Underwater (2020)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Norah (Kristen Stewart), a mechanical engineer at an underwater research and drilling facility, rushes to safety after a sudden disturbance causes severe damage, killing a number of her fellow crewmates. Led by Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), Norah, Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), Liam (John Gallagher Jr.), Emily (Jessica Henwick), and Paul (T.J. Miller) all struggle to survive with a limited number of escape pods and resources. Captain Lucien’s solution? Walk across the seafloor of the Mariana Trench to the Roebuck Station using special hi-tech suits.

The risky mission takes a bizarre turn, when the crew realizes they’re being hunted and picked off by deadly creatures. Pushing forward is the only option, as the crew carefully travels to Roebuck, and Norah is forced to make a difficult decision. 

My Thoughts- Kristen Stewart’s performance as Norah truly encapsulates how you would expect someone to react to an unprecedented situation, especially a situation that involves vicious monsters. The anxiety, torn emotions for making tough choices, and the emotional weight of realizing you might die, without a funeral or a proper burial. Norah is compassionate, selfless, and scrappy, the unlikely heroic character, who has to push through one brutal loss after another, when she realizes she can’t save everyone. 

Vincent Cassel delivers a solid performance as Captain Lucien. Lucien, the leader, who strongly prioritizes the safety of his crew over everything, including his own well-being, while constantly trying to reassure the crew that everyone will make it out alive. 

The rest of the crew? It’s a familiar set of characters you’ll notice from other similar horror films. T.J. Miller’s Paul is the jokester and the comic relief character, who’s obsessed with Alice In Wonderland (he also carries around a stuffed rabbit). Emily freaks out and panics at the first signs of danger. John Gallagher Jr. has a healthy sense of humor as Liam, just a step below Paul for laughs, as the guy, who lightens the mood after, or during the more serious moments throughout the movie.

Rodrigo, Lucien, and Paul are all dead. So what’s next? Cthulhu appears! Things go from bad to worse, when Norah spots Cthulhu at the Roebuck Station. Great execution, good timing, and a nice surprise for the Cthulhu reveal. The shot with Norah shooting the flare gun, leading to the flash that reveals Cthulhu’s monstrous figure really works as an awe-inspiring visual.

Norah sacrificing herself to save Emily and Liam? Not too shocking, because as soon as Norah noticed the damaged escape pod, you knew what was coming. Still, it’s a strong ending, and a thrilling emotional roller coaster. Emily pleading with Norah to reconsider her choice, the pods containing Liam and Emily racing to the top, while they’re chased by Cthulhu, and the other creatures, and that massive explosion. Norah, after Lucien’s death, filled the role of the leader, who had to make gut-wrenching decisions. 

I did get a kick of Kristen Stewart’s defiant and calm demeanor before she destroyed the Roebuck Station. Norah’s final words about being lost in the darkness, including the final “let’s light this s*** up” zinger right before the explosion engulfs Cthulhu and the creatures? That’s how you stick the landing for a fantastic ending!

Underwater is a strange case for me. The movie is set 2050, creepy and menacing creatures, and the BIG reveal towards the end for a legendary creature is a good jaw-dropper. But there’s just something missing in Underwater. Considering the material they had to work with, there’s a noticeable lack of oomph, or consistent sparks here. 

One problem for me is they relied on one too many jump scares. That, and outside of Norah and Lucien, the rest of the crew features too many thin characters. Also, I was hoping they would’ve explored the obvious coverup from the company, and the moral dilemma about drilling in the ocean, something Emily touched on earlier in the movie. 

But Underwater is still a solid and entertaining sci-fi horror film. Underwater quickly bursts out of the gate, because the chaos starts within the first ten minutes. There’s a good balance of running from and fighting off the creature’s attacks, and the crew sharing heart-to heart moments with each other, or joking around, allowing the story to breathe, when it needs to at certain points. 

Norah and Lucien’s relationship is one of the bigger highlights in the movie, with Lucien relying on, trusting, and pushing Norah to believe in herself. A strong sense of claustrophobia in tight spaces, some decent laughs, a good amount of genuinely tense scenes with the creatures, the attacks, and the main characters waiting for the right moment to make a move, fight back, or escape. The methods used for the deaths and the kills are kind of repetitive, but there’s still a lot of brutality for a PG-13 horror film, toeing the line for the necessary squirmy reactions, without needing graphic levels of gore and gruesome kills. 

