Following a cryptic teaser earlier this year, Neon has released a full trailer for Luz director Tilman Singer's second feature, Cuckoo, which stars Euphoria breakout Hunter Schafer in the lead.
Schafer, who recently had a supporting role in Lionsgate's prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, plays a teenager named Gretchen who goes to stay with her estranged father and his new family in the German Alps, where she discovers some very sinister, possibly supernatural occurrences that may be connected to her own family.
While the teaser gave very little away, this intense and pretty damn jumpy trailer should give horror fans a much better idea of what to expect.
Shafer revealed some intriguing new plot details during a recent interview with Variety. Though some of this will likely have been deduced by anyone who watched the teaser trailer, if you'd rather know as little as possible before sitting down to watch the movie, here's your spoiler warning.
“It’s really a freaky thing that that’s just in nature and birds are just out here being complete dicks to other birds and giving them their own babies to raise,” the Euphoria breakout tells the site. “Are you kidding? That’s psycho!”
This alone wouldn't exactly constitute a major spoiler, but Variety then addresses Shafer's comments with the following.
“Also scary is the film, which sees Schafer face off against a mysterious bird-like monster with a scream-like call who seeks to impregnate women with her evil spawn. The story, written by Singer, is based off the lore of the cuckoo bird, some of which are brood parasites, meaning they lay their eggs in the nests of other species.”
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.
Cuckoo was written and directed by Singer, and produced by Markus Halberschmidt, Josh Rosenbaum, Maria Tsigka, Ken Kao, and Thor Bradwell.
The movie also stars Dan Stevens as Mr. König, Jessica Henwick as Beth, Jan Bluthardt as Henry, Marton Csokas as Luis, Greta Fernández as Trixie, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey as Ed, Konrad Singer as Erik, Proschat Madani as Dr. Bonomo, and Kalin Morrow as The Hooded Woman.
The film is set for release in select US theaters starting May 3rd, 2024.