Cuckoo (2024)- A Spooky Season review
I’m not really sure I actually followed Cuckoo. I’m fascinated by it, but I’m not actually sure I know what the heck was happening all the time. That might actually be the point. A24 and Neon have been increasingly challenging their audiences by releasing artistically divine films that people are often confused by and love at the same time. Yes, some people write off these as artsy messes, and that’s to be expected. But what we’re cultivating here is original artistic expression in a way that doesn’t feel like a streaming movie of the week, nor is it derivative of a larger work, a reboot, sequel, remake, spinoff, or requel. It just simply is Cuckoo.
A teenager finds herself in a situation where she needs to move, and increasingly unsettling things begin to happen. If you enjoy things that get more and mor unhinged, and get totally off the rails, then that’s really all you need to know. Cuckoo is cuckoo. It isn’t an easily digestible narrative, but the insanity that encapsulates this film is brilliant.when you think about films with just little plot elements, and how people go back and rewatch those films, Cuckoo could very much be that movie. It could inspire an immediate rewatch, like with Shutter Island, or people who still are trying to figure out the ending to Inception.
And the audio description, the written part is just excellent. there’s some really bizarre stuff here, and not to give too much of it away, but this one has people moving at unnatural angles with their bodies, which is something I always find fascinating and creepy. I still remember Julianne Moore’s The Forgotten not because of the amazing plot or direction, but because of those villains whose mouths spread beyond what a normal mouth would spread. It gave me chills, and still does. Some things are just unnerving, and Cuckoo took a film that isn’t necessarily the scariest or goriest of the year, and brought out something new. A very odd flavor. It’s the earwax Bertie bot that sounds awful, but you try it anyway.
Will this make sense? unlikely. Will it matter? That depends on how worn down you are by all the franchise films hitting you from all sides. We keep asking for something original, and well… this is that.
Final Grade: B+
