To the impressive list of auteur horrors this year, 'Cuckoo' by German director Tilman Singer has been added. What will this original but slightly derivative horror film be remembered for — in our review.

In the plot of the film 'Cuckoo', 17-year-old girl named Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) arrives with her family at an Alpine resort. Her architect parents are supposed to design several hotel complexes. Gretchen (the locals immediately try to rename her to the more euphonious local version — Gretchen) doesn't like the new home. She longs for her past life in New York. And even more, she misses her former family. The girl's mother recently died tragically, her father (Marton Csokas) has already remarried, and the new family has a daughter, Alma (Mila Lie). Gretchen treats her stepsister, if not hostilely, then rather coldly, but Alma, childishly naive, doesn't notice this and adores her sister.

Upon arriving in the fabulously beautiful and simultaneously frightening Alps with their pines, Gretchen's family is greeted by a courteous but occasionally cold-eyed Herr König (the imposing Dan Stevens). He settles them into the local hotel, and to distract Gretchen from sad thoughts, offers her a job at the reception, but warns that she must close exactly at 10:00 PM and immediately return home, preferably without looking back. On her first solo shift, the girl hears a terrifying scream outside and is pursued by a hideous-looking woman.

For the horror genre, it seems, a breakthrough year has arrived. Not only significant genre auteurs have already made their mark (with more to come, including their take on 'Nosferatu'), but also those directors who are usually considered 'promising'. Among the latter is German director Tilman Singer, who has released another representative of elevated horror onto wide screens, which, like all others, tries to scare but also, by inertia, deals with the dramaturgy of trauma in a broad spectrum: from teenage rebellion to issues of surrogacy.

Roman Kovalev

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At times it looks as if the film 'Sisters' were directed, say, by Sergei Bodrov Jr., David Lynch, and David Cronenberg, taking turns. Occasionally, Stanley Kubrick and Leonid Gaidai would also drop by and give instructions. Such a pedigree from the classics gives certain hopes, which the author cleverly fulfills. True, mostly from an artistic point of view. The visuals of 'Cuckoo' take the best from the masters: a beautiful, laconic picture with still-relevant new wave on the soundtrack, gloomy empty hotels, scattered psychological studies, and unexpectedly simple and funny comedic gags.

Especially good are the short hypnotic inserts in which infernal screams from the forest loop time. In short, the screen again features the 80s, now fashionable in cinema, but with Singer's individual vision (smartphones here coexist comfortably with cassette players and old answering machines). And, of course, at times it is inventively scary, as befits the trendiest horror film. These emotional swings are the main driving force of the first third of the film.

It's a different matter when, in the second third of 'Cuckoo', these rolling horror elements (along with nervous laughs) end, and something like a detective story begins, with completely alien and absurd shootouts. That's when this monstrous structure starts to wobble heavily from side to side and barely survives until the finale, torn between several thoughts at once. But they all resemble more transparent hints and mysterious winks. Singer is not eager to explain anything. However, he has achieved the main thing: the film keeps the viewer on edge throughout its runtime, so that they have enough strength to sort through everything piled up there.

The only question that hangs in the air after viewing, in a surprising way, turns 'Cuckoo' into a peculiar remake of 'Sisters' from 2001 and simultaneously nullifies all the author's efforts to stay within genre boundaries. What should a teenager do when adults are busy with their squabbles and even shooting indiscriminately in different directions? Singer's answer is quite obvious: don't get into a fight, but stand quietly on the sidelines. Protect the little sister from danger and run away at the first opportunity. Or better yet, not go to the remote wilderness at all, where anything goes. To leave this, frankly, uncomplicated social commentary, Singer for some reason needed monsters and time experiments. Why? To make everything look more beautiful. After all, it's 2024 on the calendar, not 2001.