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Cuckoo is a bizarre horror movie, opening with a young woman running out into the forest after having to leave her house, because her parents are arguing, and she’s very sensitive to sound.
The story then follows Gretchen (Hunter Schafer – Hunger Games: Blah-Blah About Birds And Snakes) who, after her Mum died, is travelling to the Bavarian Alps in Germany, where she’s going to live with her Dad, Luis (Márton Csókás – Dark Crimes), his new wife, Beth (Jessica Henwick – The Royal Hotel), and their daughter, Alma (Mila Lieu), who is listed in the premise as being mute, but sometimes, she’s treated as being deaf, so, a bit of a plot-hole in the writing.
Running the hotel is the mysterious Herr König, played by Dan Stevens (Abigail, The Guest), who speaks some German, albeit mostly conversing in English. However, the actor did put in a great turn as a fluent speaker of the language in I’m Your Man, a German comedy from a few years back, where he plays a sex robot for singleton Alma (Maren Eggert), who might just have found her dream guy.
But back to this, and amongst working at the tedious shop on the complex, she meets an alluring French woman, who comes to the hotel. Add in an older woman who appears to be tracking Gretchen down and scaring her, plus various women vomitting all over the place, and at various times, the whole world starts shaking violently, so what exactly is happening?
Cuckoo is a film which reveals its hand bit by bit, and is one of those movies where there’s a whole load of weird stuff happening, including the requisite jump scares, but it works more often than it doesn’t. It’s just a shame there was so little promotion for this film that it only lasted one week at my Odeon, and only aired for one screening each day.
Hopefully, it’ll gain traction as a cult movie in years to come, and lead Schafer looks like a young Jodie Foster – as if around the age of about 18, and equips herself brilliantly with this, so I’m looking forward to more films from her.
There’s no mid- or post-credits scenes in this film.
Cuckoo is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD, ahead of its release on November 25th.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 102 minutes
Release date: August 23rd 2024
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic /i Scope)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Tilman Singer
Producers: Thor Bradwell, Markus Halberschmidt, Ken Kao, Ben Rimmer, Josh Rosenbaum, Maria Tsigka
Screenplay: Tilman Singer
Music: Simon Waskow
Cast:
Gretchen: Hunter Schafer
Henry: Jan Bluthardt
Luis: Márton Csókás
Beth: Jessica Henwick
Herr König: Dan Stevens
Alma: Mila Lieu
Trixie: Greta Fernández
Dr. Bonomo: Proschat Madani
Ed: Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey
Erik: Konrad Singer
Hooded Woman: Kalin Morrow
Silent Cop: Johannes Benecke
Teenage Girl: Matthea Lára Pedersen
Dr. Bonomos Assistant: Veronika Bachfischer
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.