Cuckoo is a science-fiction horror-thriller written & directed by Tilman Singer. Hunter Schafer stars in her first leading feature role with Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, and Marton Csokas in supporting roles. I didn’t know much about the film other than the one still that came out months ago with Hunter Schafer hiding from someone. Even when the trailers played in the theater, I did my best to tune it out as I like to be surprised by movies. To my delight, this is the right kind of movie to go in blind.

I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw in this film. While not perfect, I still found more than enough redeeming qualities. The film’s saving grace is certainly Schafer’s lead performance. Her confidence in doing a lot on her own, while not overdoing it, shines bright. When we learn more and more about her character throughout, she becomes a strong & relatable character worth rooting for. As for Dan Stevens, The Guest is one of my all-time favorite movies. That movie works due to the actor having to play an antagonistic character while pretending to be likable to others. That’s the best way to explain his character here. He has to proper acting chops to balance his character here, but I am so impressed how he is able to speak German. He did it before in a movie called I’m Your Man. He continues to shows that he’s willing to be out of his comfort zone and it works.

The first act of the film builds a lot of intrigue & mystery. It’s more than what I was expecting. Without getting into spoilers, there’s a sci-fi twist that surprised me. It really captivated me and I wanted to know the answer behind this mystery. It helps build some truly terrifying scenes that stuck with me. The jump scares feel earned and respected. I saw this in a crowded theater and everyone, including myself, laughed off the jump scares, because we couldn’t believe how effective they were. There is even a nice amount of character development that helps connects with the characters. Personally, as a bass player, I was very excited to see a lead character play the bass guitar.

The second act did lose me a bit though. While I wouldn’t say it’s horrible, it does create more confusion than there needs to be. There’s a big reveal that was predictable from the beginning, yet the film overcomplicates it with its revelation. I also think the way the mystery is explained has characters either acting out of sync with their development or makes the plot more confusing than it needs to be. It’s something that I would need to watch again. Overall, the second act needed a revision or two in the script to make it work better.

Once the third act comes, this is where the film shines. The second act’s conclusion honestly feels like the ending, so it did feel like it kept going on longer than it needed to at first, yet I found the third act to be the strongest point of the movie. I was in complete awe with the camera work at play. The cinematography already offers some unique imagery from before, but there were some shots that left me feeling like I was watching something unlike anything else. From the cinematography to the performances to the sound design, the third act is one of the best of the year.

The film is labeled as a science-fiction horror-thriller, yet there is a good amount of humor in this. I don’t typically enjoy humor in horror, and I wouldn’t even say this is a hard horror movie, but it really worked here. I found myself laughing out loud, and I think this is something my theater enjoyed a lot as well. Between the humor and horror, you can tell where Singer is going to be a unique voice in filmmaking going forward. When I think the future of filmmaking and who’s going to make an impact, Singer, along with Osgood Perkins, are two filmmakers that I think have with their strong outings this year.

As for any other negatives with the movie, I think they mostly lie within the characters. As mentioned, the second act leads characters acting out of sync with their development. For example, someone shoots another character, but doesn’t kill him, even though he should have within context of the story. Due to this decision, this leads towards the character coming back in the third act. I just didn’t understand why the character wouldn’t have put him down to begin with. I also wasn’t crazy about the father’s arc played by Marton Csokas. His arc was predictable, yet inconclusive. Even though I loved the third act, I think the film needed more closure with this character.

Overall, Cuckoo managed to hit my expectations, even if the script somewhat faults during the second act. The first act has a lot of intrigue with a third act that pays everything off. There’s a nice blend of different genres at work with a surprising amount of humor. Writer & director Tilman Singer has a keen eye and unique vision that allows for haunting imagery and excellent performances. If you are looking for something original, I think this one is worth checking out.

VERDICT: 4/5 – Great