STORYLINE: 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. (IMDb) 

    I keep mentioning what a good 2024 has been for the horror genre. Releases such as Immaculate, Longles, and The First Omen reinforce that point. Even run of the mill releases such as A Quiet Place: Day One and In A Violent Nature we’re pretty decent flocks, even as tin of the mill horror films.  So I got excited when I went to see Cuckoo, espically because I was intruded my the premise of the movie.

    The film started strong with a nice set up in the first act.  It was moody and atmospheric. This continues through the Devon act. There were plenty of scares, even if they were not the most unique of scares. 

    Then the third act came to be. Cuckoo fell apart and fell apart dramatically  The film went all over the place in this act. This made Cuckoo unnecessarily weird in what was otherwise a perfectly normal movie. 

    The ending made since.  How the film got to the ending in the third act did not. I was able to connect the dots but there were to many and they wrote all over the place. 

    I liked the fact the scares relied more on being jump scares then in blood and guts that has plagued the genre in recent years  weeks can thank the Saw sequels and Hisyel franchise injecting that craze into modern story telling. It’s not that I don’t mind blood and and guts as a tool for scares. I mind if when it is becomes the only way the film goes for the scares and becomes the main focuses of the story. 

   Anyways I am off topic. Cuckoo had potential to be an excellent horror film if it ended differently. 

    Until next time I will see you at the movies!