Amongst a prime 10 record largely populated by vacation movies, this yr’s Cuckoo has claimed the fourth place on Hulu‘s most-viewed function record. The horror landed on the streamer on December 17. The underrated flick, starring Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) and Dan Stevens (Legion), follows 17-year-old Gretchen (Schafer) who strikes to the German Alps to stay along with her estranged father, Luis (Marton Csokas), and his younger spouse and their little one. As soon as there, Gretchen realizes nothing is because it seems and shortly finds herself ensnared in a harmful sport — one that always looks as if a mind-bending nightmare — orchestrated by her father’s boss, Mr. König (Stevens).
Cuckoo is a mix of psychological horror, household drama, and physique horror, exploring themes of household, identification, and autonomy. Directed by German filmmaker Tilman Singer (Luz), the NEON movie did not impress on the field workplace, grossing solely $6.7 million towards a $7 million price range, however fared pretty nicely with critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the surreal horror holds a 79% score, falling barely decrease for audiences with a rating of 59%.
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A reliably ludicrous Dan Stevens additionally highlights NEON’s newest boundaries-pushing retro-frightfest.
Critics praised the function’s stellar performances — notably Schafer and Stevens. In our assessment, MovieWeb‘s Will Sayre writes that Schafer, “solidifies her leading-lady Hollywood standing on this mind-bending deal with” and likewise applauds Csokas, who shines because the mysterious and complicated Luis:
“The actual standout — aside from Schafer and Stevens, after all — is character actor Marton Csokas, whose previous, reliably villainous demeanor has stolen the present in throwback flicks like ‘XXX’ and ‘The Bourne Supremacy.’ Right here, nonetheless, the proficient performer is given a extra weak, delicate persona to deal with, an ageing dad making an attempt to provide the entire starting-a-family factor a second go-around.”
The Drawback with ‘Cuckoo’
Regardless of its spectacular solid, Cuckoo has its faults. Some critics (together with some who commend Schafer, Stevens, and the remainder of the Cuckoo solid) discover the story underdeveloped and complicated. Roger Ebert’s Christy Lemire, in a two-star assessment, writes:
“Attempting to grasp the hows and whys of this twisted thriller creates a distraction from which the movie by no means recovers. Both we wanted to know extra, or we wanted to know much less. Ambiguity truly would have been preferable; Singer creates such a foreboding temper, it could have been sufficient to carry us in its spell. As a substitute, we go from ‘Whoa’ to ‘Wait, what?'”
Regardless of its narrative points, Cuckoo has gained a robust following amongst style followers and arthouse movie lovers, who’re drawn to Singer’s surrealist imagery. Cuckoo stands out amongst Hulu’s High 10 film record, which is at the moment dominated by vacation cheer. On the prime of that chart is the Will Ferrell-led comedy Elf, adopted by vacation options The Polar Specific, Nationwide Lampoon’s Christmas Trip, The Christmas Break, A Sudden Case of Christmas, Christmas with the Kranks, the Hulu unique Nutcrackers, and Fred Claus. Cuckoo is the record’s solely horror function, with the one different non-Christimas-centered flick being the survival thriller No Means Up (which at the moment sits on the quantity three spot).
Cuckoo, starring Schafer, Jan Bluthardt, Csokas, Jessica Henwick, and Stevens, is streaming on Hulu.
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Cuckoo
Seventeen-year-old Gretchen reluctantly leaves America to stay along with her father at a resort within the German Alps. Stricken by unusual noises and bloody visions, she quickly discovers a stunning secret that considerations her circle of relatives.
- Launch Date
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August 9, 2024
- Director
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Tilman Singer
- Runtime
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1hr 42min
- Writers
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Tilman Singer
- Studio
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Fiction Park, Neon, Waypoint Leisure