Cuckoo | |
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Directed by | Tilman Singer |
Written by | Tilman Singer |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Paul Faltz |
Edited by |
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Music by | Simon Waskow |
Production companies |
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Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 102 minutes [1] |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Cuckoo is a 2024 horror-thriller film written and directed by Tilman Singer. The film stars Hunter Schafer, Jan Bluthardt, Marton Csokas, Jessica Henwick and Dan Stevens.
Cuckoo had its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival on February 16, 2024, and is scheduled to be released in Germany on July 18, 2024, and in the United States by Neon on August 2, 2024.
It was reported in August 2021 that Tilman Singer would be writing and directing his second film for Neon, with Hunter Schafer, John Malkovich, Gemma Chan and Sofia Boutella set to star. [2] In July 2022, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Marton Csokas and Greta Fernández joined the cast, while Malkovich and Chan dropped out due to "timing issues". [3]
Cuckoo is a co-production with Germany's Fiction Park and the United States' Waypoint Entertainment. [3] Principal photography took place in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, over a span of 35 days from May and July 2022, and was shot on 35mm film. [4] [5]
Cuckoo had its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival in the Berlinale Special section on February 16. [6] It also screened at South by Southwest on March 14, and at the Overlook Film Festival on April 4. [7] [8] It set to open at London's Raindance Film Festival on June 19 as part of the festival's special focus on Germany. [9]
The film is scheduled to be released in Germany by Weltkino Filmverleih on July 18, 2024. [10] The film was originally set to be released in the United States by Neon on May 3, 2024, [11] but the release date was pushed back to August 9, 2024, [12] and then pushed forward to August 2, 2024. [13]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 81% of 31 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.1/10. [14] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 58 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [15]
Adam Solomons of IndieWire gave the film a C- grade, writing: "Yet the biggest crime of Cuckoo is that it won't lean into being a B-movie, something it might've been good at. The performances — especially Stevens' — are silly and sincere, and the action competent enough for Cuckoo to have worked as pure pulp. But this film takes itself too seriously and pokes fun at its own silliness, a fatal combination". [16] RogerEbert.com's Robert Daniels also praised Stevens, noting, "Every choice Stevens makes as Mr. König doubles as a lampoon and a threat, as equally hilarious and sadistic." [17] Jessica Kiang of Variety called it "an energetically outlandish fusion of stylish atmospherics, old-school reproductive horror and pro-flickknife advertorial". [1]
The Hollywood Reporter 's David Rooney ended his review with, "It's ultimately too silly to be truly chilling, but with Neon behind it, Cuckoo might just be cuckoo enough to draw some cult attention". [18]
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