‘Cuckoo’ trailer: Hunter Schafer leads Neon horror film by Tilman Singer

In the trailer for her upcoming horror film Cuckoo, Hunter Schafer’s character exclaims, “They believe I am insane.”NEON released the first trailer for Cuckoo on YouTube on April 3, 2024, directed by Tilman Singer.

The newest movie featuring the Euphoria star features her as Gretchen, a teenage girl who is compelled to move to a German village with her father, stepmother, and stepsister. However, Mr. König (portrayed by Dan Stevens), her father’s employer, has a menacing presence. Gretchen is recruited by him to work for him, and as a result, odd occurrences begin to take place. Before long, she is caught in a dangerous battle for survival.

Cuckoo made its debut at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival on February 16, 2024. It was later shown at the South by Southwest festival in Austin on March 14. The horror movie received predominantly positive reviews, with critics particularly praising Stevens’ remarkable performance.

An in-depth look at the Cuckoo trailer featuring Hunter Schafer

The opening of Tilman Singer’s latest film Cuckoo features a recording on a cassette tape. In the recording, Hunter Schafer’s character Gretchen can be heard crying as she pleas, “Mom, I really want to come home.”The recording goes on to reveal, “It’s getting bad.”

Gretchen’s recent move to a remote town in Germany was due to her father’s job. Upon arrival, his boss, Mr. König, inquired about their journey. While his wife was enthusiastic about the move, Gretchen’s father insisted on her meeting his boss. In the following scene, a neighbor introduced herself to Gretchen and mentioned that she was unaware of the teenager’s arrival.

“Why do you know about me?”inquires Hunter Schafer’s character. The scene then transitions to her stepsister’s dog barking at something in the woods, followed by a peculiar sound resembling a scream.

Mr. König offers Gretchen a job at the resort and she accepts. However, she does not seem to be enjoying herself and a girl approaches her to say, “You seem out of place here.”

Despite Mr. König’s assurance over the phone that he would come pick her up from the resort, Hunter Schafer’s Gretchen remains confused about the working hours as no one seems to work after 10 at night. This confusion leads her to ride her bicycle alone in the darkness of the night, indicating that she did not heed Mr. König’s advice.

Despite being unaware, she is suddenly confronted by a strange figure chasing after her. As she slowly turns her head around, she realizes that the stranger seems to be attacking her.

“Mr. König advises Hunter Schafer’s Gretchen, who is seen sitting on a hospital bed with injuries, that he wouldn’t want her to get hurt any further if he were in her shoes. In a different scene, when she inquires about the reason for being brought to “here”, he responds with a peculiar statement, “Your family has a place here.”

A sequence of rapid shots captures a man using binoculars and Gretchen sitting in a corner on the floor, holding a knife with her face covered in blood. As her voice narrates over various shots, she expresses that others believe she is insane. One of the shots shows Mr. König appearing to observe something on a monitor.

A longer sequence features a woman blow-drying her hair in her bedroom after taking a shower. Suddenly, a disfigured figure appears and the woman lets out a scream of terror. The scene continues with shots of a lifeless body, Mr. König holding a wig, and a man sneaking around in the darkness. In the background, König can be heard commenting, “Nature truly is extraordinary.”

In a scene featuring Hunter Schafer’s character Gretchen, she can be seen hiding from an unknown person while a voice speaks, “Certain species require our assistance.”Later, she is shown in a room with the same voice coming through a speaker, offering her the opportunity to play an important role in their mission for preservation.

As the figure nears the room where Gretchen is located, she readies herself for self-defense with a piece of wood. However, to her surprise, the figure materializes behind her. In a state of panic, Gretchen lets out a scream and in the last moments of the trailer, she hears König’s haunting words, “Consider yourself fortunate.”

The synopsis for the film on the NEON website reads as follows:

“Reluctantly, 17-year-old Gretchen leaves her American home to live with her father, who has just moved into a resort in the German Alps with his new family. Arriving at their future residence, they are greeted by Mr. König, her father’s boss, who takes an inexplicable interest in Gretchen’s mute half-sister Alma. Something doesn’t seem right in this tranquil vacation paradise. Gretchen is plagued by strange noises and bloody visions until she discovers a shocking secret that also concerns her own family.”

The highly anticipated film Cuckoo, featuring an all-star cast including Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Marton Csokas, and Mila Lieu, has been scheduled for release in Germany on July 18, 2024 and in the United States on August 9, 2024.