Ty Watches "The Curse" Season One

Last week I finished season one of "The Curse". I kept thinking about it a lot since then. I was thinking about it so much that I went back and rewatched the finale last night.

I thought this finale was pretty remarkable. In fact, I found this whole season to be very weird and interesting and thought provoking and pretty solid. This show is very different. It is unlike pretty much anything that is on tv right now. The plot is fairly simple, but the execution was next level.

"The Curse" centers on Whitney and Asher, a married couple that host a HGTV show. They go to their hometown and build climate change friendly homes. They have squabbles with the network, the people who work for them and amongst themselves. Sounds simple enough. But the twists and turns happen galore. This show went to some of the cringiest places one could imagine. There were times where I felt uncomfortable watching. I would squirm on the couch. It was wild. The way these two take advantage of the people in their hometown, especially the indigenous people, is abhorrent. When they think they are doing something nice, it is only for their own benefit or to help the show. They are only out for themselves, so much so that they start to plot against one another.

Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder are dynamic here as well. I was totally blown away by Fielder's acting. He takes the uncomfortableness to a whole new level. If you thought he was awkward on "The Rehearsal" or "Nathan For You", this show makes those people look tame. He is clingy and needy and helpless here. It was a delight to watch. Emma Stone is wonderfully odd and plays a white savior so well. She has no qualms about the things she does as long as she thinks she is helping out the less fortunate. In most cases she is only out for herself. There is a scene in particular when she pokes fun at Fielder for trying to be tough and I was taken aback at how mean and nasty her character could be. It was a tour de force for her. I also appreciate the fact that she is doing stuff like this as opposed to taking on multiple rom coms or dumb coming of age movies. She is taking chances, nailing it and I'm here for it. Benny Safdie is also a revelation. I have always enjoyed his directing, but his acting here is pretty good. And while not as cringey as Fielder, he is right up there.

I think my favorite thing about this show is the long, silent moments. They really make you sit in it. The viewer is almost forced to sit and go back and think about what you just saw. They will have this super awkward scene or moment, and then they will cut to a long shot of a home or the face of the person in the aftermath. You just sit there and go over what you just saw until the silence breaks. It is pretty cool the way they do that. And the way they tell this story, and how they end it, it is one of the odder yet cooler things I've ever watched. They never poke fun at reality tv or home making shows. They never make these awful people seem like they have some good inside of them. They paint these overprigeled rich assholes in the proper light. And I love that.

"The Curse" is not the easiest watch, but if you let yourself get into it, the payoff is pretty exceptional. I loved it. If you are going to watch, and you are a Fielder fan, change your expectations. And if you are going in to watch Emma Stone, change your expectations. This show is unlike pretty much anything out there now, but it is well worth your time. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "The Curse" Series Premier

Last night I was able to watch the pilot episode of "The Curse". This is Nathan Fielder's new show. He is also working with Benny Safdie, he is a co creator, and A24 is producing. Let’s discuss.

This is right up my alley. I adore Fielder's work. "Nathan For You" is one of the best, most original shows ever. He followed that up with a genius show, "Rehearsal". Fielder is in an incredible groove as of late, and Showtime giving him his own show was a genius move. Benny Safdie was in "Good Time" and he directed it with his brother. He and his brother also did "Uncut Gems" which is one of the better movies to have been released in the last couple of years. The Safdie brothers have a great eye for directing and they are on fire right now. Safdie was also excellent in his role in "Good Time". A24 is the best production company in the game. They are doing the best work in movies and tv right now. They also paid people and gave them what they asked for during the actors and writers strike. Whoever is running A24 is one of the smarter people in the game. A24 totally rules and they have a lifelong fan in me. So putting all three of these together, it is a recipe for a wild and entertaining tv show.

Now, this show is not really a comedy. There were comedic moments in the pilot, but they were few and far between and they were buttoned by something creepy or cringey. And I think that is the point of this show. Putting Fielder in charge may lead one to believe that this is going to be a straight forward comedy. But this show is a lot more like "The Rehearsal", or "Finding Frances". Fielder is doing something different and I'm here for it. There were moments in the pilot that were disturbing, creepy, cringey, uncomfortable and I was all in from start to finish. I wanted to see something different and weird from Fielder, and that is exactly what "The Curse" gives the viewer.

There was one scene in particular that really shook me seeing Fielder acting it out. He and his wife, Emma Stone, who is perfect here, are being interviewed by a local newscaster. The newscaster starts in on Stone's family and you can see it pisses Fielder off. He starts to go off on her, and at one point he snaps and tells her to "talk to me, not to my wife". My wife saw this and said she hates his character. I told her me too, but I think that is what Fielder is going for. He has other moments that really creeped me out, and he nails it, like the most squirm inducing sex scene I have seen in quite some time. Stone, as previously mentioned, totally nails it here. She is trying to do something good for her community, but she is also the poster child for gentrification, and she has no idea. She is tough and formidable, but she is also causing harm to her community. Benny Safdie is the creep of all creeps here. He is the director of their show, and from the moment he steps on screen he is despicable. He makes it look like a mom is crying when she is actually dying. He hits on Stone far too much. He gets footage without people's consent. He tries to make people uncomfortable when there is no reason for it. He shows his old content which is vile. He is so gross yet I cannot take my eyes off him when he is on screen. This show is very different and very creepy. They let you live in silence and they linger on shots longer than seems necessary. But it works. Fielder has an eye for this. Safdie knows what he is doing. And Stone is such a pro. This works.

“The Curse” may not be for everyone, but I'm in. I say check it out if you like any of the three main people, but go in knowing it is not a typical tv show. It takes chances and those chances worked for me in the pilot episode. I can't wait for more. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.