'Cuckoo' Exclusive Interview: Director Tilman Singer

Moviefone speaks with director Tilman Singer about 'Cuckoo' and working with Hunter Schafer. "I could see how she's emotionally connected to the script."

Opening in theaters on August 9th is the new horror-thriller ‘Cuckoo’, which was directed by Tilman Singer (‘Luz’) and stars Hunter Schafer (‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’), Dan Stevens (‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’), Jessica Henwick (‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’) and Marton Csokas (‘Sleeping Dogs’).

Related Article: 10 Things We Learned At ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ Press Conference

Hunter Schafer in 'Cuckoo'. Photo: Neon.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Tilman Singer about his work on ‘Cuckoo’, developing the screenplay, the themes he wanted to explore, the visual effects, and working with Hunter Schafer.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch the interview.

'Cuckoo' director Tilman Singer.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about developing the screenplay and the themes you wanted to explore as a director?

Tilman Singer: I mean, the idea grew out of a mood that I had at the time. I finished up the movie I shot before called ‘Luz’. I wasn't in a good space at that time. I thought nobody's going to watch that movie that we were making then. So, I had this kind of grim mood. I watched a documentary about the cuckoo bird and how they breed and that they put their eggs into the nests of other bird species. I couldn't let go for quite a while. Then I started thinking about the themes, very abstractly. But I knew there's something about family, about a circle, about a generational circle. It may be a violent one or one of love, but that's what slowly evolved while thinking about my characters.

Dan Stevens in 'Cuckoo'. Photo: Neon.

MF: Can you talk about the time looping effect you used in the film and how you executed that?

TS: I mean, we shot scenes basically a couple of times with different levels of distress for the characters. So, we basically shot things repeatedly, but with a higher stress level and with more sweat on them and stuff like this. Then of course it's an edit thing. Along with that came an idea for an effect that our cinematographer, Paul Faltz, said he wanted to shoot through a mirror and have that mirror shake on two axes, so you get a parallax view. So, the camera can look behind the actor so it's not only shaking the screen. We couldn't pull that off for every scene. We didn't have the time for it. So then later we tasked an effect artist to recreate that. They got the plan from Paul, from the cinematographer, who took a mirror, one of those lighting mirrors, put two or three electrical drills on it that were sort of vibrating the mirror like this. Then when he drew them a sketch of this, they were like, "Oh, okay. We get it. We know what you did." Then they could recreate it and we could use it for the scenes where we didn't have it.

Hunter Schafer in 'Cuckoo'. Photo: Neon.

MF: Finally, can you talk about working with Hunter Schafer and what Hunter brings to a role like this?

TS: Well, what Hunter brought to the role was, first herself, the way she connected to the role, to the movie, it was immediately clear that we were thinking and speaking about the same thing, and had this beautiful understanding, which it's hard to get and you can't really talk about it, because it's kind of abstract. It's kind of based on emotions and feeling or whatever you want to call it. So, she had that, which was most importantly to begin with. But then I saw her tape back then. I couldn't go to Los Angeles to meet people because it was COVID times, and they shut down the borders. So, we had to rely on tapes, which kind of sucks, especially for the actors. It's not a thankful thing to record yourself. But the way Hunter was able, even in this situation, to tap into something, an emotional bubble or pool or whatever you want to call it, within herself, in a relaxed but not casual way, was an extremely impressive talent that she has and that I could immediately see. I could see how she's emotionally, mentally connected to the script. Sure enough, when she showed up on set, we shot some easy things before, like in the first day, as you do, everybody gets to know each other. But then she had to do difficult, heavy lifting, emotion scene, I think day two or three. That's when I knew, "Oh, this is not only going to go great, but also be really special, what she's bringing." Sure enough, she is the movie. She is the story. Her character, her presence is that.

Cuckoo

"Fear its call."

R1 hr 43 minAug 2nd, 2024

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What is the plot of ‘Cuckoo’?

After reluctantly moving to the German Alps with her father (Marton Csokas) and his new family, Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) discovers that their new town hides sinister secrets, as she's plagued by strange noises and frightening visions of a woman pursuing her.