The Cuckoo’s Curse

Marc and Anna arrange a house swap with Hans and Olga from Freiburg so they can vacation in the Schwarzwald before their first baby is born. The plan is meant to give them a quiet break, but it depends on strangers hosting them in a different country. This setup relocates the couple into a tense, unfamiliar environment that drives the story.

Upon arrival in Freiburg, Hans hints at a possible liaison back in Spain, casting doubt on Anna's faithfulness and Marc's paternity. Marc becomes unsettled by the insinuation, triggering early tensions between the couple. The trip immediately takes a darker turn.

That evening, Marc crashes Hans's Maserati GT while driving, injuring his leg. He announces he will return to Spain the next day, leaving Anna alone to manage the situation. The accident sets a physical and emotional barrier between them.

The next morning, Marc forgets his plan to go home and appears upbeat and cheerful instead. Anna senses something is off as his demeanor shifts dramatically. The new mood hints at deeper changes underway.

A middle-aged woman appears at the house, fiddling with taps and warning Anna to leave because she is pregnant, saying Anna will be 'next'. Anna cannot understand her warning because the woman does not speak German. The police later identify the woman as a dangerous psychiatric patient with Capgras syndrome.

That evening, the events lead to police involvement and Anna's transfer to an ambulance, underscoring the danger surrounding the hosts. The incident adds to the sense that nothing about the stay is as it seems. Anna is left to piece together what she can from fragments of memory.

During the Fastnacht carnival, Anna experiences a sudden vertigo and collapses, later waking up at home with no recollection of the events in between. Marc's behavior remains inscrutable in the aftermath. The memory gap intensifies the couple's paranoia and fear.

After the carnival, Anna notices a Fehu rune tattoo on Marc's back and learns he calls it 'Freyja', symbolizing rebirth. He claims the tattoo represents renewal for both of them. The discovery deepens the sense that their identities have been altered.

In the Spanish apartment, Olga and Hans spend their days in loose robes, reciting incantations and behaving ritualistically. The atmosphere contrasts with the couple's fragility, hinting at a malevolent influence behind the swap. Anna's suspicion grows as the house seems to take on a life of its own.

Olga murders Hans by stabbing him in the throat in the Spanish apartment, turning the home into a crime scene. The betrayal reveals the true danger posed by their hosts. The surviving couple reels from the sudden escalation.

Anna receives news from Spain that the German guests behaved unusually, intensifying her concern. She also discovers the same runic tattoo on her shoulder, and Marc claims they were both tattooed last night as a symbol of renewal. Marc's demeanor continues to shift as he starts speaking German, a language he did not know before.

Anna discovers a secret room in the house containing photographs showing Olga and Hans with height differences, and one image includes the warning woman. The photos reveal the deception behind the swap and the true identities of their hosts. Anna realizes the danger is far from over.

Anna attempts to flee to the airport in a taxi, but Marc stops her and attempts to drown her in a bathtub. She regains consciousness and finds herself under Marc's control, mirroring his earlier altered behavior. The crime-laden atmosphere tightens as their dynamic becomes a mirror of the dangerous household.

Following the near-drowning, Anna and Marc adopt a German-speaking dynamic, signaling a complete shift in their identities. Marc's behavior becomes orderly and precise, mirroring Olga's influence. Anna's alignment with German speech marks a total transformation of their relationship.

Back in the Spanish apartment, Olga regains a moment of clarity and uses confinement and manipulation to control the situation. She traps Marc in the cellar and accelerates Anna's childbirth using oxytocin, delivering the baby with careful tenderness. In a final struggle, Olga fatally stabs Marc and bludgeons Anna with a blender, muttering that she never liked her nose, before leaving as the police arrive.