Tillman Singer’s Cuckoo, which stars Hunter Schafer in her first lead role, is inspired by the invasive behavior of the bird itself.
The film is currently at the Berlin Film Festival, where the mysterious plot has been laid out in more detail.
New Cuckoo Plot Details
We already knew that the film was about 7-year-old Gretchen, who leaves her American home to live with her father, who has just moved into a resort in the German Alps with his new family. Arriving at their future residence, they are greeted by Mr. König, her father’s boss, who takes an inexplicable interest in Gretchen’s mute half-sister Alma. Something doesn’t seem right in this tranquil vacation paradise. Strange noises and bloody visions plague Gretchen until she discovers a shocking secret concerning her family.
Now we learn that Schafer’s Gretchen faces off against a mysterious bird-like monster with a scream-like call who seeks to impregnate women with her evil spawn. The story, written by Singer, is based off the lore of the cuckoo bird, some of which are brood parasites, meaning they lay their eggs in the nests of other species.
Speaking to Variety, Schafer said of cuckoos, “It’s really a freaky thing that that’s just in nature and birds are just out here being complete dicks to other birds and giving them their own babies to raise. Are you kidding? That’s psycho!”
Cuckoo is written and directed by German filmmaker Tilman Singer, who helmed the wonderfully weird homage to 80s Euro horror, LUZ. The film also stars Dan Stevens (Legion, Abigail) as Mr. König, Jessica Henwick (Love and Monsters) as Beth, Marton Csókás (Freelance) as Luis, Greta Fernández (Santo) as Trixie, Jan Bluthardt (Luz) as Henry, and Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Ed.
It is executive-produced by Neon’s Tom Quinn, Jeff Deutchman, Emily Thomas, and Ryan Friscia. Producers are Markus Halberschmidt, Josh Rosenbaum, Maria Tsigka, Ken Kao, Thor Bradwell, and Ben Rimmer.
Cuckoo will be released theatrically on May 3, 2024.
