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jocia92 · 3 months

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Impressions from Berlinale of Dan Stevens' performance as Mr. König in 'Cuckoo'.

Warning: Spoilers for his role/character.

Telegraph

... As he has proved before (in The Guest and The Rental), he’s a real asset in trashy genre fare, and a hoot as a villain: his particular pronunciation of the name “Gretchen” here – as if it had an acute accent on the first “e” – never gets less funny.

Screendaily

... Also a lot of fun is Dan Stevens, chewing his way through his dialogue and a sizable chunk of the Bavarian Alps as Mr König, the resort’s unnerving, unblinking owner.

Deadline

... As chief villain, Stevens has an appealingly quirky, ironic twist to his evil smile that encourages us to think this is all a bit of a lark, really.

Indiewire

... Stevens is clearly having a great time as the movie’s resident Wizard of Oz, a man who appears to control everything but the weather. It’s not at all clear what he’s actually doing — the recurring theme of the film — but his energy is enough to carry the action through its early chapters.

Little White Lies

... The family are warmly greeted by the resort’s cheerfully sinister owner Herr König (Dan Stevens relishing another chance to get weird)

... Dan Stevens is on top form leaning into his knack for playing offputting weirdos ...

Katie at the Movies

... the mustache-twirling of Stevens’ heightened performance (he, accent and all, is in on the fun from the get-go and never lets up in an immensely fun performance) ...

Roger Ebert

... creepy, crawly German Mr. König (an exceptional Dan Stevens)

... But it’s Stevens, who’s often strongest when he turns weird, who is unforgettable, one-upping Andre 3000 as cinema’s premiere flute player. Every choice Stevens makes as Mr. König doubles as a lampoon and a threat, being equally hilarious and sadistic.

Next Best Picture

... Dan Stevens enters the scene, the real shining light of this film, playing the resort owner, Mr König. The underrated actor is so committed to his character’s bit throughout, complete with a German accent and a tiny bird whistle, which he uses as a tool in the twisted experiment. He is simultaneously mysterious and effortlessly funny and brings a heightened energy to the film, letting you know it isn’t taking itself too seriously.

... Dan Stevens commits to this film like his life depends on it.

Variety

... Dan Stevens' hilariously eccentric villain, the second recent showcase for Stevens’ excellent spoken German after Maria Schrader’s “I’m Your Man.” Few are the films and fewer are the actors that can get such sinister mileage out of a character’s insistently Teutonic, semi-sibilant mispronunciation of the name “Gretchen.”

Hollywood Reporter

... the mad German gyno-meddler is played with undiluted oiliness by Dan Stevens ...

... König is a creep for the ages, and Stevens has a lip-smacking good time being solicitous but casually skeevy ...

... But in Schafer and Stevens, it has two fiercely compelling adversaries.