Cuckoo

The new movie Cuckoo came out Friday, August 9th, and a week later, we’re still thinking about it. We were left with lingering thoughts of confusion and misunderstandings. Let’s talk about it. Spoilers ahead!

Starting the movie off, Gretchen (Hunter Schafer), along with her dad, Luis (Marton Csokas), stepmom, Beth (Jessica Henwick), and half-sister, Alma (Mila Lieu), drive out to the secluded Bavarian Alps following the death of her mother and Gretchen is not happy about it. Her dad and stepmom helped build the resort and are back for some additions. Then, we meet Herr König (Dan Stevens), a long-time friend of the family who runs the hotel. In the beginning scene, when they finally arrive, Gretchen heads in to use the bathroom, and while she’s in there, another woman walks in. Things instantly get strange as the new character tries to open the locked stall Gretchen is in, shaking the door. It instantly put us on the edge of our seats, wondering who was behind the door and how they would later come back in the movie. Then, the mystery person stops and enters the stall next door. The camera pans slowly upward, following Gretchen’s head. We look up at the top of the stall, waiting. Waiting for a jump scare that never comes, as Gretchen’s stepmom comes in to tell her they need to leave. This scene got us excited about the movie. We were ready for the story to unfold. 

The story does unfold, however, in an extremely confusing way. It was discovered that there is a species of bird-people that Mr. König has kept alive for several years. The key to this species' survival is to use regular humans to implant their egg and have the surrogate human mother raise the child as its own until it inevitably is reunited with the biological bird mother. Confusing, we know. But this practice is similar to cuckoos out in the wild. They will lay their eggs in other birds' nests, and then the birds will raise cuckoos on their own. A whirlwind of distrust within the family and strange alliances are made throughout the film. As viewers, we didn’t ever really trust anyone in the film. Especially Henry (Jan Bluthardt), a former cop who is also after the bird-lady. Everyone and everything seems to be under the control of Mr. König, and all have a vested interest in keeping these bird people alive. There is a hospital in the Alps that serves as a home base of sorts. This is where all the experiments take place, and all the data is held. Eventually, Gretchen is able to kill the bird-lady who has been after her the whole movie, which is the biological mother of her half-sister. So, Alma, Gretchen’s half-sister, is a future bird-person. Mr. König and Henry are killed by one another in the end while Gretchen and Alma leave the hospital, meeting up with a former love interest of Gretchen’s, and they drive as far as they can. We know even this summary doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but really, the movie itself didn’t make a whole lot of sense. 

Unfortunately, we were left with a lot of questions, such as, why a weird species of bird-people? Why was Mr. König not absolutely obsessed with cuckoos? There was this weird goo that was consistently a part of interactions with the killer bird-people, but that was never explained. What happened to Gretchen’s dad and stepmom? Last we saw her she was sick, it was assumed that the bird people were trying to get rid of her, but after that we didn't see them. There is also this romantic side plot, but nothing ever really comes from it, and we don’t see the love interest throughout the film until she comes back at the end to save Gretchen. We’re not entirely sure, but our list of questions goes on for miles. 

However, there are moments in the movie that we really had an appreciation for. For example, in the whole movie, Gretchen is removed from her mute half-sister. She denies that they are sisters and even refers to her as “her father’s daughter.” However, as time goes on throughout the movie, it becomes more apparent that her half-sister, Alma, is in trouble and going to be hunted by Mr. König, and Gretchen starts to become protective of her. There is a heartfelt scene where they are hiding in an office, and they have this moment where Gretchen is trying to show Alma that it is okay and that she can trust her. Using sign language as a way to communicate, she signs, “My mom called. . .” Referring to earlier in the movie when, Gretchen would call her old house phone to hear her mother’s voice on the answering machine; this was something that Gretchen would consistently do throughout the movie until one day, her mother’s things showed up in a box at the house they’re staying at. When Gretchen listens to the different messages, there is one from Alma saying that Gretchen’s mom should visit her because it might make her feel better, and Alma does not realize that she is no longer here. In that office, Alma signs back, “Is she coming to visit?” Singer does an exceptional job of showing this childlike innocence that Alma still possesses despite being the offspring of the bird people. We wonder at the end of the film if Alma can lead a normal life after all of this and if nature vs. nurture really has an effect on people and who they become. We think this is why Cuckoo was especially frustrating for us, because there are these beautiful scenes that are accompanied by stunning cinematography and colors that all make these scenes what they are, and they get lost in the movie because the viewer is so focused on trying to figure out what is happening, trying to gain this footing in a rushing river. 

We really enjoyed the cinematography of the movie; the shots were set up nicely to create good tension and add to the overall confusion. We loved the color grading of the movie, the overall green hue, and the bright reds and blues; visually, it was a very beautiful movie. But we didn’t feel that it was a true horror movie; we definitely felt tension and didn’t know what was going to happen next, but there weren’t a lot of moments where we felt truly scared. We are prepared to be hiding in our shirts. We can barely look at what is going to pop out of the shadows, but these events never come. As the film tried to explain itself, we just felt ourselves getting even more lost; there wasn’t a moment where the characters gave us any background information or slight insight as to what could be going on, almost robbing the viewers of these moments of clarity that would’ve allowed us to have at least a solid foot in the world Tilman Singer is trying to create. 

Cuckoo left us confused and, at times, disappointed, and perhaps that might be the whole point, but mixed with these little moments throughout the film that show how well Singer can set up a scene and how well actors can make it come to life to the almost randomness of the rest overall didn’t come together for us.