TIFF Next Wave 2024 - Sean Kelly On Movies

A 17-year-old girl discovers something sinister at a resort in the German Alps in Cuckoo. 17-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) is forced to move with her father Luis (Marton Csokas), stepmother Beth (Jessica Henwick), and half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu) to the Resort Alpschatten in the German Alps run by Mr. König (Dan Stevens). Gretchen finds out that there is something sinister going on at the resort when she is attacked by a hooded blonde woman (Kalin Morrow), who lets out a piercing shriek. With the help of police detective Henry (Jan Bluthardt), Gretchen tries to get to the bottom of what is happening before her family is put in harm's way. Cuckoo Synopsis Cuckoo is the sophomore feature film from German writer/director Tilman Singer (Luz). The film stars Hunter Schafer (Euphoria, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) as Gretchen, the outcast of her family unit, who would rather be back home in America with her mother. While working part-time as a receptionist at the resort, Gretchen tries to run away with fellow guest Ed (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey), but they are attacked by a hooded woman, whose shriek causes fluctuations in time. Fearing for the life of herself and her family, Gretchen tries to discover what is happening at this German resort. My Thoughts on Cuckoo While more accessible than Tilman Singer's extremely experimental 2018 debut Luz, Cuckoo is still a very arthouse horror film that might end up polarizing audiences with its supernatural threat and very ear-piercing sound design. That said Hunter Schafer shines in her first leading film role, while Dan Stevens (The Guest) steals the film as the vaguely sinister flute-playing resort host Mr. König.