Time: 103 Minutes
Age Rating: R18 – Violence, offensive language & horror
Cast:
Hunter Schafer as Gretchen
Dan Stevens as Herr König
Jessica Henwick as Beth
Jan Bluthardt as Henry
Marton Csokas as Luis
Director: Tilman Singer

My New Zealand International Film Festival started off on a good note with Cuckoo, a horror film starring Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens and Jessica Henwick which I was curious about.

For what it’s worth, I do recommend staying away from trailers for Cuckoo as much as possible, best going in as blind as possible. The film works well as a slow burn, taking its time to slowly progress the plot and unravel its central mystery. I liked the strangeness throughout and I found the movie to be quite entertaining overall. There’s also a solid emotional core with the main character, helped by the lead performance. That said, the script is the weakest part of the movie, and that’s mainly seen in the third act, even though it’s still enjoyable. The movie loses its intrigue as it progresses, by the end, and the payoffs for the mystery weren’t all that great. The ending is also a bit abrupt and leaves some things unanswered, and not even in an intentionally ambiguous way.

Hunter Schafer is fantastic in the lead role, delivering a very committed and believable performance. Dan Stevens continues his streak of scene stealing performances this year here, chewing the scenery with a German accent and clearly having a good time. The supporting cast is good including Marton Csokas and Jessica Henwick, though the latter unfortunately isn’t utilized to her fullest in the movie.

I haven’t seen any film from Tilman Singer before but his direction of Cuckoo was great, very strong and stylistic. It is very well shot, and the makeup and effects are really top notch. Singer does well at creating an unnerving atmosphere, tense scenes, and even some effective jump scares. The sound design and mixing were particularly great, and were essential for making many of these horror scenes work. The ‘larger’ horror moments and chase sequences are also very well done, and while I do have issues with the story in the third act, it still delivers a satisfying horror climax.

Despite some messiness in its narrative, Cuckoo is a great horror thriller, with stylistic direction and fantastic performances from Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens.