In the end, Cuckoo is one of those movies I respect more than I actually enjoyed.
Directed by Tilman Singer and starring Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, and Jessica Henwick, Cuckoo is a movie that immediately grabbed my attention when I first saw the trailer before Longlegs back in August. The atmosphere looked incredible, the setting was unique, and it promised something unusual. Unfortunately, I missed it in theaters and had to wait for the Blu-ray release to finally check it out.
The film follows Gretchen, played by Hunter Schafer, a teenager forced to relocate from America to the Swiss Alps after her father remarries and takes a job helping oversee the construction of a resort. Already emotionally disconnected from her father after the death of her mother, Gretchen finds herself trapped in an uncomfortable living situation with her father’s new family while surrounded by people who all seem just a little… off.
The resort manager, Herr König, played by Dan Stevens, is immediately unsettling. Gretchen’s co-workers are strange. The guests behave oddly. And before long, bizarre things start happening around her that push the movie deeper and deeper into psychological horror territory.
The tricky thing about reviewing Cuckoo is that the less you know going in, the better. This is definitely one of those movies where explaining too much would ruin the experience. What I can say is that it’s a very ambitious and very stylish horror film that swings hard for originality.
Did it fully work for me? Not quite.
I didn’t dislike the movie at all, but I also didn’t connect with it as much as I hoped I would. For a large chunk of the runtime, I honestly had trouble understanding what exactly was happening. The film eventually explains itself, but oddly enough, once the explanations start coming, the movie somehow becomes even more confusing. The central premise makes enough sense once revealed, but some earlier scenes still feel disconnected or unclear afterward.
That said, there are moments in this movie that are absolutely phenomenal.
Visually, the film is stunning. The cinematography is fantastic, and the Swiss Alps provide a gorgeous and eerie backdrop that gives the movie a unique personality. Horror films rarely use this kind of setting, and it helps Cuckoo stand out immediately from most modern genre films. There’s a dreamlike quality to the atmosphere that I genuinely admired even when I wasn’t fully invested in the story.
The performances are also excellent across the board.
Hunter Schafer carries the film extremely well as Gretchen. She gives the movie an emotional anchor that keeps it engaging even during its more confusing stretches. Dan Stevens is equally impressive and completely unrecognizable compared to the goofy, energetic character he played in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. His performance here is weird, unpredictable, and deeply uncomfortable in exactly the right way.
In the end, Cuckoo is one of those movies I respect more than I actually enjoyed. I’m glad I watched it because it’s genuinely different, and I’ll always give credit to horror movies that take risks and try something unusual. Some viewers are probably going to absolutely love it. For me, though, it never fully came together emotionally or narratively.
Still, there’s enough strong filmmaking, atmosphere, and acting here to make it worth checking out if you’re looking for something outside the usual horror formula.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
