Fantasia 2024 Review: ‘Cuckoo’ Gets Lost in Its Unique Storytelling
Mild spoilers. I encourage you to go in blind and read my review afterwards. Some things are better not knowing — the things the trailer hides.
The opening sounds of Cuckoo, which screened at Fantasia Festival this week, set the tone for the film with unintelligible arguing and a girl screaming — a backstory we’re not yet privy to. Cuckoo follows 17-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) who is forced to move to a resort in the German Alps with her father Luis (Marton Csokas), her stepmother Beth (Jessica Henwick), and her mute younger stepsister, Alma (Mila Lieu). When she’s introduced to her father’s boss, the eccentric resort owner Mr. König (Dan Stevens), and starts being chased by a screeching woman, Gretchen begins to suspect that something strange is going on — but no one believes her apart from a policeman named Henry (Jan Bluthardt).
Bluthardt is absorbing in his role, but the real stars are Schafer and Stevens. Schafer’s acting debut as Jules Vaughn in Euphoria, a role that required no acting experience, made her stand out as someone with star quality. Gretchen is an independent and tough character who is dealing with painful change in her life — grieving her mother’s death and moving to another country with a family she barely seems to like — but Schafer embodies the role. I’m curious to see where else Schafer’s career takes her, hopefully to more lead roles. Stevens had fun playing the absolute weirdo that is Mr. König. With his camp rendition of evil, complete with an over-the-top German accent, like a satirical Bond villain, it often felt like he belonged in another film: something more melodramatic and theatrical, like Argylle. Nevertheless, I’m happy for Stevens to have had a good time.
Shot in 35mm film, Cuckoo is atmospheric with often bright and beautiful cinematography by Paul Faltz that complements the idyllic resort. They are, after all, in the German Alps. The camerawork by filmmaker Tilman Singer, who previously directed the supernatural horror film Luz, is strong and heightens the threat; whether the focus lingers on nothing special or Gretchen is being chased by shadows. Singer has a keen eye for the visual, but struggles to balance out his screenwriting. Our first introduction to Gretchen and her family is loaded with expositional dialogue that isn’t always effective. And the story? Well, that gets complicated.
Cuckoo encompasses multiple genres. It’s a horror film, but also a psychological thriller with elements of mystery and sci-fi. The blending of genres work sometimes, but not others. The screeching woman is initially scary in her first jump scare, but once you’ve gotten a good look at her, she’s not scary at all. Though her screeching remains jarring, her character eventually shifts from horror to science fiction. A mystery-thriller also needs to be engaging, to hold our attention, but that’s where the film suffers. The first half is intriguing: Alma starts having seizures, space and time seems impacted, but the longer the film goes on, the more it starts to lose steam and becomes confusing in the process.
The film does attempt to explain itself when Mr. König talks about the resort mirroring a cuckoo’s behaviour. As brood parasites, cuckoos trick other birds into raising their young by laying eggs in their nests. The screeching woman is like a bird who wants to impregnate other women with her spawn. But, like, what the fuck does all that mean? I couldn’t say. And is it even interesting? Not exactly. It’s interesting that cuckoos do that. “Are you kidding? That’s psycho!” Schafer told Variety about the concept, but the film’s interpretation of it isn’t fully cooked.
Cuckoo is frustrating in that regard, because it’s an exceptionally well-made film with a talented cast and a bold idea that gets lost in its own unique storytelling. After the halfway point, you realise that the film is going to a place you wouldn’t expect, which is not a good thing in this case, and that you’re not going to get the answers you hoped for. You also realise that the damn thing just won’t end, despite it having plenty of opportunity to do so!
