A short time ago (in fact, the movie is still playing in some theaters), Neon released a prestige horror movie called Longlegs. Savvier film critics than I made the connection to “Daddy Longlegs”, an archaic term from back when we needed euphemisms to call people groomers or pederasts. Anyway, the basic gist is that “Daddy Longlegs” was an anonymous benefactor who helped to raise an impressionable young girl until such time as she was old enough and presentable enough to openly court. And the film did indeed tap into that reference… in a manner so twisted and weighed down with bullshit that it became almost unrecognizable.

So here we are with Cuckoo, another prestige horror film from Neon with a title that evokes a particular reference. In this case, the cuckoo is quite famously a bird that lays its eggs in the nest of another bird so the impostor hatchling will be raised by the false mother. And once again, the plot and premise take that basic idea and weigh it down with so much convoluted madness that the filmmakers might have been better off starting from scratch entirely. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Hunter Schafer plays Gretchen, a moody disaffected teenager still reeling from her mother’s recent passing. What’s worse, she’s now stuck with her father (Luis, played by Martin Csokas), who’s shacked up with his new wife and their young daughter (respectively Beth and Alma, played by Jessica Henwick and Mila Lieu), and Gretchen is the only one acting like anyone just died. If anything, Luis and Beth are much more concerned with how Gretchen’s behavior is affecting Alma — who’s admittedly a mute eight-year-old girl who turns out to be epileptic. Worst of all, the family has been called away to a remote German resort, to help build the latest extension.

Enter Herr Konig (Dan Stevens), owner of the resort and Luis’ new employer. He graciously offers to house the new family and set Gretchen up with a job at the reception desk. Trouble is, this is a Dan Stevens character, so he radiates the kind of sleazeball energy that demands healthy caution.

In fact, Gretchen is increasingly frustrated with how nobody else seems to act normal. Not that Gretchen is helping matters, acting like a stereotypically self-centered teenager. Even so, we’ve got hotel guests spontaneously puking their guts out, in addition to the lack of any reception staff after dark, weird spells of deja vu, and a recent string of unusual deaths. That’s in addition to all the people who are just a little bit too happy and eagerly willing to brush off everything as perfectly normal. Thus Gretchen screams out to be heard, nobody takes her seriously, and it’s a vicious cycle.

While there are a couple of odd jump scares at the outset, this is much more of a suspense thriller. The vast majority of the horror comes from cryptic editing, shadowy figures in the background, freaky deja vu sequences, and the occasional bit of body horror from our central monster. But even more than all of that, the film is creepy because our protagonist is a young woman stuck in a remote and unfamiliar town where everyone — including and especially her own family — seems to have a secret and she doesn’t know who to trust.

Oh, and Gretchen goes through most of the film with a head injury and a broken arm, which further add to the stakes. Seriously, this is one of those movies that puts the protagonist through a meat grinder for 100 solid minutes.

Unfortunately, the cast is hit-and-miss. Kudos are absolutely due to Schafer, who capably delivers a moody rebellious teenager in a sympathetic way. And of course Dan Stevens is working well within his comfort zone. Alas, Csokas and Henwick are utterly wasted playing two thankless one-note roles. Jan Bluthardt is on hand as a shady character who claims to be a cop, and the film would’ve been so much better if Bluthardt and Csokas had traded roles.

And now we get down to the brass tacks: Plot and themes. Does the movie convey its intended artistic statements? Is the payoff worth the setup?

Well… kinda?

To dance around spoilers as best I can, The Watchers had a similar reveal, but at least that movie made some effort at tying in its monsters with established lore. There’s no such effort here. Which means we’re left with only the vaguest idea as to where the central monster came from and what it really is.

So, then maybe it’s an allegory. Maybe the monster and the plot only matter as a means of conveying the themes. Well, what are the themes, then?

They’re all over the place, is what they are.

This film has a lot to say about family, grief, scientific ethics, reproductive rights, and so on. There are so many layers at play here, and not all of them dovetail in any kind of effective way. Though there are admittedly times when they do, like that ingenious climax.

Unfortunately, Cuckoo tries to take on more plot threads and themes than the filmmakers could successfully juggle. It’s not that the ending completely sucks, and it’s not like the film is wholly void of merit. Quite the contrary, I really liked watching Hunter Schafer work, and the film has some genuinely innovative means of keeping up the terror with minimal reliance on jump scares. Even so, there’s definitely a sense that a few plot threads were left dangling, and the artistic messages weren’t as strong or as clear as the filmmakers intended.

Luckily, Cuckoo had the good fortune of coming out in a terrible weekend for blockbusters. And I’d happily recommend it over Longlegs. With those qualifiers, I’d say it’s worth a look.