And I can’t say enough about how much I loved the ending. Predictable with how everything played out? Yes, but the last stand still packs a strong enough punch to get the job done.

Rating- 7/10

Underwater (2020)(Minor Spoilers)

 **This post contains MINOR spoilers**

The Story- Norah (Kristen Stewart), a mechanical engineer at an underwater research and drilling facility, rushes to safety after a sudden disturbance causes severe damage, killing a number of her fellow crewmates. Led by Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), Norah, Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), Liam (John Gallagher Jr.), Emily (Jessica Henwick), and Paul (T.J. Miller) all struggle to survive with a limited number of escape pods and resources. Captain Lucien’s solution? Walk across the seafloor of the Mariana Trench to the Roebuck Station using special hi-tech suits.

The risky mission takes a bizarre turn, when the crew realizes they’re being hunted and picked off by deadly creatures. Pushing forward is the only option, as the crew carefully travels to Roebuck, and Norah is forced to make a difficult decision. 

My Thoughts- Kristen Stewart’s performance as Norah truly encapsulates how you would expect someone to react to an unprecedented situation, especially a situation that involves vicious monsters. The anxiety, torn emotions for making tough choices, and the emotional weight of realizing you might die, without a funeral or a proper burial. Norah is compassionate, selfless, and scrappy, the unlikely heroic character, who has to push through one brutal loss after another, when she realizes she can’t save everyone. 

Vincent Cassel delivers a solid performance as Captain Lucien. Lucien, the leader, who strongly prioritizes the safety of his crew over everything, including his own well-being, while constantly trying to reassure the crew that everyone will make it out alive. 

The rest of the crew? It’s a familiar set of characters you’ll notice from other similar horror films. T.J. Miller’s Paul is the jokester and the comic relief character, who’s obsessed with Alice In Wonderland (he also carries around a stuffed rabbit). Emily freaks out and panics at the first signs of danger. John Gallagher Jr. has a healthy sense of humor as Liam, just a step below Paul for laughs, as the guy, who lightens the mood after, or during the more serious moments throughout the movie.

Underwater is a strange case for me. The movie is set 2050, creepy and menacing creatures, and the BIG reveal towards the end for a legendary creature is a good jaw-dropper. But there’s just something missing in Underwater. Considering the material they had to work with, there’s a noticeable lack of oomph, or consistent sparks here. 

One problem for me is they relied on one too many jump scares. That, and outside of Norah and Lucien, the rest of the crew features too many thin characters. Also, I was hoping they would’ve explored the obvious coverup from the company, and the moral dilemma about drilling in the ocean, something Emily touched on earlier in the movie. 

But Underwater is still a solid and entertaining sci-fi horror film. Underwater quickly bursts out of the gate, because the chaos starts within the first ten minutes. There’s a good balance of running from and fighting off the creature’s attacks, and the crew sharing heart-to heart moments with each other, or joking around, allowing the story to breathe, when it needs to at certain points. 

Norah and Lucien’s relationship is one of the bigger highlights in the movie, with Lucien relying on, trusting, and pushing Norah to believe in herself. A strong sense of claustrophobia in tight spaces, some decent laughs, a good amount of genuinely tense scenes with the creatures, the attacks, and the main characters waiting for the right moment to make a move, fight back, or escape. The methods used for the deaths and the kills are kind of repetitive, but there’s still a lot of brutality for a PG-13 horror film, toeing the line for the necessary squirmy reactions, without needing graphic levels of gore and gruesome kills. 

And I can’t say enough about how much I loved the ending. Predictable with how everything played out? Yes, but the last stand still packs a strong enough punch to get the job done. 

Rating- 7/10

Cuckoo (2024)(Minor Spoilers)

 **This post contains MINOR spoilers**

The Story- Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) reluctantly travels to a quiet resort community in Germany with her father, Luis (Martin Csokas), her stepmother, Beth (Jessica Henwick), and her mute sister, Alma (Mila Lieu) to start a new life. Luis is handpicked by his new boss, Herr Konig (Dan Stevens) to build a hotel. 

