‘Cuckoo’ Director Tilman Singer on Creating the Hooded Woman and Why Mystery and Horror are the Perfect Pair: ‘It’s Like Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream’
variety.comJack Dunn SPOILER ALERT: This article contains minor spoilers for “Cuckoo,” now playing in theaters. Roughly 40% of cuckoo bird species are “brood parasites.” Instead of building its own nest, the cuckoo infiltrates the roosts of other birds and hides its egg among those of the host.
Because of the cuckoo’s rapid development cycle, the chick hatches faster than the rest of the clutch, and once out of its egg, it will instinctually push the host’s offspring out of the perch.
The newborn then uses its unrelenting call to coerce the host species into feeding it until maturity, often growing much larger than its pseudo-guardian.
It was this gruesome evolutionary trait that inspired Tilman Singer to write and direct the new horror mystery “Cuckoo.” The film follows 17-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer), who after reluctantly moving to a remote resort community with her father (Marton Csokas), becomes prey to a mysterious humanoid bird.
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