The Curse: A Series that pokes fun at modern vanity

Emma Stone may win an Oscar on March 10 during the Academy ceremony. But if not, she’s even given two anthology performances on the big and small screens that will make her go down in entertainment history. From the hand of Yorgos Lanthimos, his Bella Baxter surprised the public and critics. But the interpretation he offers in the series Curse de Skyshowtime, not only is it full of many nuances. At the same time, it’s an uncomfortable look at celebrity, the pursuit of fame, and even the invisible threads that bind marriage.

All of the above in the midst of a seemingly calm scenario. Whitney (Stone) and Asher Siegel (Nathan Fielder) are a newly married couple who are trying to secure their lives in the short term with all the means at their disposal. She is charismatic, determined, and far more determined to succeed than her timid and often timid husband. In fact, much of the screenplay by Nathan Fielder, Ben Safdie, Carmen Christopher, and Alex Huggins takes special care to highlight the difference. Not because he wants to create a story through contrasts, but because he is interested in explaining the dynamics of this young marriage. They don’t get along well or badly. And the line that divides that heat is a fierce discrete competition between the two.

Curse

The Curse, starring Emma Stone, parodies today’s obsession with success through the popular real estate remodeling show. But the plot brings what appears to be a project of a young marriage with an unhealthy competition for success in which obsession and suggestion complicate the scenario. All are narrated by an intelligent script.

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Score: 4.5 out of 5.

Especially since the story will use this dual worldview to analyze several things at once. As the Siegels struggle to film the pilot for the revival show, they also struggle with each other. As a result, the great joint project is actually a battle of loyalty and ambition, which the plot does not process as parody, but through tension. Although the story will make you laugh – and once again shows what a great comedian Emma Stone is – the core of it is horrifying. So much so that conversations and debates between the couple, are to be an exploration of obsession rather than the dynamic between two people who love each other.

A rare way to see success

Whitney is desperate for recognition. She won’t say it and she won’t show it right away, but everything related to her future must lead to success for her. This is despite the fact that his ideas – turning homes into buildings that help the environment – ​​seem profoundly well-intentioned. The argument does not clarify whether there is in fact anything more than altruistic thoughts, but suggests that there is not. Which makes the first installments of the series a tricky game. One that leads to an understanding of what is happening between two very different people who also want to leave a mark on the culture.

Asher on the other end doesn’t know what he wants. Dougie (Benny Safdie), the producer of a possible series, pressures him in a complicated way that ends up making an enemy out of this scheming loser. But a stealthy one who tries to satisfy his insecurities with the failure he builds from below. The plot is nimble enough to tell all these scenarios without losing tension or the goal of criticizing modern vanity. As Whitney and Asher explore the worst parts of their relationship, the story moves toward possible failure.

Prospective homebuyers who only want a huge old property full of luxury ignore the couple’s instructions. At the same time, the Siegels find that success—which comes with pain—is a difficult step in their relationship. The two are uncomfortable with each other and the camera notices. In fact, creators Nathan Fielder and Ben Safdie are trying to make metafiction—a show within a show—a suffocating space. So much so that by the time the plot has revealed its secrets – and there’s more than just an internal war between the characters – the worst of the problems is the progressive lack of love.

Pain, fear, and satirical laughter

Of course, there is a supernatural element – ​​or apparently one – and it gives the program its name. But more than a curse — cast on a terrified Asher by a Somali girl — it’s a fear of the unseen and the supernatural. The way of fear – senseless and relentless – Is born when Asher becomes convinced that something really affects his decisions and his life.

Something dangerous, potentially violent, and terrifying. Of course, it can be a figment of your imagination. But the production’s spectacular visual staging—between mirrors and static close-ups—suggests that this is not the case. Or at worst, that whatever it is, it’s turning the marriage project into a grim, ever-darker disaster.

The ten-episode series spends the first five (the rest arriving on February 16, 2024) exploring its climate of fear and suggestion. He does this so deftly as to leave open the question of whether the unknown element is actually destroying Whitney and Asher. Or, at worst, the greed of a crazy and essentially self-indulgent project does it instead. With such questions in tow, the production leaves some unanswered. But as strange as it may seem, this reinforces its atmosphere of mild horror. It’s the most interesting and worth seeing-element.