FLIM
CUCKOO
★★★
OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 103 MINS
DIRECTOR
Tilman Singer
CAST
Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Jan Bluthardt
Former Downton heartthrob Dan Stevens is in full embrace of the weird and wonderful in 2024, and offbeat horror Cuckoo continues that streak admirably. Here, he plays the seriously shifty Herr König, owner of a Bavarian holiday resort that simply emanates bad vibes. Only Hunter Schafer’s Gretchen seems to clock how seriously off König is. While its two lead performances are pitch-perfect, Cuckoo’s script lets it down somewhat: written and directed by German filmmaker Tilman Singer, it’s bursting with idiosyncratic characters and unusual beats, playing with micro time-loops and nightmare-logic editing. But when the time comes to peel back the film’s mysteries, it both overand under-explains itself.