2024’sCuckoois an unsettling and effective horror film that builds to a surprisingly bloody and emotionally resonant finale. Direct by Tilman Singer,Cuckoofocuses on Hunter Schafer’s Gretchen, an average teenager forced to spend the summer with their estranged father, his wife, and her half-sibling Alma. Relocating to a remote resort in the German Alps, the scenic setting is given a sense of mysterious menace thanks to Dr. Köning and his polite but forceful control of the resort. However, mysteries surrounding the resort steadily unravel and endanger Gretchen, especially after she encounters a monstrous Woman with Red Eyes.
By the end of the film,Cuckoohas teased out the connection between Alma and the mysterious woman, as well as why Köning has been working so hard to keep the resort’s secrets hidden from the rest of the world. However, there are enough lingering threads that a prospective sequel would have plenty of material to explore. Here’s what happens in the ending ofthe Neon horror movieCuckooand how it could set up more stories within the universe.
Cuckoo’s 8 Biggest Unanswered Questions
Hunter Schafer’s new horror movie, Cuckoo, leaves audiences with several unanswered questions about the movie’s events and its world-building.
Is Alma Still Connected To The Cuckoo?
Her Fate And Relationship To The Cuckoo Is Deliberately Left Ambiguous
One of the lingering threads fromCuckoo’s ending isthe fate of Alma and her connection to the Red Eyed Woman.Cuckoois largely focused on Gretchen, who is an unexpected wrinkle in the plans of Dr. Köning. Although Gretchen is initially distant from her younger half-sister Alma, she becomes more defensive of her when she discovers she’s one of the progeny of the Woman With Red Eyes. This gives Alma some of the same abilties. However, her full abilities need to be unlocked by reuniting with the Woman With Red Eyes, which also would alter Alma’s mind.
Gretchen’s efforts to protect her sister end up upending Dr. Köning’s plans, as her escape from his traps with the help of Henry allows her to interfere with the reunion between Alma and the Woman With Red Eyes.Gretchen even kills the monstrous villain, potentially freeing Alma from that fate. However, the ending of the film suggests that Alma may retain some of the physical characteristics and powers of the Woman With Red Eyes. This gives the ending ofCuckooa mysterious little touch that could be explored in future stories.
The Woman With Red Eyes In Cuckoo Explained
The Nature Of The Threat She Presents Is Mysterious
The Woman With Red Eyes is a mysterious and threatening force withinCuckoo. Although she isn’t necessarily behind the events of the film in the same way Dr. Köning is, she is the motivating factor behind his machinations. A new life-form similar to humans, the Woman With Red Eyes has been using her abilites (which addmany supernatural horror layerstoCuckoo) to attack and manipulate the visitors to Dr. Köning’s resort. A fearsome creature, the Woman With Red Eyes is capable of emitting a sound that incapacitates people, allowing her to attack them or mess with their perception of time and memory.
She effectively infects the children conceived on the grounds, resulting in them developing potential abilities like hers. Dr. Köning seeks to foster the development of this species, explaining his isolated resort and machinations. The Woman With Red Eyes has been targeting people for years, and uses her innate connection with her “children” to unleash their full potential. However, before she can do so with Alma, Gretchen is able to lure her away and even kill her.The Woman With Red Eyes is the closest thingCuckoohas to an old-school monster, and proves to be an effective threat.
Henry’s Real Motivations & What Happened To His Wife
The Allie Turned Threat To Alma Is A Nuanced Character
One of Gretchen’s only allies inCuckoois Henry. Introduced as a detective looking into the resort, it’s steadily revealed that Henry and his wife were former guests at the resort. However, their experience ultimately resulted in his wife dying. Henry’s investigation is entirely self-focused, as he seeks revenge for her loss. At first, this makes him exactly the kind of ally Gretchen needs. No one else believes her about the Woman With Red Eyes. Henry’s investigative skills and prior experience make him crucial in not only protecting Gretchen, but helping her escape capture.
However, the fact that he wants to kill everyone connected to the Woman, including Alma,makes Henry a dangerous wildcard in the third act of the film. Gretchen doesn’t just have to work to avoid Dr. Köning but also Henry. There’s also the genuine truth that he might be right about the dangerous qualities of Alma. Although she proves strong enough to help Gretchen escape and avoid the overt corruption of the Woman With Red Eyes, she may yet prove to be a similar threat. However, Gretchen’s refusal to turn on her sister turns Henry from friend to reluctant foe.
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Do Köning & Henry Die In Cuckoo’s Ending?
Their Final Moments Weren’t Shown But Implied
Cuckoohas a number of deaths, especially in the third act once Gretchen has been exposed to the truth about the Woman With Red Eyes and Dr. Köning. Many of Dr. Köning’s allies, including his fellow doctors researching the new species, are either killed by Henry or Dr. Köning himself. The monstrous Woman is slain by Gretchen after an intense game of cat-and-mouse. However, the last two big deaths are left somewhat unresolved. Discovering one another within the lab, Dr. Köning and Henry get into a shoot-out that only becomes more intense when Gretchen and Alma arrive.
