“Cuckoo,” a new addition to the horror-comedy scene, broke ground this weekend at the hands of experimental German filmmaker Tilman Singer. Never has a movie title made so much sense as this film is layers of confusion with layers of “I’m lost,” topped off with an uncomfortable knot left in the stomach.
Singer’s 2018 film “Luz” proved that his style strays away from logic and reason and enters a realm that has viewers questioning his sanity. The criticism for the lack of a plotline in “Luz” seems to have resonated with Singer; however, this film still left me with a magnifying glass attempting to decipher what on earth was going on. Even though the narrative is still quite blurred, allow me to attempt a summary.
An Accumulation of Confusion
The film follows Gretchen (Hunter Schafer), a grieving teenager whose mother has passed away. Coming from a divorced household, she is forced to move in with her father’s family who are relocating to Germany to assist in the construction of a resort in the Bavarian Alps. When met with the unsettling presence of Herr Konig (Dan Stevens), who seems to be obsessed with her half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu), Gretchen begins to wonder at the innocence of their family arrangement.
Alma, who is mute, begins to suffer from unexplainable seizures that are exacerbated when the reasoning for Herr Konig’s fixation on her begins to come to light. Stevens’ portrayal of what appears to be Singer’s rendition of a mad scientist takes on a comedic tone that overlays the complete and utter creep that he is. Herr Konig is fixated on the breeding process of the Cuckoo bird and insists on recreating it on human subjects; an obsession that takes a deadly turn.
While I wouldn’t necessarily classify “Cuckoo” as a horror film, the strange happenings interlinked with the appearance of a cloaked figure with red eyes and the screeching sounds emerging from the woods create an eerie sensation.
Freaky Filming
If there is one thing that was done exceptionally well in this film, it is the cinematography style. The film’s cinematographer, Paul Faltz, filmed unconventional close-ups of twitching ears and fluttering throats, which added to the eccentric nature of the film’s peculiarity. The whole atmosphere of the screening, while not exactly making me jump out of my chair, definitely left an unsettled feeling in my stomach.
While the plot is a little MIA, the strong acting performances provide a much-needed beacon of hope for the movie’s success. Even though viewers might have a tough time figuring out what they are supposed to be getting out of the film, they won’t be able to deny that the fear, panic and dread that exude from the on-screen performers are horror movie gold. Schafer and Stevens provide an incredible depiction of a battle of wills on the precipice of insanity.
Although this film is somewhat of a conundrum, it is definitely a show of freaky, phantasmagoric cinema. Singer’s attempt at portraying vulgar topics of the horror industry such as involuntary breeding and child experimentation was a bit of a misstep for me; however, once he finds a way to convey his plotlines more efficiently, his out-of-the-box style might just take over the horror scene.
