- Director: Tilman Singer
- Writer: Tilman Singer
- Stars: Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick
REVIEW
Tilman Singer burst out of the gates with his debut film, the low budget, and highly creative Luz. It showed Singer’s skill and influences. The skill, influence, and creativity are all on show throughout Cuckoo. Playing at the Fantasia International Film Festival, Cuckoo is a completely nuts horror film that manages to ruminate on family and body autonomy.
In an effort to keep this spoiler-free, I’ve been purposefully vague on details.
When 17-year-old Gretchen (Schafer) is forced to leave America to live with her father (??), who has just moved into a resort in the German Alps with his new family. Mr. König (Stevens), her father’s boss, takes a real interest in Gretchen and even more in her mute half-sister Alma. As Gretchen begins to hear and see some very strange things.
From the jump, Gretchen knows something is off. Whether it be the weird time-loop episodes she is having, the way people are acting or just the general ‘strangeness’ of moving to another country. Schafer is excellent in her portrayal of a seventeen-year-old kid who is struggling to try and make sense of everything that is happening, hitting the right emotional notes and . Schafer could very well become the new archetype for scream queens (if that’s a path she wants to follow). Dan Stevens has the time of his life playing the mysterious Mr König, speaking fluent German and English with a terrific accent and bringing his natural charisma to the role, he makes every scene he is in uncomfortable, but the audience is never quite why.
Writer and director Singer throws everything into Cuckoo. The story is wild and how the themes are woven into a story like this is no small feat and honestly it probably shouldn’t work as well as it does, but it just shows Singer’s ability in crafting a story. Singer’s direction is great, manging to make the film their own and still show love for their influences. Does it all work? Well not quite but that’s just a personal taste thing more than it is a problem with the film. Singer proves that Luz was no fluke and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.
Played at the Fantasia International Film Festival
Ryan Morrissey-Smith
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