Cuckoo lives up to its name (Fantasia)
Fantasia Festival - Horror/Thriller
NEON has been one of the studios of note over the past few years, with titles like Parasite, Palm Springs, Anatomy of a Fall, and already this year's Immaculate and Longlegs. Due to their impressive track record, one of the most anticipated movies at this year’s Fantasia Festival has been Tilman Singer’s horror film Cuckoo.
Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) reluctantly joins her father, Luis (Marton Csokas), at a German alpine resort. Much of her angst is related to his new wife, Beth (Jessica Henwick), and their daughter, Alma (Mila Lieu). When Herr König (Dan Stevens) offers her a job at the resort's front desk, she quickly accepts, hoping to earn money to run away. Herr König tells her to wait for him when she finishes her shift, but when a woman stumbles into the lobby, disoriented and ill, Gretchen leaves without waiting, only to find herself being chased by a hooded figure (Kalin Morrow).
There is a lot to like about this movie. Schafer brings an absolutely stellar performance in her first starring role on the big screen. The lush countryside feels haunted, and we get whiffs of The Overlook Hotel in the resort. Stevens is perfectly creepy in his role, with a sense of malice from the first time he steps on screen. The atmosphere throughout the film adds to a sense of unease that leaves you wondering what’s going on under the surface.
But this movie falters a bit in the “under the surface” part. Rather than a slow reveal that allows us to discover what is happening with both Gretchen and the resort, we are soaked in tension and unexplained, bizarre experiences, and then there is a huge exposition dump at the beginning of the third act. By keeping the audience in the dark for the bulk of the film and then revealing everything in one very clinical speech from Stevens, the narrative feels almost more confusing. Watching, there was this moment of, “Oh, that’s just the whole story,” which kind of sucked all of the wind out of the sails.
That’s a shame because the action sequences in this are otherwise brilliantly performed. Shafer’s chaotic, blood-soaked performance is played perfectly against the sterility of Stevens’ character. The body horror is top-notch, and the overall conceit is a fascinating way to look at bodily autonomy and medical experimentation. There is a motif of a rewinding of time that is fully bone-chilling, and the shrieks of the monsters strike terror.
However, when the credits roll, we are still left with a number of unanswered questions. Sometimes, a sense of mystery can amplify the unease in a horror film, but in this case, it was simply confusing. And hinted that perhaps there wasn’t quite enough story to actually answer all of the questions.
All of that aside, this movie has the makings of a cult classic. There is a sardonic humor in it that cuts through at just the right moments, a sense of dread that permeates almost every frame, and a sisterly relationship that is strangely heartwarming. It may not be one of the best horror films of the year, but it lives up to its name in some of the most unhinged ways, and that makes it worth a watch.
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