The pair are able to shield one another from the gunmen, who hold back out of fear of hitting the wrong person. However, once the sisters have cleared the room, two gunshots ring out. Considering neither of them rush out to stop their escape,it’s implied that Dr. Köning and Henry killed one another. However, because the moment is somewhat ambiguous, it would be possible for either or even both of them to have escaped with their lives in a prospective follow-up.
How Cuckoo Sets Up A Sequel
The ending ofCuckooresolves the primary threats of the film,but leaves enough lingering threads that could be brought back for a follow-up. Although the Woman With Red Eyes has been killed, it’s possible that others like her may continue to exist or evovle. There were other women who transformed in a similar fashion to Alma, who could eventually replace her. There’s also the chance that Alma could eventually given in to that side of herself, fully unlocking her abilities and transforming into a more monstrous figure.
The continued existence of the new species could easily justify a follow-up, expanding on their abilities and full history.It’s also possible that Henry or Dr. Köning survived their fateful shoot-out. Given their motivations and how things played out at the end of the film, it’s possible that either or both of them could return, seeking to finish their original plans. There’s also the lingering possibility that Gretchen and Alma’s father was more involved in the plan than he appeared, adding to the mystery that could be resolved with a sequel.
The Real Meaning Of Cuckoo
Cuckoo Is A Commentary On Sisterhood
Cuckoois quietly a powerful movie about growing up and sisterhood, especially in regards to Gretchen and Alma. It’s steadily revealed through the film that Gretchen was always closer with her mother over her father, especially after he left and had a new family. This divide remains between those two, but a softer one steadily grows between Gretchen and Alma. This builds to the point where Gretchen is willing to risk her life in a bid to try and rescue Alma, despite Henry explaining the dangers her survival presents the world. Their bond becomes the most important remaining connection Gretchen has, and it underscores much of the film’s climax.
One of Dr. Köning’s machinations is to effectively isolate Gretchen for much of the film, separating her from her family either through the mundanity of a part-time job to the more malicious efforts to keep her imprisoned in his resort. However, that emotional connection steadily proves to be an unshakable aspect of their relationship, anda key factor in both Gretchen and Alma’s survival. Despite their different origins and family connections, the two are sisters. It’s a surprisingly strong message of family bonds overcoming generational manipulation and pain, and givesCuckooa soft core beneath the unsettling scares.
How The Cuckoo Ending Was Received
Responses To The Final Moments Were Mostly Confusion
Cuckoowas received well by critics, being one of several standout horror movies released in 2024. While praise wasn’t universal, the 79% Tomatometer score held by the movie onRotten Tomatoesshows that, for the most part, the reviews were positive. However,while there was much about director Tilman Singer’s horror that was celebrated, the ending was brought up by several critics in a less-than-positive light.
For example, critic Benjamin Lee pointed out in his review forThe Guardianthatthe ending ofCuckoofelt a little too bloated with exposition. This, combined with some pacing issues, meant that the core message behindCuckoo’sfinal scenes became somewhat lost in the barrage of sinister visuals and intricate concepts. While Lee singled out many positives in the film, and noted the amibitious attempt that the ending ofCuckoowas, he and many other critics felt it became too bogged down in its many moving parts:
“Singer’s increasingly sloppy plotting starts to get in the way of the bigger picture by the frantic last act, which is both strangely filled with exposition info dumps yet still lacking in much sense. Singer goes for big emotional kickers about the importance of belonging and family but still can’t quite cobble together an explanation that hangs together. "
This sentiment was echoed in several other reviews, such as Jessica Kiang’s review forVariety.Much like Benjamin Lee, Kiang felt that the ending ofCuckoolost some of its potential due to too much going on and the film trying to juggle too many elements at once:
“Despite Paul Faltz’s mordantly elegant cinematography and the nice line in 1980s-style synth scoring from Simon Waskow, Singer doesn’t have anything so conceptual or “elevated” on his mind. Or if he does, it’s crowded out by the 27 other ways he wants to get freaky at that same moment, some more successful than others, and none of them even remotely explained by any of the increasingly elaborate exposition dumps that pepper the route to an unnecessarily elongated shoot-out finale.”
Ultimately, whileCuckoowas received well and is considered one of the stronger horror movies of 2024, it was somewhat let down by the ending. Had Tilman Singer simplified things a little, this likely wouldn’t have been the case, and the end ofCuckoocould have elevated the movie from a great horror to one of the best of the year. As it stands however, the final moments of Neon’s surreal 2024 horror created a little too much confusion for cirtics and viewers alike.
Cuckoo
Cast
On a trip to the German Alps with her father and stepmother, Gretchen (Hunter Schafer from HBO’s “Euphoria”) discovers that the resort town where they’re staying hides sinister secrets, as she’s plagued by strange noises and frightening visions of a woman pursuing her. Soon, Gretchen finds herself pulled into a conspiracy involving bizarre experiments by the resort’s owner that echo back generations.
