Cuckoo

Director: Tilman Singer
Starring: Hunter Schafer, Jan Bluthardt, Martin Csokis, Jessica Henwick, Dan Stevens, Mila Lieu, Greta Fernández, Proschat Madani, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Konrad Singer, Kalin Morrow
Running Time: 103 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★)  

The highest compliment that can be paid to writer/director Tilman Singer's unusually ambitious Cuckoo is how this German/U.S. co-production feels more like a foreign horror film than your typical mainstream American release. It doesn't take long to notice there's something noticeably different about Singer's semi-international feature, which injects its bizarre story with genuine suspense and scares, regardless of how seriously you choose to take it. Every shot serves a purpose, only making it easier to buy this ludicrous but clever premise that plays fairly within the rules of its own demented universe. 

Even when the wild explanations start coming, Singer weaves together a compelling psychological thriller few would assume was possible based on its wacky plot description alone. Connecting on nearly every level, it absorbs us in the isolation of a teen protagonist whose own family wants little to do with her. But the feeling's mutual, up to and including when a lunatic's dangerous supernatural experiment wrecks havoc.

Following her mother's recent death, a still grieving 17-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) moves to the Bavarian Alps in Germany to live with her father Luis (Marton Csokis), stepmother Beth (Jessica Henwick) and mute half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu). Settling in a resort town to help build a new hotel run by the mysteriously intrusive, ever present Herr König (Dan Stevens), the family sees Gretchen's arrival as a major inconvenience, even going so far as to hold her presence responsible for Alma's increasing seizures. 

Soon after König sets Gretchen up with a job working the hotel's front desk, she starts witnessing strange occurrences, such as guests inexplicably vomiting in the lobby. But when she's chased by a screeching hooded woman after hours, the frightening encounter leads a detective named Henry (Jan Bluthardt) to enlist her help in finding the creepy attacker. Little does Gretchen know that it all leads back to König and his control over Alma. 

What's happening with Alma extends far beyond a chronic medical condition, but for Gretchen, banishment to the boredom of working the front desk seems preferable to spending another minute at home. But it's really when she forms a bond with female guest named Ed (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey) that things suddenly go from bad to weird, derailing whatever plans she had to escape her nightmare of a family.  

Gretchen is put through the emotional and physical wringer almost from the moment she arrives to live with Luis and Beth, who both view her as a burden. In a sling and head bandage for most of the picture, Euphoria star Schafer gives about as engrossing and intense a performance as anyone could in their first feature lead turn, grounding what should be pure absurdity in the emotional hurt of a misunderstood, neglected teen. The real enemy isn't who Gretchen assumes, allowing her to evolve over the course of the film, eventually ending up in a far different place than where she began.

Digging into Gretchen's trauma without explicitly calling attention it, Singer lets Schafer's demeanor and body language do most of the heavy lifting. And she'll need to since everything that follows her night time altercation with the hooded woman is insane, as are its ties to König's elaborate plan involving parasites, flutes, slime, time warps, breeding, and of course, cuckoo birds. It's enough to make Charles Darwin spin in his grave, faltering only slightly in moments where Singer's script is required to explain it. But he even fares reasonably well there, powering through those details in a style that doesn't detract from the gritty atmosphere.

As the bearded, bespeckled mad scientist König, an unrecognizable Dan Stevens so deeply immerses himself into this character that viewers might instead assume they're watching an unknown German actor. Alternating between mild mannered host and aspiring Bond villain within a single scene, Stevens plays it politely subdued most of the way through, at least until König's experiment is compromised, enabling him to really unravel and cut loose. Jessica Henwick slides into a smaller, less significant role as the uncaring Beth while German actors Csokis and Bluthardt each impress in their increasingly pivotal parts.

With a story that surrounds an enigmatic scientist's hold over their young subject, Cuckoo carries echoes of Beyond The Black Rainbow and Stranger Things, making for an experience more immersive than the sum of its sillier parts. Too inventive and hypnotizing to casually dismiss, this doesn't exactly break the mold, but succeeds by wrapping its eccentric concept around smartly written characters defined by the craziness engulfing them.

The Royal Hotel

Director: Kitty Green
Starring: Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick, Toby Wallace, Hugo Weaving, Ursula Yovich, James Frecheville, Daniel Henshall, Baykali Ganambarr
Running Time: 91 min.
Rating: R 

★★½ (out of ★★★★)

Kitty Green's The Royal Hotel doesn't really start until it's about ready to end, resulting in a slow burn that finally boils over before the credits roll. Less a traditional thriller than a series of misogynistic ordeals befalling its two protagonists, what unfolds is intelligently staged and performed. And yet, even with an atmosphere ripe for such a scenario, this impending sense of doom still feels like a big tease. Seemingly seeking inspiration from 1971's Australian cult classic, Wake In Fright, its best scenes do channel a similar dislocation and anxiety at being stranded in unfamiliar territory with menacing locals. But since so little happens, more patience is required. 

