Cuckoo ending explained: Interesting ideas that don't amount to much

2024 has been full of ambitious horror movies that have had us running to the movie theater, and Cuckoo is no different. The film, written and directed by Tilman Singer, is a German-American co-production that just hit theaters in a limited release today, Aug. 9. The twisty story follows an American teenager named Gretchen, played by Hunter Schafer, who, after her mom dies, has to go live with her father and his new family in Germany.

Gretchen's father Luis, his wife Beth, and their daughter Alma already had plans to move to the German Alps to build a new hotel, working alongside businessman Herr König, and now, Gretchen is along for the ride. But her arrival becomes a complication for König, who has plans of his own for the resort. It doesn't take long after the family arrives for strange occurrences to begin, with Gretchen being stalked by a creepy woman wearing a hood. Who is this weird woman, what's going on at the resort, and what does König want? We find out by the end of Cuckoo.

WARNING: Major spoilers for Cuckoo are below.

As mentioned, this hooded woman seemingly living in the woods begins to follow Gretchen at night, and Gretchen is terrified. One night as she's riding her bike back home from work, she sees the mysterious woman running after her, and she hurries to the hospital. But when she gets there, she ends up running into glass as she desperately tries to get away from the woman and suffers a minor head injury. No one takes Gretchen seriously when she says a woman was following her, and the police say it must've been a prank.

Another night, Gretchen is stalked again after she attempts to flee the resort with a hotel guest named Ed. The two hit it off quickly and Gretchen, after taking all of the money out of the hotel's cash register, gets into her car and is ready to leave this all behind. But as they drive, a strange vibrating noise begins and they get stuck on a loop. The hooded woman then appears in the middle of the street and Ed, trying to dodge her, crashes her car. Gretchen becomes incredibly paranoid and frightened by these events, understandably, and her half-sister Alma starts having seizures. Her father and stepmother blame Gretchen for putting Alma under stress.

The hooded woman explained

Gretchen meets a detective named Henry who tells her he is investigating the hooded woman, which is a relief to Gretchen. They begin working together but soon enough, König catches on. Under the guise that he's bringing her to the train station to leave, König brings Gretchen to his home and it's there that she finally learns who the hooded woman is. The hooded woman is some type of woman-bird creature, who lives like cuckoo birds with brood parasitism. This is a behavioral pattern in which a species relies on others to raise their young after breeding. So, basically, in this instance, König is breeding women in order to preserve this bird-like species, and he's having other humans raise the babies until they are of age.

Alma, as we discover, is one of the children of König's breeding. Earlier in the film, it's mentioned that Luis and Beth conceived Alma at the resort eight years ago, and now we know what happened. König has been using this species to inseminate women who come to the resort, and he tries to do the same with Gretchen, but fortunately, Henry saves her. Speaking of Henry...

Henry's personal investment

We also learn in Cuckoo that Henry is not actually a detective but a former police officer who is no longer employed. Gretchen finds out why he's so attached to this investigation, however, and it's because his own wife was a victim of König's scheme. He and his wife were guests at the resort and sadly, she ended up dying. Because of this, he is dedicated to finding out the truth about the resort and taking down König. Gretchen and Henry need each other to end this all. But while Gretchen wants to save Alma, Henry is determined to kill anyone involved in the scheme, including the woman-birds. This means Gretchen is on her own against both Henry and König, trying to save herself and Alma.

Towards the end of the film, Gretchen finally kills the hooded woman, but then she must face both König and Henry if she wants to get away. Alma, with her woman-bird powers, lets out a scream which creates that familiar vibration sensation, and it distracts König and Henry. We don't see it happen, but the sound of two gunshots is an indication enough that the two men kill each other.

Gretchen and Alma get away

At the end of Cuckoo, Gretchen and Alma are able to get away, leaving König and Henry behind. Conveniently, they see Ed in the parking lot, who's getting ready to leave the resort, and they hitch a ride with her. We assume they're able to flee and get to safety, but the movie ends there. We don't see what happens to Beth and Luis, though I'm sure Gretchen isn't eager to reunite with them. So what will she do with Alma? Knowing that she's part of the other species, surely it won't be smooth sailing from here.

Though most of our questions are answered by the end of Cuckoo, there's still a lot of uncertainty in what König has created at his resort, leaving things up for interpretation while also leaving the door open for more stories to be told in this universe.

Yeah, there totally could be a sequel, but we don't need one

Considering this, there's definitely enough to work on for a Cuckoo sequel, but it'd probably be best to leave it here. Though the film deals with interesting ideas, they don't really come together in a compelling or satisfying way in the end. The movie features a few cool scenes, strong performances, and an awesome soundtrack, but that's as much positivity as I can say about it. It feels like the more the film is fleshed out, the less interesting it gets, which is a shame. The third act completely falls apart, and there's not much that can save the ending when the story has become so convoluted and dull at the same time.

Cuckoo would've worked better as a short film or an episode in an anthology series, not a full-length film. For that reason, there's no reason for a sequel.

Cuckoo is now playing in select theaters.

To stay up to date on thrillers, sci-fi, and horror, bookmark 1428 Elm and follow our Facebook page and Twitter account!