She receives a job as a receptionist courtesy of Koing, but a series of odd events worries an already suspicious Gretchen. To make matters worse, Gretchen is constantly pursued and stalked by a mysterious woman, or a “mother.”  Gretchen, shunned by her family, turns to Henry (Jan Bluthardt), a detective, for help. Gretchen and Henry work together to put a stop to Koing’s plans and his bizarre experiments, but the situation becomes more complicated, when Koing sets his sights on Alma.

My Thoughts- During the early stages of the movie, you’ll probably notice Gretchen comes off as a bratty and rebellious teenager, an edgy punk kid, with a dark sense of humor. She flat out refuses to acknowledge the fact that Alma is her sister, and Gretchen refers to Beth as her “father’s wife,” completely ignoring the stepmother label. 

Gretchen is the black sheep in her family, but it’s not that simple. She’s a young kid, who’s still heartbroken over her mother’s death. Hunter Schafer does a good job of being convincing as the typical angsty teenager. But as the story progresses, Schafer switches gears to show a more emotional and vulnerable side of Gretchen, reminding you she’s still a scared kid, who just wants her father’s love and support. Schafer also shows Gretchen can be a gritty fighter, when her character is put through the wringer after the car accident.

Dan Stevens plays a fantastic villain, brining a noticeable mix of creepiness and a menacing aura to Herr Konig. Koing, a highly intelligent man, has a charming presence, but it’s also easy to see how he’s the perfect example of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Gretchen is an ideal adversary for Koing. She’s the scrappy teenage rebel, who, unlike her father, has the guts to stand up to Koing, and Gretchen’s not afraid to ask the crucial questions for topics that are supposed to be off limits. 

The mother character really works as a pesky and menacing threat. I absolutely loved the irony of her appearance. Just looking at her old fashioned clothes, the sunglasses, and how everything is put together, you’d think the mother is just some harmless old lady. But the mother’s appearance is also terrifying, with her palish sickly skin and the glowing red pupils, bolstered by her feral movements and the ear splitting shrieks. 

Family drama plays a big role in Cuckoo. Luis doesn’t mind berating his own daughter, but he turns into a pushover and a complete wimp around Koing. Beth just gives off vibes of being a phony, and more often than not, she’s cruel and cold towards Gretchen. Add in the fact that Gretchen is an outcast in her own family, Luis and Beth’s obvious favoritism for Alma, and it’s no real surprise Gretchen is usually miserable. 

Cuckoo has its high points, but it’s hard to ignore how everything just drags along in certain spots. I understand the slow burn approach, but more than once, I was hoping they would just get to the point with the mystery behind the reasons for Koing’s experiments.

Also, at some point you have to realize SOMETHING is off with Koing. Towards the end, Gretchen bluntly points out how “weird” everything is, how nothing about Koing and what he wants makes any sense, and how Koing can’t give a straight answer for all the bizarre events (e.g. women puking left and right) at the resort. Why is Beth allowing the nurses at the hospital to giver her strange medication? Why are Luis and Beth allowing Koing and his people to treat Alma, when it’s clear that whatever they’re doing isn’t working?

Sorry, but I’m not buying the idea that Koing is this charismatic guy, who’s capable of charming anyone into doing what he wants, no matter how crazy it sounds. I won’t go as far as pointing the finger for stupid horror movie cliches and moments, but after while, common sense has to kick in, because all the signs are clearly there. 

I had high hopes for this one, and there’s a big question mark for Luis and Beth’s future, but Cuckoo mostly delivers. Writer/director Tilman Singer cleverly works themes about motherhood, strained family bonds, and nurturing into the story, while tying everything together with the lifestyles of cuckoo birds. And a cuckoo clock makes an appearance for good measure.

It’s also refreshing to see a movie, where almost every character plays a crucial role in the story. Whether it’s Gretchen’s co-worker and fellow receptionist, Trixie (Greta Fernández), or the enigmatic Ed (Astrid Berges-Friseby), a guest at the hotel, who shares a brief fling with Gretchen, everyone with a decent amount of screen time outside of the core characters serves a purpose, moving the story forward step by step.

