Cuckoo Goes There?

 

With German/American co production Cuckoo, distributer Neon looks to emulate the success of last month's Longlegs with another atmospheric chiller. Writer/director Tilman Singer's English debut is less occult tinderbox and more a modern twist on the classic horror tropes of mad scientists and monsters in the dark but it is another unique frightener with its own distinct style.

Hunter Schafer plays Gretchen, an American teen who forced to move to Germany to live with her Father and his new family in a resort village in the mountains. It's immediately apparent that all is not well as creepy resort owner Herr Konig (Dan Stevens) is adamant she should not be outside on her own and her mute step sister starts to exhibit some strange behaviour. Add in parents seemingly completely in the thrall of Mr Konig and a detective trying to get Gretchen's attention and the stage is set for a messily plotted but enthralling 100 minutes. 

There is a lot going on in Cuckoo as tension and terrifying moments are mixed with notes of grief, isolation, sexuality and family bonds. The fish out water, family displacement set up is something we are used to seeing in young teen friendly horror but there is nothing junior about some of the scares here and the film does an admirable job of treading the line between the two different tones. One of the reasons it can do this is the outstanding central performance from Hunter Schafer in her first lead role. A mix of awkwardness and breezy cool she conveys being frightened, lonely and distraught without ever becoming a hysterical victim and turns into a kick ass final girl. Dan Stevens is great as the enigmatic man in charge and solidifies his status as one of those actor that automatically make any film they are in ten percent better.

There are some frustrations (you'll want to punch the dad's face in) and the flow of events is a little disjointed. Giving everything an air of surreality is great but there are at least two occasions where blatantly obvious story points are head-scratchingly presented as big reveals and some characters are left a little too obtuse. 

There isn't much else to be said as giving any of the particulars away would do a disservice to the unique, icky and kind of goofy central conceit of the film and the people who get the most out of Cuckoo will be those willing to let it into their nest no questions asked.

7 remarkable creatures out of 10 parasites .