Some shows meet their moment immediately; some slowly build a following, maybe even creating a cult audience. The latter might be the case for “The Curse,” the wild, subversive, uncomfortable, and audacious new Showtime/Paramount+ series. It came out in November, but with episodes arriving only week by week, it’s slowly been building an audience and a word-of-mouth following. And it should as it comes from actor/producer Emma Stone, actor/comedian/filmmaker Nathan Fielder, and filmmaker/actor Benny Safdie, one half of the Safdie Brothers directing duo.
That really should be enough for you to watch the series. Fielder and Safdie came up with the series together and write and direct it, Stone came on board as an executive producer and all three of them star.
The unconventional, absurdist and, very weird, and cringey series is a satirical black comedy—very deadpan and straight-faced—and centers on how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple as they try to conceive a child while co-starring in their problematic new HGTV show, Fliplanthropy.
Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder star as the married couple in question. Benny Safdie co-stars as an ethically dubious TV producer who tries to spice the show up by catching the duo in some of their morally questionable endeavors.
As our review suggests, it’s essentially a show that interrogates privilege and so-called altruism or philanthropy disguised as something that’s actually self-serving. It’s an odd, bizarre show, bold and inventive.
But hey, don’t take our word for it. Listen to Christopher Nolan. He’s a huge fan of the series (he recently cast Benny Safdie in “Oppenheimer”) and is so enthusiastic about the series he recently moderated a 25-minute Q&A with Fielder and Safdie about the show.
Nolan says for those who think they know where the show is eventually heading, “You do not,” he stressed emphatically about the penultimate episode that dazzled him.
In the Q&A, praised the series and said it was groundbreaking. “It’s an incredible show, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen on television before,” he said.
“There are so few shows that come along that have genuinely no precedence,” he said before speaking of “The Curse” in the company of some revolutionary TV shows. “You’re going back to things like ‘Twin Peaks,’ or ‘The Prisoner,’ or Dennis Potter’s ‘Singing Detective’ and things like that, so you’re in an amazing space, and I can’t wait to catch up with the climax.”
It’s a great conversation, made even more compelling if you watch and know the series well, especially the observations about how Emma Stone isn’t afraid of putting her vanity aside to play a pretty reprehensible character. Watch below; if you haven’t been convinced, hopefully, Nolan has tipped the scales for you.