Such a methodical buildup could be a deal breaker for those wanting the film to go somewhere it doesn't, anticipating a violent, grueling story of two young women fighting for survival abroad. Green's previous feature, 2019's #MeToo drama The Assistant actually does a better job ratcheting up a series of micro and macro aggressions within its claustrophobic office setting. This lacks the urgency of that effort, but does feature another absorbing performance from Ozark actress Julia Garner, who at least ensures it won't be mistaken for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.             

When American backpackers Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) travel through Sydney, Australia and run out of money while partying, they agree to take jobs as bartenders at the Royal Hotel pub in a remote outback mining town. Planning to stay until they've earned enough cash to enjoy their vacation, they meet the pub's owner, Billy (Hugo Weaving) and his wife Carol (Ursula Yovich), who works as the chef. Arriving as their predecessors are thrown a wild going away party, Hanna and Liv are exposed to the patrons, nearly all of whom are drunk men who make sexist jokes, hit on them, and are basically offensive in every way. 

While Hanna is disturbed and frightened by the guys' behavior, Liv chalks it up to cultural differences, rationalizing they just need to hang tight for a few more weeks. But even as Hanna forges a bond with local pubgoer Matty (Toby Wallace), it's clear they're not as safe as Liv presumes. Threatening incidents grow in number and intensity, compromising their ability to walk away without facing potentially violent consequences. As easygoing Liv continues to let things roll off her back, Hanna's had enough, knowing they'll have to take a stand before it's too late.

Based on a true story and adapted into the 2016 documentary Hotel Coolgardie, it isn't hard to believe much of what happens in Green and co-writer Oscar Redding's script, especially considering how it exploits the human fear of fending for yourself in an unknown location surrounded by strangers. Add drinking to an already unbalanced dynamic and those tensions only heighten, lending these events a sense of realism, though not necessarily nail-biting excitement. 

The two friends couldn't be any more different, with Hanna constantly on guard, overwhelmed by the sense things could quickly go bad for them. Between strong hints of racism and implied rape, she knows what's happening here, even as Liv's head remains in the clouds. If nothing else, it's intriguing to see Garner in a role that's the antithesis of Ozark's Ruth Langmore, playing a shy, vulnerable target rather than an agent of chaos. She really registers in the quieter scenes where we see the vaguely disguised terror on Hanna's face, each subtle expression correctly predicting how much worse it'll get. 

Henwick's Liv is a shallower written character, as even a blinking neon "Danger" sign outside the hotel wouldn't be enough to convince her to leave. Hugo Weaving is nearly unrecognizable as pub owner Billy, whose drinking unleashes an unpleasantness wife Carol has grown sick of years ago. Maybe the the only trustworthy person the girls encounter, she knows what it's like to be a woman in a town full of intimidating brutes. One of them, Dolly (Daniel Henshall), comes across as the creepiest and most malicious, hovering on the periphery before an unnerving scene confirms Hanna's worst suspicions. 

Toby Wallace also makes a big impact as Matty, who Hanna is drawn to, but keeps at arm's length. The arc is fairly predictable, but Wallace plays it down the middle so skillfully that we grasp her ambivalence in the face of many red flags. Anyone who's seen Netflix's cancelled too soon The Society knows how strong an actor he is, standing out amidst a loaded cast of future stars. He brings that same devious charm to this, despite the project not amounting to nearly as much. 

By the time this reaches the last act, its reasonable length still leaves you spent, with the closing minutes feeling almost too convenient, if not overdue. Even with Garner delivering a turn that strays considerably from her Emmy winning TV role, it still doesn't quite get over the finish line. The Royal Hotel works well enough as a psychological character study, but everything comes down to its payoff, which reveals a promising setup in search of the missing pieces to do it justice.                      

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Jannelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Noah Segan, Jackie Hoffman, Dallas Roberts
Running Time: 139 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

What's immediately obvious about Rian Johnson's much anticipated Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion, is just how wildly different it is from its predecessor. Whereas the 2019 original boasted a carefully constructed but relatively straightforward mystery plot, there are few more extra layers to peel back here, making good on its title. It's bigger, messier and more bitingly satirical, with a very recognizable all-star cast throwing themselves into their wildly eccentric characters. More elaborate and convoluted than the first film, an inordinate amount of time is spent establishing the suspects, and we're so caught up in their crazily flawed personalities that when the actual murder comes, it almost seems like an intrusion. And that's not even the real crime, but instead a gateway leading down another rabbit hole.

It's only when Johnson pulls the proverbial trigger that you realize all of this was less set-up than actual story, brimming with substantial clues you wouldn't think to notice the first time around. Flashing back to fill in the gaps, we realize the killing in question is just a small piece of a much larger puzzle, though certainly not an unsolvable one for Daniel Craig's super sleuth Benoit Blanc. There's probably little reason to rewatch the film knowing how everything plays out, but it earns points for timeliness, incorporating some really hot button issues ripe for parody. More broadly comedic and far from flawless, it still does what's necessary really well, resulting in a worthy, entertaining follow-up.

