Cuckoo is set in Germany, deep in the Bavarian Alps, a great remote setting for a horror movie. It centres around Gretchen, played by Hunter Schafer who moves from America with her father, stepmother, and half-sister to a resort that is anything but normal.
As the story unfolds, we learn strange noises surround the resort, affecting the female population who hear it. Once exposed to this sound, they feel nauseous and throw up, suffer seizures, and experience time loops of the same event.
Gretchen, along with detective Henry (Jan Bluthardt), find themselves working together to solve this mystery, combating The Hooded Woman who appears to be the parasitic force bringing harm to the women that inhabit the area.
Dan Stevens who plays Herr König does a fantastic job of playing the cliché German bad guy, who never really gets angry but his calm manner, clearly reveals he is calculating, which in turn makes him even more menacing. He knows how to play the perfect host in front of Gretchen’s father and reveal his true self in front of Gretchen and Henry.
Cuckoo capitalises on the unfamiliar surroundings Gretchen finds herself in and the displacement she feels having moved to another country that also speaks a different language, losing her mother, family home, and girlfriend. It uses these parts of her backstory and current circumstances to make the audience feel she is at breaking point to heighten the suspense in the film.
When it comes to lighting the film relies heavily on night shots to create horror for the viewers and a lot of green coloured settings to make people feel revulsed by what The Hooded Woman can do to women in the area.
Overall, the film does a great job of creating chaos on the screen that will keep audience members entertained and guessing just what the hell is happening. If people watch this film and feel as though there are unanswered questions, then that is understandable. However, after watching this myself, I do feel this was by design to leave people on edge by never truly revealing what happens to the women exposed to this sound and how The Hooded Woman came into existence.
So, if you still have an opportunity to see this film, go and check it out. You are more than likely going to be entertained but also questioning what is going on.
Liam Donohoe