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Cuckoo (2024) - Directed by Tilman Singer
A 17-year-old girl is forced to move to a resort with her father, stepmother and stepsister, where things are not what they seem. (Altered IMDB summary)
I'm not a real scary movie person, but it's been a darn good year for horror. Exhuma and Oddity, in particular, were standouts, and now this. While it can get a bit clinical and expository towards the end, the film does maintain its intensity, and revealed its heart in this section, so it's not like it fell to pieces. And the opening act was fantastic—so spooky and freaky, the sound design on its own is frightening, and that bike sequence... cripes.
Hunter Schafer's amazing in the lead, she starts off as your typical sullen teenager, before transitioning into a range of emotions - confusion, hurt, anger, fear, determination... love. Also noteworthy is Dan Stevens, who's effective playing this scum sucking a-hole.
Theme wise, the sisterhood angle was a positive, while the perversion of motherhood was upsetting and painful. So yes, lots to feel in this one, and much to ponder.
One criticism I've read is that its underdeveloped, and, sure, there's some 'wanting your cake and eating it too' here - a lot of talk, talk, talk, but also a desire for ambiguity - so maybe there's a clash there? But for me horror is like humor - the primary reason I watch a comedy is to laugh (though other factors can and do come into play), so the movie could be flawed, but if I'm in stitches, then mission accomplished. With a scary flick if I'm dry mouthed, wide eyed, pulse racing, chilled with fear, then you did the job, and I can forgive some hiccups.
With that in mind, I see folks talking about the humor in the flick, I guess, but I was too busy being freaked to pay much notice to that. I really bought into that side of the picture.
Cuckoo (2024) - Directed by Tilman Singer
A 17-year-old girl is forced to move to a resort with her father, stepmother and stepsister, where things are not what they seem. (Altered IMDB summary)
I'm not a real scary movie person, but it's been a darn good year for horror. Exhuma and Oddity, in particular, were standouts, and now this. While it can get a bit clinical and expository towards the end, the film does maintain its intensity, and revealed its heart in this section, so it's not like it fell to pieces. And the opening act was fantastic—so spooky and freaky, the sound design on its own is frightening, and that bike sequence... cripes.
Hunter Schafer's amazing in the lead, she starts off as your typical sullen teenager, before transitioning into a range of emotions - confusion, hurt, anger, fear, determination... love. Also noteworthy is Dan Stevens, who's effective playing this scum sucking a-hole.
Theme wise, the sisterhood angle was a positive, while the perversion of motherhood was upsetting and painful. So yes, lots to feel in this one, and much to ponder.
One criticism I've read is that its underdeveloped, and, sure, there's some 'wanting your cake and eating it too' here - a lot of talk, talk, talk, but also a desire for ambiguity - so maybe there's a clash there? But for me horror is like humor - the primary reason I watch a comedy is to laugh (though other factors can and do come into play), so the movie could be flawed, but if I'm in stitches, then mission accomplished. With a scary flick if I'm dry mouthed, wide eyed, pulse racing, chilled with fear, then you did the job, and I can forgive some hiccups.
With that in mind, I see folks talking about the humor in the flick, I guess, but I was too busy being freaked to pay much notice to that. I really bought into that side of the picture.