Cuckoo (2024) Movie Review

we've been feasting with horror so far in 2024 and cuckoo was one of my most anticipated along with long legs now I saw this last week and I needed to sit with it for a bit so should you grab your tickets to watch a 17-year-old girl is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem so that's pretty much the most vanilla and nondescript synopsis that could be made for this film funny enough though it also captures exactly how the story presents from the very opening sequence I was unsettled low-level dread formed almost immediately and then it continued throughout the movie now I liken it a bit to the wickerman just simply because we watch some people travel to a new location that is sparsely populated but those that are there they act KY and odd like they're in on something that the new arrivals and then we as the audience are unaware of now that's pretty much where the similarities end with that cult horror but for cuckoo we have a family of four that have moved to this Austrian Alps Resort where the parents are going to be overseeing the constru uction of a new addition to the resort Hunter Schaefer who most will recognize from Euphoria plays Gretchen now she's a teen who has unwillingly come to the resort with her father his wife and their young daughter there is immediate tension felt within the family Dynamic and thankfully it's not IL defined I mean we get background on why they're strained between Gretchen and the rest of the family now Schaefer she is spectacular in the role because she embodies that street smart character that we always want to see but rarely get in Horrors she's aware especially when things are wonky and even though she's not aware that she's in a horror movie She's In Touch enough with all that's going on to be cautious and alert and this allows Gretchen to be appropriately snarky calling out Oddities that we clearly see that's a weird way to put it now I thought this made her extremely relatable and somebody to be endeared with she can be grading at times and that's mostly just because of the late teenage angst and attitude overall though Gretchen is a hero that we want to root for Dan Stevens also stars as the creepy Austrian Resort owner her konic and Stevens he's had quite the year so far with Kong Abigail now cuckoo K is just k k I think that's how you pronounce it they pronounced it a different way in the movie but I'm American and I can't do it but K is just the right amount of overbearing and smarmy like there's this instant icky feeling when he comes around but he turns on the charm for everybody so when people like Gretchen attempt to point out the strangeness he can G light her and then those around because he's so accommodating and welcoming which then belies what Gretchen is calling out now if you saw any of the trailers you know there are some strange visuals with a couple of people it's difficult to discern in the trailer if some of the sketchiness comes from Reflections off of glasses or if it's something else entirely now the makeup that's used within this it's sparse but it's effective we get disturbing and just offputting imagery that's not outright scary but it can make your skin crawl a bit now I was enamored with the look location while we don't get to explore a ton through the Alps or the resort there are enough establishing shots to showcase the isolation just thanks to the vast Forest Homes and Bungalows are spaced far apart so that there's a good amount of trees and other foilage in between and this provides way too many hiding places for dark things that want to go bump in the night and this continues the Eerie Ambiance so anytime we're outside with a character unknown things can be watching the camera it wonderfully uses the thick forest to its advantage by focusing in on a dense area of trees so that we strain to see if anything there is lurking now the pacing for the narrative isn't quite a slow burn because it is a steady building of intensity and discomfort but that being said I did feel the time while this was playing like I mean I was getting antsy that things just weren't progressing at least towards some sort of reveal or Revelation the tension and the stress they were there and they were excellent but we're trudging towards some unknown point and the way the story played it it was difficult to determine if we were ever going to get there I checked my watch a couple of times during the movie despite it only being an hour and 42 minutes I don't think that's the reaction or the sentiment that the film was going for and that's where the movie ultimately falters the point the explanation just the impetus for why things are happening they're left to The Ether don't get me wrong I mean I love a film that makes me think and doesn't spoon feed every single detail I also believe that audiences should be given at least a morsel of a bone when it comes to reasoning and it's it's not even like we aren't told what the significance of the movie's title is but it comes down to why I could asked so many questions around this but it would give nothing but spoilers and as frustrating as this is for the story this issue it also bleeds over onto Dan Stevens's character now as I said before here Konig that dude he is sketchy as crap I mean he's always turning up and the way that he lightly paw at Gretchen just gives off rapy serial killer Vibes he perfectly compliments the Eerie atmosphere and because he's so mysterious it's hard to determine what he's ultimately up to in terms of his possibly nefarious schemes and this is fun and it provides Stevens with a ton of latitude to play with his character and make him as pleasant or psychotically unhinged as he wants and no matter the way that he leans it's convincing and creepy but and it's a huge but there is no motivation for the character he's strange ominous even menacing but why because there's no impetus given for what he's doing the character just Fades into mediocrity just as a generic villain and this isn't on Stevens's shoulder at all I mean he is magnificently working with what he's given but the story it just doesn't deliver taking what could have been a hauntingly lasting performance and turning it into just some run-of-the-mill Garden variety bad guy who's bad for the sake of it and something else that pairs with the questions and undefinedness of story items there's this cool but disconcerting special effect that's used I mean it's sort of pulsing or vibrating sensation it's meant to Showcase a discombobulation for the characters and it's equally so for us but the how and the why they are total Mysteries reducing the overall connection to the storytelling this had so much going for it the atmosphere is for boing with a growing unease filled with actions and imagery that is both strange and just outside of normal to make hairs tingle both Dan Stevens and Hunter Schaefer deliver wonderful performances ranging from distrustful and desperate to freakishly psychotic and unh and when the narrative focuses on building a bizarre and creepy Ambiance it works effectively creatively and subtly delivering on the Promises of something wicked but when the focus is on the story's core it falls apart due to a lack of motivation context and explanation ultimately the more that I got away from the film the less impact it has losing just any lasting effect it was fun to be creeped out by the ambiguity of the mystery but when the plot and the main villain lack any sort of impetus or driving fact actor the story just turns to me there's no sex nudity a lot of profanity and some very gnarly violence I give cuckoo three out of five couches so what's been your favorite horror or thriller so far for 2024 let me know in the comments below if you enjoyed this review please give it a like also don't forget to share and subscribe I'm Chris this is movies and Munchies thanks for couching with me