SERIES REVIEW – The latest venture from Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, titled The Curse, is a darkly humorous and intricately woven series that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. Discovered on SkyShowtime, it unfolds episode by episode, offering a satirical narrative that spares no sensitivity of its audience.

Spanning ten episodes, The Curse tracks the exploits of Whitney (Emma Stone) and Asher (Nathan Fielder), a married couple struggling to produce the pilot episode of their home renovation show, ‘Fliplanthropy’. Their mission appears straightforward: to reinvigorate, but not ‘gentrify’ (a term Whitney dubs as the ‘G-word’) their local community in Española, New Mexico. Whitney sells eco-friendly homes boasting mirror-like exteriors, perpetual insulation, and handpicked Native American art. She and Asher also run a local mall, housing a third-wave coffee shop and a farmer’s market, promising local jobs but serving mainly themselves due to a lack of customers. Asher, along with his childhood friend turned director Dougie (Benny Safdie), creates a project that playfully and creatively captures their relationship.

Not quite the dream team: the pretentious activist and her clueless husband

Despite their best efforts, Whitney and Asher’s life is far from perfect. In reality, most of it is nonsensical and comically foolish. Whitney claims to be self-made but continually faces issues, stemming from her parents being infamous landlords known for evicting tenants at the first opportunity. The couple tries to emulate the typical ‘opposites attract’ relationship, but Whitney’s constant annoyance with Asher (poorly concealed) and his frequently inept and embarrassingly foolish decisions are glaring. Most importantly, Whitney’s activist zeal is nothing but a facade, crumbling when these moral principles hinder her perfect self-image or TV show production.

Their problems peak when Asher gives a $100 bill to a young girl on camera, only to take it back once the recording stops. The confused and angry girl curses Asher. Initially, Asher takes the curse lightly, treating it as a joke or child’s play, whereas Whitney considers it more seriously. As their life and work grow more complex, Asher begins to believe that the curse and its consequences might indeed be real.

The first episode encapsulates the essence of the series from the get-go. In the opening scene, Dougie, an interviewee, splashes water on the face of a sick Mexican woman, making it appear as if she’s crying from being moved – a moment Whitney and partly Asher struggle with but eventually accept to deepen the show’s emotional impact. As the series progresses, these threads weave together more intricately, complicating Whitney and Asher’s relationship and their show’s production. In this metafictional world, where reality and imagination blur, it becomes increasingly difficult for both the characters and the audience to distinguish between the two.

Not for everyone

The Curse may not be everyone’s favorite, and that’s perfectly fine. The series is more accessible than Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie’s previous works. With precise filmmaking and layered storytelling, the creators have crafted a work that appeals to a broad audience. On the surface, it’s a satire of influencer and reality TV star culture, with Whitney and Asher’s show-making antics providing both laughter and cringeworthy amusement, clearly not suited for a typical reality show.

Beyond its surface, The Curse offers more, sharply critiquing the upper echelon who are blind to their privileges, believing that superficial charity acts or mere token activism can change other communities. The delicate blend of reality and fiction in this series pushes boundaries, often leaving us wondering whether Whitney and Asher are just playing roles or truly believe in their cause.

Dougie’s character lacks depth, especially in the initial episodes. The camera is so tightly bound to Whitney and Asher’s story and conflicts that when it shifts to tell Dougie’s less thrilling narrative, the momentum of the episodes dips. However, Dougie’s introduction is vital as his character takes on a more significant role in later parts of the series. Still, the switches between these storylines can feel abrupt and less convincing.

Nonetheless, The Curse maintains a narrative tension throughout, often pushing its increasingly absurd story to the brink of chaos. This continuous creation of tension offers an exciting and substantial experience for viewers, from the series’ beginning to its end.

Not your typical SkyShowtime series

The Curse doesn’t fit into the usual series mold but is more digestible than Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie’s previous works. The high-quality filmmaking and complex storytelling engage a wide audience. At first glance, the story is a satire on the world of influencers and reality TV stars, but at its core, it harshly judges elitists who fail to recognize their privileges and selfish ly think superficial charity acts or performative activism can save other communities. The series excels in balancing on the edge of reality and fiction, challenging whether the protagonists, Whitney and Asher, are truly committed to their cause or have become so engrossed in their roles that they’ve convinced themselves of their own narratives.

– Gergely Herpai (BadSector) –