ALL FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEWS WRITTEN BY GREG KING
CUCKOO.
A German/US co-production, this offbeat and strange drama is the sophomore feature for German born filmmaker Tilman Singer and follows his striking 2018 debut Luz. The film is vaguely disorienting. We meet Gretchen (played by Hunter Schafer, from the tv series Euphoria, etc), a surly 17-year-old American who reluctantly heads off to the Bavarian Alps with her estranged architect father Luis (New Zealand actor Marton Csokas, from Chevalier, etc) and stepmother Beth (Jessica Henwick) and her mute 7-year old stepsister Alma (Mila Lieu, from the tv series Dodger, etc). Luis is designing a new rural resort for the enigmatic and slightly creepy Mr Konig (Dan Stevens, from Downton Abbey, etc). Mr Konig seems to take an unhealthy interest in Alma, who suffers from a weird form of epilepsy that causes those around her to become temporarily stuck in a time-loop. Gretchen, who is still grieving the recent death of her mother, lands a job as a receptionist at the hotel owned by Mr Konig but she becomes disturbed by a series of unsettling events, strange noises from the surrounding forest, and she is even pursued by a scary and shrieking elderly woman who has wandered off from a nearby medical clinic.
Cuckoo explores themes of family, belonging, grief, reproductive science, but the almost incoherent plot doesn’t make a lot of sense and there are a lot of underdeveloped plot strands that are not satisfactorily followed through. While the film taps into the body horror genre it is not particularly scary. Rather, Singer establishes an unsettling atmosphere from the very start. The film is also imbued with a streak of black humour. Cuckoo has been nicely shot by Singer’s regular cinematographer Paul Faltz, who effectively uses light and shadows and imbues the surrounding forests with a sense of menace. Simon Waskow’s score and the impressive and unnerving sound design complements the film’s uneasy tone. The production design from regular collaborator Dario Mendez Acosta is also strong.
Schafer seems committed to her role here and brings an intensity and emotional resonance to her performance. Her character provides a strong focus around which Singer builds his plot. Stevens again taps into a perfect mix of suave and creepy screen persona and throws himself into the role, oozing menace here. Jan Bluthart (from Luz) plays Henry, a frenzied detective investigating a brutal murder, the only character who seems to know what is happening.
Cuckoo is weird, unsettling, unhinged and unpredictable and this unconventional film will not suit everyone’s tastes.
MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024 – Cuckoo
