Nearly two years have gone by since we heard that production had wrapped on Cuckoo, a new horror film from writer/director Tilman Singer that stars Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), Dan Stevens (The Guest), Jessica Henwick (Love and Monsters), Marton Csókás (Freelance), Greta Fernández (Santo), and Jan Bluthardt (Tatort). Now the movie is going to be making its way out into the world very soon, as Neon will be giving Cuckoo a theatrical release on May 3rd. In anticipation on that release, a quick teaser trailer for the film has arrived online, along with the warning, “The adolescent needs to be trained.” You can watch the trailer in the embed above.
At one point, it was announced that Gemma Chan (Eternals), Sofia Boutella (The Mummy 2017), Zita Hanrot (Love, Death & Robots), Proschat Madani (Walking on Sunshine), and John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich) would be in the movie as well, but it looks like most of them had to drop out of the project before filming began.
Details on Cuckoo had been kept under wraps up to this point, but today a synopsis has also been unveiled: Reluctantly, 17-year-old Gretchen 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. Gretchen is plagued by strange noises and bloody visions until she discovers a shocking secret that also concerns her own family.
A press release notes that Dan Stevens turns in a “brilliant and terrifying” performance in the film.
This is the second feature for Singer, following the 2018 supernatural horror film Luz, which Bluthardt had a role in. Luz told the story of “a young cab driver fleeing from the grasp of a possessed woman, whose confession could endanger the lives of everyone who crosses her path.” Several of Singer’s Luz collaborators joined him on Cuckoo. In addition to Bluthardt, also returning from Luz were cinematographer Paul Faltz, composer Simon Waskow, and production designer Dario Mendez Acosta.
Cuckoo was financed by Neon. The film is being produced by Markus Halberschmidt, Josh Rosenbaum, Maria Tsigka, Ken Kao, Thor Bradwell, Ben Rimmer, in a cooperation between Germany’s Fiction Park and the States’ Waypoint Entertainment. It’s executive produced by Tom Quinn, Jeff Deutchman, Emily Thomas, and Ryan Friscia for Neon. Additional funding came from the Film und Medien Stiftung NRW, HessenFilm, and the German Federal Film Fund.
What did you think of the Cuckoo teaser trailer and synopsis? Does this seem like a movie you’d want to watch in a few months? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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