Cuckoo (2024)
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A teenager moving to the Bavarian Alps becomes entangled in a sinister plot involving a mysterious, non-human species.
The story
After the death of her mother, grief-stricken teenager Gretchen moves with her family to a resort town in the Bavarian Alps to help build a new hotel. The hotel is overseen by the enigmatic Herr König, who offers Gretchen a job at the front desk to help her adjust. Soon after their arrival, strange occurrences begin to plague the resort, including mysterious illnesses among guests and unsettling encounters. Gretchen becomes increasingly disturbed by these events, especially as she begins to notice a pattern of unsettling behavior from the staff and the mysterious figures lurking in the vicinity of the hotel.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Gretchen moves to a Bavarian Alps resort with her family following her mother's death. While working at the hotel managed by the enigmatic Herr König, she witnesses bizarre events: guests vomiting, her sister Alma suffering seizures from a mysterious shriek, and a terrifying encounter with a hooded woman. She meets a detective, Henry, who is investigating a murder linked to the woman. After a failed escape attempt with a friend, Gretchen is left injured and confined to the resort. König eventually reveals a dark truth: the hooded woman is a member of a non-human species that uses brood parasitism, much like cuckoo birds. The 'cuckoos' are implanted in human surrogates and raised until they are ready to join their kind. König has been experimenting with the species at the resort. When he attempts to use a flute to summon a teenage cuckoo to 'inseminate' Gretchen, Henry intervenes, killing the creature but leaving König alive. In a final confrontation at the hospital, Gretchen must fight to save her sister Alma from being reunited with the hooded woman. She eventually kills the hooded woman and, with the help of her sister's disorienting shriek, manages to escape the resort with her sister and a friend.
- First release year
- 2024
- Runtime (minutes)
- 103
- Production countries
- Germany; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Tilman Singer
- Writers
- Tilman Singer · writer
- Cast and characters
- Hunter Schafer · Gretchen; Jan Bluthardt; Marton Csokas · Luis; Jessica Henwick; Dan Stevens · Herr König
- Genres
- horror; teen horror
- Themes
- parasitism; grief
- Tone and mood
- atmospheric; unsettling
- Premise and plot tags
- horror; sci-fi horror; mystery
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was noted for the strong performances of the lead actors.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 62 · scale: 100 · review count: 38; CinemaScore · score: C+ · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 68%
- Production trivia
- The film was shot on 35 mm film.; Principal photography took place in North Rhine-Westphalia over a span of 35 days.; The film was originally set to be released in the United States on May 3, 2024, but the date was pushed back.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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