Hunter Schafer Brings Screeching Tension to the Absurd Scares of ‘Cuckoo’

Alci Rengifo

Atmosphere is the new obsession in horror. It has always been a vital component, but now, in particular with smaller budget productions, mood overtakes the plot. “Cuckoo” is the latest in this trend, building scares out of a ludicrous premise, but driven by memorable images and a compelling lead. German auteur Tilman Singer’s screenplay feels designed for the sole purpose of working with Hunter Schafer. She is the latest “Euphoria” alumni to start planting a flag in feature films. It is her performance that gives the story more weight than it carries. Combined with Singer’s particular visual style, the result is a horror thriller that feels fun in the moment.

Schafer is Gretchen, a 17-year-old teen moodily following her family to the Bavarian Alps. Her father, Luis (Marton Csokas), has landed a new job at a getaway run by Herr König (Dan Stevens). Still haunted by the death of her mother, Gretchen feels trapped with her father’s  new wife, Beth (Jessica Henwick), and Beth’s half-mute daughter, Alma (Mila Lieu). It must be an odd inner contradiction to feel so frustrated when surrounded by the stunning vistas of the Alps. Gretchen is given a job at the resort’s shop and soon enough, guests start appearing in the middle of the night vomiting and trembling. Co-worker Trixie (Greta Fernández) assures Gretchen this is the norm. Then truly weird occurrences begin. Alma starts having strange seizures that make her surroundings vibrate. Gretchen is chased on her bike by a menacing, hooded figure at night. Clearly, this getaway has some awful secrets.

You might be wondering what any of this has to do with the movie’s title, which hints at something completely nuts. Singer is using the title metaphorically and literally. Giving away the real meaning ruins the film’s twisted sense of surprise but consider the plot an avian version of “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” It’s a very B-movie premise with an arthouse meets grindhouse feel. For Singer it is part of his continuing aesthetic identity going back to 2018’s “Luz,” a possession thriller shot with the look of a scratchy, 1980s midnight movie. “Cuckoo” looks higher budget while retaining Singer’s habit of throwing around an idea with plenty of odd gaps. He doesn’t care much about explaining what’s happening. The sense of eeriness and dread are what matter most. And it isn’t surrealism in the David Lynch sense either. He really just does not seem to care if some of the developments in the story have coherence.

Singer is very good at staging scares and combined with Schafer, “Cuckoo” never lags because of its components. The alpine resort is a picturesque but empty place, where the woods look gorgeous during the day but menacing at night. Local supermarkets and the shop where Gretchen works have no human presence aside from the convenient victim that steps out of the shadows to puke. The movie is at its most entertaining when it goes completely cuckoo and you fully put rational questions aside. Dan Stevens is a convincing B-movie villain. We know he’s up to something because he says everything in a creeper monotone voice. Sure enough, there are secret labs at work and those vibrating seizures that grip Alma lead to the year’s weirdest attempt at a conservation metaphor. A hooded, screeching woman with terrifying eyes also keeps making a murderous appearance. By the end, her explained identity might inspire chuckles.

For Hunter Schafer, this is a good leading role that shows off her capacity for intensity and convincing pathos inside a genre entertainment. Like “Euphoria” classmate Sydney Sweeney in “Immaculate,” she’s pushed to physical limits. Singer gives her better, quieter moments as well to deal with her character’s inner struggles. Gretchen doesn’t see Alma and Beth as family, until the subsequent events force her to admit there is a bond. Astrid Bergès-Frisbey arrives as Ed, a mysterious, rebellious guest at the resort who looks like an outcast from a punk band. She’s a great counter for Schafer, offering Gretchen some genuine friendship, maybe even attraction. There is little time for more of that, however, once everyone is surviving car wrecks or dodging bullets from a deranged megalomaniac. 

“Cuckoo” joins other recent horror films like “Longlegs” in having the ability to linger. The talent on display is so good the film proves memorable, though not “great” in the sense of its truly masterful peers. We want Singer to keep making more movies, because he’s clearly an artist to follow. Each film seems to be a step in new and growing directions. Hopefully, the follow up to “Cuckoo” will be just as atmospheric but with an even tighter story. For now, if you seek some good scares, within a cheerfully weird plot made convincing by very good performances, then this bird delivers. 

“Cuckoo” releases Aug. 9 in theaters nationwide.