“Euphoria” breakout Hunter Schafer is playing yet another teen trying to outrun her familial drama, except this time, it’s a surreal matter of life or death. Schafer leads “Cuckoo,” written and directed by “Luz” filmmaker Tilman Singer.
Six years after Singer’s 2018 feature debut, “Cuckoo” centers on 17-year-old Gretchen (Schafer) who is forced to leave her American home to live with her father (Márton Csókás) in a resort in the German Alps with his new wife (Jessica Henwick) and family. Yet it’s her father’s boss Mr. Konig (Dan Stevens) and his obsession with Gretchen’s mute half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu) that unlocks a larger, more sinister presence at the resort. Gretchen becomes haunted by strange noises and bloody visions until she discovers a shocking secret that also concerns her own family. Jan Bluthardt and Greta Fernandez also star in the horror film.
“Cuckoo” was shot on 35mm and premiered at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival and had its North American premiere at the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival. The Neon feature is produced by Markus Halberschmidt, Josh Rosenbaum, Maria Tsigka, Ken Kao, Thor Bradwell, and Ben Rimmer.
Boutique studio Neon recently inked a strategic financial partnership with “Cuckoo” producer Kao’s Waypoint Entertainment in March 2024. The upcoming films as part of the deal are slated to be indies in the $10 million budget range, a type of film that “often gets overlooked by studios and streamers,” according to Kao. “Cuckoo” is the first film collaboration between Neon and Waypoint.
Schafer will next appear in Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness” and David Lowery’s “Mother Mary,” which co-stars Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Kaia Gerber, and Jessica Brown-Findlay. Schafer told IndieWire that audiences will be “mind-blown” at “Mother Mary” which follows a pop star (Hathaway) who has a twisted romantic relationship with a fashion designer (Coel).
Schafer plays Hilda, the personal assistant to Coel’s co-lead character. The film is slated to be a epic pop melodrama and features original songs by Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX. “It was a lot of fun and I think people are going to be mind-blown,” Schafer told IndieWire of the A24 film. “I was mind-blown.”
“Cuckoo” hits theaters on Friday, August 9. Check out the film’s first trailer below.
