Just when we thought Neon had reached the pinnacle of horror with “Longlegs,” they’ve been biding their time, eagerly awaiting the buzz around the Nicolas Cage film to settle before unleashing their next chilling release for the second half of the year.
Enter “Cuckoo,” Hunter Schafer’s latest project, where she plays Gretchen, a girl who moves to the German Alps with her father and his new family. There, she uncovers a secret that not only shatters her understanding of those who raised her but also puts her own life in danger.
Although the picture incorporates fantasy elements and feels like it’s been lifted from a nightmarish realm, some of its raw plot points have left viewers questioning whether it’s based on a true story.
All on the inspiration that crafted ‘Cuckoo’
According to Tilman Singer, the director of “Cuckoo,” as he discussed in interviews including one with Screen Rant, the film draws inspiration from both a real-life phenomenon and natural behavior.
Singer was inspired by a documentary about the cuckoo bird, known for laying its eggs in the nests of other species. This behavior led to a vivid image of host parents feeding a cuckoo chick that isn’t their own. As he described:
“I watched a documentary about the cuckoo bird and how they breed, putting their eggs into the nests of other bird species. I had this image of host parents feeding a cuckoo chick that is not theirs. They don’t abandon the nest; they just keep on doing that. And that was kind of beautiful—beautiful in a horrific way. I couldn’t let go of this image. So after a while, I thought about how to project this onto humans?”
In “Cuckoo,” this concept is mirrored in the protagonist Gretchen’s unsettling experience as she moves into a new family dynamic in the German Alps. The “horrific beauty” of the cuckoo’s behavior informs the eerie and psychological elements of Gretchen’s story.
To enhance the picture’s realism, Neon, as with “Longlegs,” launched a dedicated marketing campaign. They created a website for the fictional Alpschatten Resort, where the movie’s disturbing events unfold, adding an extra layer of authenticity to the title’s premise.
