Warning: This post contains spoilers Cuckoo.
If it seems like something shady is going on at the remote Bavarian resort run by an overly friendly motel owner bordering on cartoonish villain, it probably is. The importance of trusting your instinct is a clear lesson at the heart of Neon’s latest horror offering, Cuckooin theaters on August 9.
As for what the dark stuff actually is, that’s a little less straightforward.
Written and directed by German filmmaker Tilman Singer (light), Cuckoo follows 17-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer), her father Luis (Márton Csókás), her stepmother Beth (Jessica Henwick), and her younger half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu), as they take up residence in a house in the German Alps. while Luis and Beth design a new property for the aforementioned resort owner, Herr König (Dan Stevens). Gretchen was involuntarily displaced from her home in America after her mother’s death and feels like an intruder in her father’s second marriage. She even goes around telling people that Alma, who is mute, is not actually her sister.
But after accepting an offer from Herr König to work at the resort’s front desk, Gretchen finds herself encountering increasingly bizarre situations – from disoriented guests vomiting in the motel lobby to a blonde woman wearing goggles and a trench coat (Kalin Morrow). ) chasing her as she rode her bike home one night. So when Alma starts having strange seizures – and Herr König and his friend from the local hospital, Dr. Bonomo (Proschat Madani), take an unusual interest in her – it becomes clear that something sinister is going on.
What’s with the end of Cuckoo?
It turns out that Herr König is what he calls a “preservationist,” the head of a generation-spanning breeding program for… a species of super-powered humanoids with female presentation and the reproductive and parasitic behavioral habits of cuckoo birds? The purpose of it all is never fully explained and much of the plot is ambiguous, but according to Singer, the story was born from “two secrets”.
“The first clues I found to Cuckoo it was the Alps and the way cuckoos breed,” he said in the film’s production notes. “The secret feeling they revealed was a mixture of intrigue, sadness and fear. When the opening secret excites me, I try to connect the clues and write a story. If I work at it long enough, I will find the answer to why I carried this feeling in the first place, why it is important to me; that is the final secret. I rarely share the final secret for two reasons – it’s usually a private matter, and talking about it too much undermines its power – but when I discovered both secrets, I got everything I needed to make a movie.”
Basically, if you were hoping Singer would explain the method to his madness, you’re out of luck.
Gretchen and her cop friend Henry (Jan Bluthardt) eventually uncover the truth about what’s going on at Herr Konig’s resort – that those involved in the conspiracy use the motel as a front to lure couples, ensnare them with hearing-based mind control, and then impregnate the women with cuckoo humanoids that will be raised by the couples, just as real-life cuckoos lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and leave their young to be raised by these birds.
Herr König and Dr. Bonomo’s interest in Alma stems from the fact that Alma is one of the cuckoo humanoids, having been unknowingly conceived by her parents at the resort years ago. However, despite Herr König and Henry’s attempts to stop Gretchen from rescuing her sister – and Alma’s cuckoo biological mother (the blonde who was chasing Gretchen earlier) trying to kill Gretchen – she eventually manages to thwart the adults, gain the trust of Soul and get both are out of danger.
How to interpret the ending of Cuckoo
Cuckoo is definitely an experimental horror that relies more on a spooky atmosphere and tone than a plot that necessarily makes a lot of sense. But, according to Singer, he wanted the film to be at the mercy of the audience’s interpretation. In an interview with Hollywood Reporterthe filmmaker said that while Cuckoo can be read as an allegory for “reproductive health” and “the many forms of sisterhood”, it was not intended to “state any extremely concrete points”.
“Both [readings] are true and, of course, everyone is extremely welcome to discover whatever meaning this has for them,” he said. “For me, it’s about brotherhood, family and family circles, good or bad. It’s about repeating patterns, generational conflict and love.”
Perhaps Cuckoo aims to send a message about the importance of women maintaining control of their reproductive rights. Maybe it’s a meditation on how family is what you make it to be. Maybe it’s simply a nightmare fueled by body horror. Whatever you think of the film, take comfort in knowing that you are not wrong, even if what you feel is deeply confusing.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
