along with her unfriendly stepmother (Jessica Henwick) and her mute, much younger, half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu). The creepy resort manager- Herr Konig (Dan Stevens)- offers Gretchen a job at the reception desk of the hotel, where strangers stagger in and vomit in the lobby for some unknown reason. “Is this normal?” a startled guest asks.
Everything feels off there. Even little Alma starts having violent seizures as she gazes off into the ominous, impenetrable forest. One night cycling home from work, a weird woman violently chases Gretchen down the road, relentlessly attacking her until she races to safety at the local hospital where she is stitched up from a gash in her forehead. Her story is met with bored skepticism by the local police.
Gretchen leaves sad messages on her mother’s answering machine, confessing how miserable she is. She was part of a band back in the States and dons her headphones, practicing on her guitar alone in her room, dreaming of escape. A weird detective (Jan Bluthard) shows up at the hotel and asks for her help tracking down the scary woman who chased her, convinced that she had something to do with his own wife’s demise.
Then the movie merrily jumps the tracks and becomes this nightmarish conspiracy of sinister avian reproductive experiments as Gretchen fights to survive. The oppressive atmosphere of dread and disorientation (plus the intricate sound design) is just inspired. And Dan Stevens is fiendishly fabulous in his role as the droll, demonic mastermind.
I live for weird movies like this that defy easy categorization. This is certifiably bonkers and I mean that in the best possible way.
Cuckoo is creepy. Right up your alley, Dennis!
Loved your review.