As usual, I digress. I’ll leave you to discover whether this information has anything to do with the goings-on in “Cuckoo.” What I can tell you is that Singer mixes body horror with a Final Girl narrative and has a game cast to help him succeed.
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Assisted by a consistently off-putting sound mix, and gloom-invoking cinematography by Paul Faltz, Singer creates a delectable sense of dread. “Cuckoo” leans into the reliable horror trope that powered such classics as “Rosemary’s Baby”; that is, the woman who knows something is amiss, but no one believes her.
This time, our hero is 17-year-old Gretchen, played by “Euphoria” star Hunter Schafer. She’s been dragged to a Bavarian Alps resort by her father, Luis (Marton Csokas), his new wife, Beth (Jessica Henwick), and their mute 7-year-old daughter, Alma (Mila Lieu). Gretchen can’t stand the location; there’s nothing to do, and her dad is so preoccupied with his new family that he’s cruel and neglectful.
Several times, Gretchen makes tearful calls to her mother back in the states, leaving desperate messages on her answering machine.
To keep her busy, the owner of the resort, Herr König (Dan Stevens), offers Gretchen a job at the reception desk. Herr König is one weird dude. He plays a flute like a deranged Pied Piper. Every pleasant line of dialogue has an ominous tinge. He is touchy-feely, and Singer’s camera makes sure we recoil whenever he reaches out for someone’s shoulder to pat.
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Making matters worse, Herr König’s German accent has an aura of menace that extends beyond mere stereotype. The way he says “Gretchen” alone should earn Stevens’s performance a huge amount of praise; it sounds as if he’s being choked by the first syllable of her name.
Gretchen’s new job is a welcome distraction, but she chafes at some of the rules. She also keeps noticing that pregnant female guests occasionally wander into the lobby, throw up, and then leave. Nobody else finds this unusual, not even her more experienced co-worker, Trixie (Greta Fernández).
Since this is a horror movie, Gretchen will violate the one rule Herr König keeps repeating: Do not go into the surrounding forest after 10 p.m. The rule may have something to do with the scary, hood-wearing lady whose eyes glow red from behind her glasses and whose screams sound like a distorted take on the opening howls of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.”
“Cuckoo” nods to the Brothers Grimm with its German location, creepy homeowner, and a potentially wicked stepparent. The film keeps the Grimm’s penchant for sadism and children-in-peril, but the disturbing developments here go well beyond the storytelling siblings’ most chilling plotlines.
As Gretchen become entrenched in the mystery of the resort, she’s aided by Henry Landau (Jan Bluthardt), a cop who says that spooky lady in the woods is wanted for murder. He seems trustworthy, but the film’s ability to keep us on edge arouses our suspicions.
I hesitate to tell you more, primarily because I am not quite sure what the hell is going on in this movie. What kept me riveted is Schafer’s fresh take on the Final Girl trope. Gretchen’s a tough cookie, as evidenced by her spending most of the film bruised, bloody, and in a shoulder sling. Schafer wears her face bandages with the same confidence Jack Nicholson displayed in “Chinatown” — it’s a feat of actorly defiance to cover so much of one’s face.
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Gretchen is also always in possession of her trusty switchblade, which she’s unafraid to use. It’s as effective as the guns the sinister men in this movie wave around in “Cuckoo”’s go-for-broke climax.
Both Stevens and Schafer came to slay, which is why I wish “Cuckoo” had a lighter touch. The film alternates between being a self-aware put-on and a demand to be taken seriously. Messages about bodily autonomy and reproductive rights mesh uneasily with the more unrealistic plot elements.
Still, the audience I saw this with hissed at the bad guys and cheered for the latest incarnation of a badass switchblade sister. Schafer earns her place in the Final Girl Hall of Fame.
If you’re willing to just go with it, no questions asked, “Cuckoo” is an entertaining horror offering. But I must warn you that trying to make sense of the plot will drive you, well, cuckoo.
★★★
CUCKOO
Written and directed by Tilman Singer. Starring Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Mila Lieu, Jan Bluthardt, Marton Csokas, Jessica Henwick, Greta Fernández. 102 min. At Coolidge Corner, AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, suburbs. R (bloody violence, gore, and scary accents)
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