I’ve always been a big fan of horror films placed in an isolated setting. The resort is basically out in the middle of nowhere. The peaceful sounds of nature, it’s quiet, but the hypnotizing countryside in Cuckoo holds a dark secret. Another great case of irony for a supposed paradise simultaneously functioning as a house of horrors. And Gretchen can’t easily run to anyone for help, while Koing controls everything with an iron fist.

Cuckoo features a handful of genuinely creepy scenes, some occasional thrills, and I absolutely loved the nighttime chase scene, where Gretchen is trying to escape the mother. Two strong performances from Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, and the supporting cast is rock-solid. Cuckoo ends with an excellent finale that’s packed with real tension and emotions, a mix of an offbeat happy ending and a violent struggle. Loaded guns, Alma being conflicted about who, she can trust, the shrieking mother’s calls, and luckily, Gretchen had her trusty butterfly knife! 

Rating- 8/10

Cuckoo (2024)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) reluctantly travels to a quiet resort community in Germany with her father, Luis (Martin Csokas), her stepmother, Beth (Jessica Henwick), and her mute sister, Alma (Mila Lieu) to start a new life. Luis is handpicked by his new boss, Herr Konig (Dan Stevens) to build a hotel. 

She receives a job as a receptionist courtesy of Koing, but a series of odd events worries an already suspicious Gretchen. To make matters worse, Gretchen is constantly pursued and stalked by a mysterious woman, or a “mother.”  Gretchen, shunned by her family, turns to Henry (Jan Bluthardt), a detective, for help. Gretchen and Henry work together to put a stop to Koing’s plans and his bizarre experiments, but the situation becomes more complicated, when Koing sets his sights on Alma.

My Thoughts- During the early stages of the movie, you’ll probably notice Gretchen comes off as a bratty and rebellious teenager, an edgy punk kid, with a dark sense of humor. She flat out refuses to acknowledge the fact that Alma is her sister, and Gretchen refers to Beth as her “father’s wife,” completely ignoring the stepmother label. 

Gretchen is the black sheep in her family, but it’s not that simple. She’s a young kid, who’s still heartbroken over her mother’s death. Hunter Schafer does a good job of being convincing as the typical angsty teenager. But as the story progresses, Schafer switches gears to show a more emotional and vulnerable side of Gretchen, reminding you she’s still a scared kid, who just wants her father’s love and support. Schafer also shows Gretchen can be a gritty fighter, when her character is put through the wringer after the car accident.

Dan Stevens plays a fantastic villain, brining a noticeable mix of creepiness and a menacing aura to Herr Konig. Koing, a highly intelligent man, has a charming presence, but it’s also easy to see how he’s the perfect example of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Gretchen is an ideal adversary for Koing. She’s the scrappy teenage rebel, who, unlike her father, has the guts to stand up to Koing, and Gretchen’s not afraid to ask the crucial questions for topics that are supposed to be off limits. 

The mother character really works as a pesky and menacing threat. I absolutely loved the irony of her appearance. Just looking at her old fashioned clothes, the sunglasses, and how everything is put together, you’d think the mother is just some harmless old lady. But the mother’s appearance is also terrifying, with her palish sickly skin and the glowing red pupils, bolstered by her feral movements and the ear splitting shrieks. 

Whoa, a four-way standoff! A strong and tense ending, with Koing and Henry holding each other at gunpoint, while Gretchen and Alma are stuck in the middle between them. On one hand, you could understand why Henry was so desperate to put an end to Koing’s experiments, especially after what happened with his wife. Koing is a madman, and there’s no telling just how far he’s willing to go to preserve the species.

There’s also a lot of emotion, with Gretchen apologizing to Alma, Gretchen risking her life to save Alma, and Alma using her shrieking abilities, or her “song” to protect Gretchen. The big kicker happens, when Gretchen finally acknowledges Alma as her sister, something she refused to do throughout the movie.

