Cuckoo is the Most Original and Heartfelt Horror Film of 2024

 

Credit to Collider

Warning: Will contain some spoilers for Cuckoo

I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to the late-night screening of Cuckoo. When I saw the trailer, I knew I had to watch this film. There was so much mystery behind the horror, and I was immediately intrigued. 

Cuckoo blew my mind with the storyline, and its characters. The story follows a young girl named Gretchen, who accompanies her family to a resort in the middle of nowhere. 

It’s already obvious to the audience that Gretchen doesn’t want to be with her family. In the beginning of the film, it’s revealed that she misses her mom, and would rather be with her than her dad’s new family. 

Gretchen wants to escape from her family, but she is desperate for money. She agrees to work with the owner of the resort (Dan Stevens), to earn more income to eventually escape from her current situation. 

However, this resort is hiding a dark secret. 

Gretchen finds herself caught in the throes of pure evil, the resort being run by a group of monsters. Gretchen does everything that she can to find out what the resort is hiding, leading to a disturbing discovery. 

The horror concept is too original to spoil for horror fans. 

Credit to Collider

I do not want to spoil anything about what the resort is hiding in the film. The horror is pure terror, and is one of the most original storyline ideas I have seen in a horror film this year! 

Watching the horror enfold was utter madness, the film continued to become crazier as Gretchen got closer and closer to the dark truth. 

Watching her character endure such hardship at the hands of this evil group was difficult to watch. This poor girl was psychologically tortured by the group, and physically harmed by any obstacle she happened to run into while trying to survive. 

Gretchen’s determination to survive her horrific ordeal was such a fun watch. She was willing to do whatever it took to protect herself and her loved ones, throwing herself into a literal bloodbath!

The film had a lot of surprisingly heartfelt moments when it came to family.

Credit to Collider

One of the main themes of Cuckoo was family. This was a complete surprise to me, because of how insane this film was. 

Somehow within this crazy horror story, the viewers were given family moments that brought a tear to your eye. Even though Gretchen really missed her mom, she did deeply care about her stepsister. 

They shared a heartfelt bond, and deeply cared for one another. Gretchen was willing to put herself in danger to look after her sister, almost getting herself killed in some scenes of the movie. 

Their dynamic was so wonderful to watch, I was almost brought to tears when Gretchen was communicating to her sister in sign language, assuring her that she was going to look after her no matter what. 

Then the scene that followed was one of the sweetest moments among the sisters. This was one of the best depictions of siblings I have seen in a horror film!

I felt my heartstrings get pulled within my chest when the little sister protected Gretchen from harm at the hands of the evil group! I won’t say what happens in this scene, because this film is too special to spoil!

Dan Stevens is such a wonderful villain in Cuckoo.

Credit to Collider

This is one of the few spoilers that doesn’t really give away the entire plot of the film. The only thing that is made so obvious when the film begins is revealing Dan Stevens as the main villain. 

The way that he presents himself is kind of eerie, when he welcomes the family and Gretchen to the resort. 

Gretchen shows her discomfort around the villain, knowing that he is hiding something once so many bad things begin to happen. 

I really loved Dan Stevens in this film. 

I’m a huge fan of this actor, he had already appeared in several horror films in the past; and I loved his performance in every single one! 

This is one of the few horror roles that he really shines! Stevens is fantastic at playing villains!

His role in this film is original and so interesting, and I loved every second of his character on screen! His determination was what made his character so scary, his actions were so unhinged!

Just like Gretchen was willing to do what it took to survive, Stevens’ character was willing to do anything to continue on with the evil going on at the resort!

I really hope that Dan Stevens continues to come out in more horror films! He’s so underrated, he deserves more attention in the horror genre!

Every horror fan should watch Cuckoo! It’s a great, original horror film that deserves so much love from horror fans!

 

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn