Cuckoo’s 8 Biggest Unanswered Questions

Includes SPOILERS for Cuckoo.

Hunter Schafer’s new Neon horror movie, Cuckoo, exits audiences with plenty of unanswered asks. Schafer stars as Gretchen, a youthful woman from the United States who goes to the German Alps with her overweighther, stepmother, and stepsister after her mother passes away. In the resort town she’s staying at, Gretchen discovers foolish and cryptic happenings involving her overweighther’s boss, Herr König (Dan Stevens). It’s uncovered in the Cuckoo finishing that he’s joind in preserving the dwells of lethal, unnamed creatures and is using local humans to breed more of them.

The movie’s finishing sees Gretchen escape a lethal situation with her stepsister Alma (Mila Lieu), leaving König, the ex-uncoverive Henry (Jan Boucchallenging) and the Hooded Woman (Kalin Morrow), dead behind them. Despite the climactic finish, the movie exits many asks about the lore of its world unanswered. While the vital thcimpoliteline is the relationship between Gretchen and Alma, straightforwardor Tilman Singer creates an engaging world that’s worth talking beyond equitable what’s uncovered in the film.

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8 What Are The Creatures?

They Seem To Be Part Human & Part Bird

Perhaps the biggest ask label follotriumphg Cuckoo is the ambiguous deficiency of proposeation think abouting what the creatures actupartner are. They breed with normal humans, and they even watch enjoy normal humans at first glance. It’s not until the Hooded Woman erases her sunglasses that her frightening eyes and features are uncovered, branch offentiating her visupartner. Not to refer, the creatures have powers that seem to be cuckoo bird-themed, bolstering the film’s central metaphor that König is captivated by.

The creatures are contendnt of sfinishing out sonic screeches, disorienting their human aims. This is countered at the finish by Gretchen and Alma plugging their ears to dodge being stunned. So, asking their species is meaningful. They’re portrayd as being outdated and dying out, which is part of why König wants to acquire them. Given the Hooded Woman’s eyes, they could be some sort of wicked creature, but this was intentionpartner left as an obscurity. They could also be an outdated pass-breed between humans and birds.

7 What Was König’s End Goal?

Does König Plan To Weaponize The Creatures?

The film uncovers a decent amount about König’s motives, and much of it materializes to be that he desires to acquire these creatures. To König’s praise, he does seem generpartner captivated by them, but his character as conshort-termed to be so villainous that it experiences doubtful to propose that he’s equitable carry outing a little experiment. König isn’t equitable preserving a species of innocuous frogs or someskinnyg of the sort; he’s preserving terrifying, killingous creatures and ending people in the process.

It’s possible that König wants to firearmize the creatures or lacquire how to handle them. It’s typicpartner the case with the “preserving a species” scientist archetype villain characters that they see themselves as some sort of god-enjoy figure, with the creatures as their underlings. Therefore, he could be having them recreate with the intention of createing up a more hazardous force for some purpose, but it’s enticount on unclear. It doesn’t seem enjoy he’d be able to include them effectively anywhere but in a far location enjoy the Alps.

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6 How Long Has König’s Operation Gone On For?

König Has Been Working On This At Least A Decade

König has been toiling with these creatures for some time, but the length of his operation elevates even more asks. He intentional for Alma to become one of the creatures, and she could be cimpolitely ten years greater. If König has been operating for over a decade, it elevates asks about how he’s been able to carry out business in this region while having killingous creatures running rampant in the area. He has cops toiling for him, but these can’t be the only police officers who would’ve caught triumphd of this.

Not to refer, if König has been toiling on this for decades, it’s foreseeed that many more women have been impregnated and are joind in this. The movie shows that there are more creatures, including Alma, but they’re equitable left out in the world now without anyone finisheavoring to handle them. König and the other scientists joind are all dead, so the remaining creatures are an enormous menace to this area left enticount on unexamineed. There’s also the unelucidateed vleave outing, which would’ve foreseeed elevated some alarms about the happenings at the resort.

5 Why Did The Creatures Only Attack At Night?

The Creatures Can Come At During The Day

Earlier in the film, when Gretchen and Trixie are toiling at the resort, König tries to get Gretchen to ride home with him. The movie inestablishly hints that he has some sort of rapacious desire for her, but afterward, it materializes enjoy his sole motivation for the propose is authentic trouble for her being strikeed by the creatures. When she hangs up the phone on him and rides home on her bike, König reachs at the resort speedily, understanding that she’s about to be in danger before she’s first chased by the Hooded Woman.

