
As “Cuckoo” exposes its premise, it gets more perplexed and baffled. When it comes to explaining the peculiar mysteries that underlie this beautifully shot and disturbing thriller, writer-director Tilman Singer only succeeds in losing the viewer even more.
The question of ‘how’ and ‘why’ does the film slowly turn into a muddled together black-skinned mystery, and why it is so, resounding between them, the picture no longer heads. We either needed to know less, or more was expected from us. Felt with genuine intent, and no fear, which in general would be enough since the mood is such; this focus does not provide, however there is no desperation. From the “Whoa” we immediately and unexpectedly turn to the “Wait, what?”
Yet despite the over-the-top antics of Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, they are more or less able to keep everyone interested for the time being. Stands the two, very different actors, and because of this difference, the situation creates backstages and tensions from the very first seconds. Contributing Towards Acting, Stevens uses his pretty stunning good looks purposefully. This time around, he adopts an Aryan persona that lets him convey a deeply sadistic character with a perfect hint of craziness, The Guest and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is so easy — this is Stevens after all! (And the German was perfect, just as he was in “I’m Your Man”). He strikes a strange balance, his eyes are so clear and piercing that it is hard to trust him yet as easy to be captivated by him as well.
Schafer captivates the audience in a somewhat new fashion. She is the only character who is not blinded by the idyllic scenery and has the guts to say that something is terribly wrong. However, just like Florence Pugh’s character in “Midsommar,” her attempts are futile as no one cares about her in this beautiful and hazardous foreign country.
Schafer stars as Gretchen an American girl aged seventeen who has just lost her mother. She lives in sadness and grief and is suddenly taken by her father Marton Csokas, his new wife Jessica Henwick, and their young daughter Mila Lieu who cannot speak to a holiday resort in the Italian Alps. Singer brings into focus this astonishing location while working with the cinematographer Paul Faltz, who captures the images from the base of the mountains going up in order to make a point of how constraining it is for Gretchen.
One of the guests is Herr König, a smarmy character played by Stevens, and we learn that he runs the place and has asked the family to hang around while he completes plans with Gretchen’s father on a new business venture. From the beginning though, it is shadows and cold mirrors of images that inform us this is not a holiday center. And in addition, how does Herr König’s flat passive-aggressive attitude become more controlling, making her more anxious to escape the situation?
His amusement when he rolls the R in her name, stretching ‘Gretchen’ is both repugnance and an extension of his egotism.
Although, unnatural forces appear to be keeping her like that as well. One sequence is particularly engaging, where we see Gretchen helplessly cycling her cycle at night looking for a shift back home after clocking in at the front desk of the hotel for the first time. Once again, with their impressive control over the pacing, Singer, Gibson, and Thomas just manage, in the right proportion, to spook us and leave us awash in uncontrolled emotions. In addition, there is a slow and captivating sequence that appears time and time again, each time rising to an unexpected climax. The last two structures share a seismic shimmer and a loud high-pitched cry; much as one may find this audio-visual choice unnerving to start with, it eventually becomes quite irritating especially when we learn the cause of the sound.
Despite this, due to her bereavement, it is impossible to determine the actual ones or the traumatizing episodes that she has visualized. This inchoative nature of her suffering is horribly saddening, and the agony that she leaves on her mother’s tape never appeases her spirit in any way. The moment Schafer appears on screen, one gets hooked to her because she is so full of sentiment, and as Gretchen feels her strength, we cheer her on to make use of her body and beat her opponents.
There is something quite humorous in her character as she has the composure to comment upon the growing insanity around her.
However, we soon learn the reality of the situation— or rather, we reckon we do. Somewhere in here, there might be a grim fairytale about why it is important to let women have autonomy over their bodies but that gets lost in the disorderly plot. It is reasonable to assume that one may not even fully appreciate such a message—and whether it is a message, to be precise, or indeed whether it can be appreciated at all— “Cuckoo” Will surely antagonize you.
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