Cuckoo closes with a whirlwind of nail-biting moments, including Gretchen’s cat-and-mouse fight with the mother, ending with Gretchen managing to kill her by taking away her voice, the one deadly weapon that constantly caused so much trouble. My only question about the ending is, what happened to Luis and Beth? Koing is presumably dead, but it’s clear Beth was next in line as a test subject for Koing’s experiments.

Family drama plays a big role in Cuckoo. Luis doesn’t mind berating his own daughter, but he turns into a pushover and a complete wimp around Koing. Beth just gives off vibes of being a phony, and more often than not, she’s cruel and cold towards Gretchen. Add in the fact that Gretchen is an outcast in her own family, Luis and Beth’s obvious favoritism for Alma, and it’s no real surprise Gretchen is usually miserable. 

Cuckoo has its high points, but it’s hard to ignore how everything just drags along in certain spots. I understand the slow burn approach, but more than once, I was hoping they would just get to the point with the mystery behind the reasons for Koing’s experiments.

Also, at some point you have to realize SOMETHING is off with Koing. Towards the end, Gretchen bluntly points out how “weird” everything is, how nothing about Koing and what he wants makes any sense, and how Koing can’t give a straight answer for all the bizarre events (e.g. women puking left and right) at the resort. Why is Beth allowing the nurses at the hospital to giver her strange medication? Why are Luis and Beth allowing Koing and his people to treat Alma, when it’s clear that whatever they’re doing isn’t working?

Sorry, but I’m not buying the idea that Koing is this charismatic guy, who’s capable of charming anyone into doing what he wants, no matter how crazy it sounds. I won’t go as far as pointing the finger for stupid horror movie cliches and moments, but after while, common sense has to kick in, because all the signs are clearly there. 

I had high hopes for this one, and there’s a big question mark for Luis and Beth’s future, but Cuckoo mostly delivers. Writer/director Tilman Singer cleverly works themes about motherhood, strained family bonds, and nurturing into the story, while tying everything together with the lifestyles of cuckoo birds. And a cuckoo clock makes an appearance for good measure.

It’s also refreshing to see a movie, where almost every character plays a crucial role in the story. Whether it’s Gretchen’s co-worker and fellow receptionist, Trixie (Greta Fernández), or the enigmatic Ed (Astrid Berges-Friseby), a guest at the hotel, who shares a brief fling with Gretchen, everyone with a decent amount of screen time outside of the core characters serves a purpose, moving the story forward step by step.

I’ve always been a big fan of horror films placed in an isolated setting. The resort is basically out in the middle of nowhere. The peaceful sounds of nature, it’s quiet, but the hypnotizing countryside in Cuckoo holds a dark secret. Another great case of irony for a supposed paradise simultaneously functioning as a house of horrors. And Gretchen can’t easily run to anyone for help, while Koing controls everything with an iron fist.

Cuckoo features a handful of genuinely creepy scenes, some occasional thrills, and I absolutely loved the nighttime chase scene, where Gretchen is trying to escape the mother. Two strong performances from Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, and the supporting cast is rock-solid. Cuckoo ends with an excellent finale that’s packed with real tension and emotions, a mix of an offbeat happy ending and a violent struggle. Loaded guns, Alma being conflicted about who, she can trust, the shrieking mother’s calls, and luckily, Gretchen had her trusty butterfly knife! 

Rating- 8/10

Coming Attractions- Cuckoo (2024)

 

Director- Tilman Singer

Cast- Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Jan Bluthardt, Marton Csokas, Greta Fernandez, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Konrad Singer, Proschat Madani, Kalin Morrow

Release Date- August 9, 2024

The trailer for Cuckoo shows a lot, but there’s still some unanswered questions to ask. The only thing that’s presumably confirmed is, Dan Stevens has to be the bad guy. But what’s so special about Gretchen (Hunter Schafer)? Why is she a target? Why does her family need to stay at an eerie place, that’s seemingly out in the middle of nowhere? 

Cuckoo’s trailer cleverly builds anticipation for a promising movie, without spoiling any major plot points. There’s a genuinely creepy and unsettling vibe here, so hopefully Cuckoo makes some noise, as one of the under the radar hits for horror this year.