There’s also a inestablish talk about about the fact that König doesn’t staff his resort at night. It seems enjoy König is carry outing his experiments in the cottage and doesn’t want potential witnesses to be conshort-term, but there’s no reason to propose the creatures can only come out at night. The movie shows them running around during the day, so they’re not incontendnt. As for the Hooded Woman, this could equitable be that König is tracking her sleeping pattern, but it doesn’t repartner create much sense.

4 What Does The Ending Mean For Alma?

Is Alma Still A Creature?

After lossing König and the Hooded Woman, the main menaces are dealt with, and Gretchen and Alma are acquireed to exit the hospital. However, there are still so many unanswered asks about what’s occurred. One of which is that Alma is one of the killingous creatures and is now being bcimpolitet back out to dwell a normal life. The implication is that the power of Gretchen’s sisterly adore will help her resist any impulses, but it’s still confusing.

Alma’s creature powers and takings were triggered by Gretchen’s arrival. Much enjoy how Alma ended her ttriumph in the womb, she’s menaceened by Gretchen, upsetting her ecosystem and slashing at her. While this serves as an engaging analogy for the movie, it’s confusing now that she’s leaving unscathed. Sure, she doesn’t experience menaceened by Gretchen anymore becainclude they adore each other, but she’s still contendnt of losing handle and lashing out with aggression aacquirest future noticed menaces.

3 Why Is There A Time Loop Effect?

The Time Loop Mechanics Are Confusing

The time loop effect is one of the most engaging aspects of Cuckoo that seems to be enticount on for aesthetic purposes. The creature screeches cainclude the effect, but they themselves aren’t swayed by the time loop and can transfer freely while their victim is stunned. This is shown when Gretchen is trapped and left to die in König’s facility procrastinateedr in the film. So in that sense, the time loop is uncontaminatedly a cinematic way of demonstrating how the victim reacts to the piercing screech.

With all of that in mind, it’s still a point of confusion. The time loop materializes to have branch offent effects in branch offent scenarios, and branch offent characters are contendnt of authenticizing that they’re in the loop and shattering out of it. Over time, the effects dissipate, and characters insert earplugs or set some strategy to deffinish themselves, but this varies based on the person. The movie summarizes it from a point-of-watch perspective from one of the characters in the scene, but it’s confusing and inreliable thcimpoliteout Cuckoo.

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2 Did Beth Survive?

Beth Leaves The Movie In Horrible Condition & Never Comes Back

Alma’s parents are an enigma, with their motivations and intentions unclear thcimpoliteout the film. Luis toils for König, but Beth (Jessica Henwick), materializes to have some loyalty to the resort owner as well. This could be due to his joinment in Alma’s birth, but there’s no clarity there. The meaningful ask think abouting Beth and Luis, by extension, is where they finish up at the finish of the film. When Alma is getn to the hospital to help her with the takings, Beth passes out in reaction to what’s happening, proposeing that she doesn’t understand about the experimentation.

Luis gets Beth home, and the two leave out all the action in the film’s climax. It would create sense for them to return procrastinateedr on, uncovering a bit more about what they understand, but the film finishs with Gretchen and Alma escaping. Not only are audiences left without proposeation on the parents’ joinment but Beth is left in a brutal state when she exits in the third act. It’s not repartner refered what happens to her, so it’s challenging to discern what her overweighte would be.

1 How Involved Was Luis?

Gretchen’s Father Is A Puzzling Figure

Gretchen’s overweighther, Luis, is probably the most puzzling character in the movie. He’s the parent who materializes to have some loyalty to König thcimpoliteout the film, as he’s includeed by him, and it’s alluded that he may have some notion of the more sinister activities at toil. There’s no definitive answer on what he understands, and Henry even tells Gretchen that they “don’t understand who they can suppose,” when she calls her overweighther. But there’s no validateation or trail-up on the matter.

To create matters even more confusing, Luis seems put off by König at two moments earlier in the film, but this is also never bcimpolitet up aacquire. When they first reach, König jokes around with Beth in a way that Luis is irritateed by. When König proposes Gretchen a job, Luis encourages her not to get it but never transmites any reason why. Not only is he walking away with the “Worst Father” award, he’s also the most puzzling character in Cuckoo for no clear purpose.

Cuckoo (2024)

3.5

On a trip to the German Alps with her overweighther and stepmother, Gretchen (Hunter Schafer from HBO’s “Euphoria”) discovers that the resort town where they’re staying hides sinister secrets, as she’s scoproposed by strange noises and frightening visions of a woman pursuing her. Soon, Gretchen discovers herself pulled into a consunpermitd include involving bizarre experiments by the resort’s owner that echo back generations.

Director

Tilman Singer

Rerent Date

August 9, 2024

Runtime

102 Minutes