In honour of this weekâs pick, I'm breaking my own rules again and including not two films but one, 10 episode series. The wildest, most indescribable thing Iâve seen in a long time, in the best possible way.
Happy viewing
Bry
THE CURSE
2023 Creators Nathan Fielder and Benny Sadie
[Episode length varies ~ up to 1 hr 10 mins]
There are broadly two ways I get super excited when I watch something.
1. A great story well told. 2. When the makers try something that feels really bold, something that feels fresh, on a razor blade - like it could be a failure.
The Curse is very much the second one, not that it's not great storytelling, but because it fits into the âboldâ category - even though it doesnât really fit any category at all. I love Nolanâs quote about 2001âŚ
âIt's not that it breaks all the rules. It's a film that doesn't acknowledge that there are any rules. It's the punk rock of movies.â
The Curse is the punk rock of TV shows. I love Nathan Fielderâs other work, from Nathan For You to The Rehearsal - which is incredible. And with The Curse and his partnership with Benny Safdie, itâs a perfect blend of his knack for engineering amazing moments involving real people and places, his absurdist, brilliantly awkward vibe and more âtraditionalâ narrative storytelling. Itâs so cool to see Fielder helm the majority of the episodes. Itâs really impressive to see how exact framing and a very strong visual style applies to his method of conjuring up moments that feel real.
Another really impressive thing is how natural all the dialogue feels. To the point were when youâre watching youâre thinking, that has to have been improvised. But during a Q&A with Nolan, the pair admitted the majority of the show was tightly scripted. Itâs enviable how ârealâ it all feels. This only adds to the wit, the weirdness and the brutally awkward exchanges the couple have as outsiders coming into a new town.
If you took the IMDB description of the the show at face value - it sounds like something neither of the creators would be involved in, and it doesnât do the show justice.
A newlywed couple struggle to make their vision for eco-living a reality in a small New Mexico town.
But this is also kind of the genius of it - itâs a show within a show. This is the description of the show theyâre making in the show, titled - Fliplanthropy. A cheesy HGTV show about making eco-houses in a town in New Mexico while also benefitting the marginalised community there. The style of which is overly lit, highly saturated colours, polished to fake perfection. Contrast that with The Curse segments - shot on long lenses, high grain, dark, contrasty - they couldnât be any more opposite. Because of the use of long lenses it almost feels like thereâs another crew there, making another show â a show that the cast donât know theyâre a part of.
The sense of unease and building dread is emphasised through this visual approach - but also through the perfect score. It's a dread that is there from the off, and youâre constantly waiting for something terrifying to happen - something uncanny, off, weird, disturbing. Itâs like watching a video of elastic bands being stretched by machines - how far can they be pulled before they break. You canât look away, even though you know whatâs going to happen, you just donât know when itâs going to happen. The only touch points that come to mind for me, aside from the filmmakerâs own past work is the self-referential and the plausibility of the supernatural in a Bret Easton Ellis novel.
This is total palette cleanser filmmaking. A piece that doesnât acknowledge anything that came before. If you want to feel refreshed and inspired that newness is out there. Go and check it out right now if you havenât already and itâs best enjoyed without reading anything about the plot.
This teaser trailer captures the tone the best for me without giving anything away.
TL;DR Safdie and Fielderâs The Curse is outrageous storytelling at its weirdest, funniest, awkwardest, darkest.
*Available on Paramount Plus and Showtime in the US and on the Paramount Plus channel on Amazon in the UK - thereâs a weekâs free trial right now.
Fact: The mirrored exteriors on the houses was a last minute decision by the team - so they ended up building frames around actual homes to make the effect on a tighter budget.
Great! I put it on my list! Cheerio