Cuckoo is a horror-thriller that thrives in ambiguity, and writer/director Tilman Singer cobbles together strange and uncomfortably fun components to set the stage.

Gretchen (played by Kinds of Kindness’ Hunter Schafer) is a distraught teen who is trying to make amends with her father (Márton Csókás).  She moves in with his family, but stays reserved and is defensive towards her stepmother (Jessica Henwick) and stepsister (Mila Lieu).  Despite receiving accommodations from her father’s boss Herr König (Dan Stevens of The Guest), Gretchen can’t help but catch a foreboding feeling in the air;  a discouraging feeling that only gets worse when creepy events start happening around her.

Cuckoo is in its most beneficial element when the audience is experiencing Gretchen’s new life alongside her.  Schafer gives an anarchic but layered performance.  When she acts out, we want to see what she does next.  When she pushes herself too far and discovers the meaning behind the community she’s trapped within, we feel her fear and angst.  The production peppers in stylistic, mind-bending flare to elevate Gretchen’s paranoia and create some really good scares (courtesy of a deranged, covered woman played by Kalin Morrow).

Gretchen is eventually paired with a mysterious detective, Henry (Jan Bluthardt), who becomes less of an oddball character and more of a screenwriter’s device to deliver exposition.  Körnig is a more interesting and enigmatic mentor-esque archetype, but even he becomes Tilman’s avatar for explanations.  Both performances work on different frequencies, with Stevens experimenting with freakier mannerisms, but they both essentially boil down to the same functions.  A face-off between them is like watching someone argue with a mirror.

Cuckoo sports a nice balanced message about control – how we shouldn’t be manipulated by others but also how cooperative, more sympathetic support is fundamental for our wellbeing.  While the movie may gradually lose its edge with more exposure, this storytelling allows a general audience to dig in to this weird flick.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie