Reality TV, you either love it or you hate it. The key is in the name, in that the genre is meant to best portray the reality of people and the situations they’re involved in. However the ‘reality’ of Reality TV is that, more often than not, it’s just as scripted as any other TV show. It’s all an act and everyone plays their part. Shakespeare once wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” It’s a quote that rings true, but one thing out of everyone’s control is how you are perceived by others, no matter how good an actor you are.
This is one of the many intriguing and awkward questions posed by the three lead characters in Showtime’s A24 produced series The Curse. Starring Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, The Curse follows newlywed couple Asher (Fielder) and Whitney (Stone) as they attempt to bring their vision of an eco-friendly neighborhood to a community in New Mexico, simultaneously trying to launch their careers as hosts of a Reality TV show with help from Asher’s childhood friend/producer Dougie (Safdie).
The Curse might be the most peculiar and unpredictable show to come out of 2023. Led creatively by the super-duo of awkward unease in Fielder and Safdie. Nathan Fielder brings his brand of cringe comedy and awkward interactions to perfectly balance with the anxiety-inducing cinema of one half of the Safdie Brothers. Combine that with the distinctively relatable acting of Emma Stone and you’ve got a show that is truly unique.
There’s a lot to unpack in each of the ten episodes of The Curse. Themes touched upon in this show range from gentrification, racism, environmentalism, class struggle, supernatural curses (are they real?), manipulation and how we’re perceived by those around us. It’s the last one that really shines through with our main couple, who struggle to make a positive impression on those around them even though their supposed intentions are well meaning.
Emma Stone instils Whitney with enough narcissistic ‘goodwill’ and fake smiles to make you squirm in your seat. Meanwhile, Nathan Fielder absolutely holds his own with the Oscar winning actress as her cuckold of a husband. He is constantly trying to please his wife and everyone around him yet comes up short (quite literally in one significant department!) in nearly every aspect, and it’s painfully hilarious to watch. And then there’s Dougie, who’s dynamic with our two main characters shifts from scene to scene. He’s an enigma with a sketchy past, who appears to throw a spanner in the works of our main couple’s marriage.
We observe these characters closely as they struggle to relate to the indigenous community around them, all while putting on a happy face for the cameras as they hope to get their show picked up for a pilot by HGTV. Also, when I say ‘observe’ it literally feels like we’re observing them due to the voyeuristic cinematography. The way the show is filmed feels very deliberate in its surveillance-like style. Scenes play out statically from a far, through a window, across a street, from the corner of a random room while an extra looks directly into camera. The whole aesthetic of the show seems designed to make the viewer feel uncomfortable, as we watch these characters stumble through the most wince-inducing interactions.
The Curse made me feel things I didn’t know I could. Certain scenes had me rewinding multiple times just to re-capture the laugh out loud cringe, mainly involving Fielder’s character (the endings of episode 4 and episode 10 are something else). However, there’s this painful awkwardness and underlying dread that exists in nearly every conversation that only further lends itself to this odd concoction of cringe comedy.
It’s a very hard show to recommend in all honesty as there’s really nothing like it. The Curse doesn’t necessarily end in a satisfying way, at all! But the entertainment of this show is in the experience of watching it all play out. While much of The Curse is realistic and slow paced, the relationships between the characters and the fake personas they portray to each other are incredibly interesting to watch and dissect. The series also delves into almost surreal dreamlike territory with its trippy synth score and hints at the supernatural, especially in that insane finale.
Overall, I’m still not fully sure how to feel about this strange show. It’s a one-of-a-kind series that had me clamoring for my next dose of second-hand embarrassment each Friday. Incredibly captivating performances from Stone, Fielder and Safdie help to fully sell this surreal nightmare, but by the end of its ten episode run, I wasn’t totally satisfied. Many plot lines felt unanswered, and by episode 8/9 I knew there was no way all these threads would come together to form a fulfilling conclusion. But the conclusion we do get is something I won’t forget in a hurry.
The Curse is available to stream on Paramount+.
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