When Miles Bron (Edward Norton), billionaire co-founder of the Alpha technology company decides to host a murder mystery weekend getaway at his mansion, the Glass Onion, in Greece, he sends an elaborate wooden puzzle box invites to five friends. Among the recipients are Alpha's head scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), Connecticut governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), famous fashion designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), men's rights influencer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) and ousted Alpha co-founder Cassandra "Andi" Brand (Jannelle Monáe). Birdie's handler and assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick) and Duke's girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline) also come along, but the true outlier is famed private investigator Benoit Blanc (Craig), whose presence Miles immediately questions despite brandishing an invitation. 

Each of the guests (or "disruptors" as Miles endearingly calls them) seem to share a unique history or parasitic relationship with their host, whose intentions to stage a mystery game revolving around his own murder are quickly derailed when more serious issues concerning his company and the attendees' intentions surface. All isn't what it seems, especially when it comes to his future plans for Alpha and ex-CEO Andi's inexplicable invite. Someone will be murdered on Miles' private island before the weekend ends, and it'll be up to Blanc to not only uncover the killer, but their motivation. Then he'll have to prove it. 

Johnson's taking shots at the easiest possible targets in wealthy, elite weirdos, but that still doesn't make it any less funny or true. Norton's Miles is clearly an Elon Musk stand-in, with maybe just a pinch of other narcissistic billionaires like Jeff Bezos thrown in for good measure. But mostly, it's Musk. Norton hasn't played a role even vaguely resembling this so it's fun to see him tear into it, as Miles pretentiously talks in pointless platitudes, reiterating to anyone willing to listen how this technology will change the world and they should be grateful for his existence. These "friends" are all in, largely because they're hanger-ons whose entire lives, careers and financial endeavors depend on him. 

No one exactly likes Miles, but he's their meal ticket, so the gang doesn't see much choice in the matter, bending over backwards to make him happy. Of course, Blanc sniffs that out right away, recognizing the pompous billionaire as a potential target whose mystery game could soon turn very real. But there's still a lot we don't know, and most of the fun comes in that info slowly slipping out. And set against a spectacular visual backdrop from production designer Rick Heinrichs that encapsulates Miles' opulent oddball sensibilities, the Glass Onion compound could be considered as memorable a character as the selfish people inhabiting it for the weekend.

The loaded cast have their moments to shine, with some leaving larger impressions than others. As ditzy, airheaded fashion magnate Birdie, Hudson probably has the meatiest supporting role, and one that comes closest to approximating the kind of part her mom would have played decades earlier. She does well with it, as does a quietly scene-stealing Jessica Henwick as her exasperated assistant, seemingly always a minute away from quitting. She also gives the single best line delivery in the film upon discovering the true extent of her boss's stupidity. 

As a chauvinistic social media streamer, Bautista plays somewhat of an entitled jerk for a change, but finds a lot more in the character as his arc progresses, earning a certain degree of empathy for Duke, who's yet another pawn in Miles' game. Madelyne Cline brings more to the table than expected as Duke's girlfriend Whiskey, adding some needed dimension to what could have been a throwaway role. And the always great Kathryn Hahn is dependably sarcastic and hilarious as the image-conscious politician, leaving Leslie Odom Jr. with probably the least to do as Miles' loyal scientist, even as he still makes the most of it. There are also some clever cameos, two in particular marking final screen appearances for a pair of legends.

In a breakout comparable to Ana de Armas' in the original, Jannelle Monáe outright hijacks the movie as Andi, the ex-CEO with a grudge to settle with Miles and maybe a few others. It's established early that the question is less why she's been invited, but her motivation in accepting. Their history is at the core of the case and it gradually becomes apparent just how tricky a role Monáe has, sort of a performance within a performance, calling on her to constantly balance comedy and drama while also carrying a large load of intense action scenes. She basically does it all as the most intriguing and mysterious character of the group, driven by intentions that differ from anyone else. Craig's dry humor is probably the most noticeable carry over from the previous film, and seems to gain even more mileage this time. Blanc's kind of a suaver Columbo in that the crazier things get, the more nonchalant he appears to be, even as we know the wheels are always turning in his head and the true culprit rarely stands a chance of outwitting the master. 

Despite a bloated length and some early rough patches, enough is done at the midway point to justify much of what came earlier. The plot of the first may have been tighter, but Glass Onion makes up for it with ambition, sticking a landing that's less dependent on evidence and clues than pure unbridled revenge and emotion. It's a sequel with a point to make, with Johnson unafraid of foregoing more conventional, predictable routes in getting there. He knows the most interesting part of a whodunnit isn't the crime, but all the little details surrounding it.