Movie Review: ‘Cuckoo’ Is a Stylish Nightmare, with a Wonderfully Sinister Dan Stevens

 This image released by Neon shows Dan Stevens in a scene from "Cuckoo." (Neon via AP)
This image released by Neon shows Dan Stevens in a scene from "Cuckoo." (Neon via AP)
TT
20

Movie Review: ‘Cuckoo’ Is a Stylish Nightmare, with a Wonderfully Sinister Dan Stevens

 This image released by Neon shows Dan Stevens in a scene from "Cuckoo." (Neon via AP)
This image released by Neon shows Dan Stevens in a scene from "Cuckoo." (Neon via AP)

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: I did not entirely understand everything that happens in “Cuckoo," a new indie horror in theaters Friday.

This could be more of a me problem than with the storytelling, but there are a lot of strange things happening at this particular Alpine resort. It's run by a bespectacled German hotelier named Herr König, played with an off-kilter menace by Dan Stevens.

Some of the occurrences are underexplained, others underexplored. Herr König seems particularly worried about things that happen after dark, but not so much about guests wandering into the reception and general store in a wobbly stupor and vomit. Are they drunk? Sick? Should someone help them? All we get is: “It happens.” The hospital, too, is eerily empty.

Sonic vibrations often ripple through the land, causing scenes to repeat until reaching a violent crescendo. And no one seems to listen to or care about anything 17-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) has to say, no matter how banged up she gets. The quick escalation of her injuries, and the widening disinterest of her father, approaches comedy.

Ambiguity can be wonderful for mystery and worldbuilding; It can also be frustrating. And more often than not, detailed explanations just make everything lamer. “Cuckoo” dips into all of the above. Even so, it is undeniably fascinating, original and even occasionally fun, in a very twisted and deranged way in which laughter is your involuntary response to something horrifying. In her captivating lead performance, Schafer really goes through it, both physically and emotionally.

It also features Stevens sporting tiny, rimless glasses with sinisterly scandi-cool monochrome outfits, and a screaming ghoul with Hitchcockian glamour in a hooded trench and white-framed oval sunnies. Rarely is it a bad idea for a horror film to lean into style, and “Cuckoo” fully commits.

“Cuckoo” is the brainchild of German director Tilman Singer, but credit also goes to Singer’s predecessors: The works of David Lynch and Dario Argento among them. Gretchen is a reluctant resident in the idyllic, modern home with her detached father (Martin Csokas), stepmother (Jessica Henwick) and mute half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu). She leaves increasingly desperate messages on her mother’s answering machine in America.

It’s certainly an exaggerated but apt portrait of a new family where the remnants of the old are treated like a nuisance. When Alma starts having seizures during the vibrations, which no one but Gretchen seems to remember or acknowledge, the parents’ attention turns fully to the young girl. They can barely be bothered to care about Gretchen's miraculous survival of a horrifying car wreck; Alma is in the same hospital because of the episodes.

As with many horrors, the big reveals were, for this critic, a little underwhelming — a strained attempt at a unifying theory for this weird place that doesn’t add much ultimately. And yet the emotional connection to Gretchen and her complex relationship with Alma does pay off in unexpected ways.

Also, Stevens deserves special acknowledgement for his contributions to “Cuckoo.” This is a man who could have easily languished in blandly handsome leading man roles and instead is becoming one of our great character actors. He is regularly the best and most memorable part of whatever he’s in just by his sheer commitment to going there, whether it’s his Hawaiian shirt wearing titan veterinarian in “Godzilla x Kong,” his Russian pop star in “Eurovision” or any number of his deranged horror characters. He and Schafer, always a compelling presence, make “Cuckoo” very much worth it. They exist far too comfortably in this dreamy, nightmarish world dreamt up by Singer that is well worth a watch.



Oasis Fans Converge as Mega-tour Kicks Off in UK

Oasis are performing together for the first time since 2009. MIKE CLARKE / AFP
Oasis are performing together for the first time since 2009. MIKE CLARKE / AFP
TT
20

Oasis Fans Converge as Mega-tour Kicks Off in UK

Oasis are performing together for the first time since 2009. MIKE CLARKE / AFP
Oasis are performing together for the first time since 2009. MIKE CLARKE / AFP

Tens of thousands of ecstatic Oasis fans descend Friday on Cardiff as the legendary Britpop band kicks off a highly anticipated reunion tour nearly 16 years after last performing together.

The concert at the Principality Stadium in the Welsh capital will be the first of a 41-date run of gigs spanning the world, including in the United States, Japan, Australia and Brazil, AFP said.

Once-warring brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, their bandmates and UK support acts will play in Cardiff on Friday and Saturday before five hometown gigs in Manchester starting on July 11.

Further sold-out British and Irish concerts will follow at London's Wembley Stadium, Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium and Dublin's Croke Park, before the international leg of their Oasis Live '25 tour.

"All that matters is how the people in that stadium feel," Liam Gallagher, 52, said on social media last week, as months of anticipation reach a climax.

Fans have been sharing their excitement at the first chance to see Oasis play live since 2009 -- or ever -- after it was long seen as a remote prospect following one of music's most acrimonious break-ups.

The band's 1990s gigs are the stuff of legend.

"The feeling is biblical!" fuel tanker driver Sean Campbell, 35, told AFP before attending Friday's gig.

"I've been waiting years for their return. I missed out on going years ago, so this is my first time seeing them live."

Ticket controversy

Oasis, famous for 1990s hits like "Live Forever" and "Wonderwall", announced its comeback tour last August, days before the 30th anniversary of their debut album, "Definitely Maybe".

The Manchester rockers split in 2009, with Noel saying he "simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer".

The Gallagher brothers had maintained a war of words about each other for more than a decade, performing individually over those years but never together.

The surprise announcement that they had finally put aside their feud to reunite sparked an online frenzy for tickets but outrage over sudden price hikes that saw Britain's competition watchdog threaten legal action.

Resale tickets costing thousands of pounds have surfaced, while fans have also been targeted by online scams.

Britain's Lloyds Bank estimated in April that victims had collectively lost more than £2 million ($2.7 million).

The tour is expected to be a boon for the struggling UK economy.

Fans could spend more than £1 billion combined on tickets and outgoings such as transportation and accommodation, Barclays bank estimated in May.

'Rough and ready'

Oasis will be supported in the UK by Richard Ashcroft, frontman of British rock band The Verve, as well as the Liverpool-formed band Cast.

The band has not released the setlist for their opening and other shows, with rampant speculation online over which classic tracks will feature and whether any new material will be performed.

There are also many rumors over the potential for special guests appearances.

Illuminated drones displayed Oasis's classic logo above the Cardiff stadium late Wednesday, in a one-night display adding to the buzz around the tour's kick-off.

Gates open Friday at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT), with the band due on stage just over three hours later after both support acts have played.

The performance will wrap up by 10:30 pm, organizers said.

The stadium, which has a capacity of 74,500 for concerts, is set to have its retractable roof closed for both nights, with an incredible atmosphere expected.

Oasis reportedly began jamming together months ago, before starting rehearsals in London more recently.

The band has reportedly welcomed several new members for the tour, including a keyboard player and drummer.

Writing in the tour program, Noel, 58, reflected on the band's enduring popularity, saying "a new generation recognizes how Oasis wasn't manufactured".

"It was chaotic, and flawed, and not technically brilliant. We were rough and ready guys from a rehearsal room, and people recognized it."