Pop Culture
The Curse review: Emma Stone comes up trumps again in this brilliantly unsettling new television comedy
[ad_1]
In the show’s very first scene, we look through a window into a house where a mother and son are being interviewed, creating a voyeuristic sense that subtly creeps through the next episodes, with views through a mysterious peephole and on video monitors. A myriad of subplots weave in and out. There are jokes about small penises. Asher attempts to get incriminating evidence from a casino where he used to work, hoping to barter it with a local television reporter for better coverage. And he and Whitney try to co-opt her friend, a Native American artist, to be their unpaid consultant, because they don’t want to seem to be exploiting the local Native population.
Overriding it all is the curse. Asher gives a little girl selling cans of soda in a parking lot $100 so he will look philanthropic for Dougie’s cameras, only to snatch it back when he thinks the cameras are off. The girl says “I curse you”, although at first no one knows whether that is a TikTok meme or a genuine blight on their lives.
By episode three, the series has turned darker and deeper. Why is Dougie crying alone? And it becomes even more self-aware about race, prejudice and thoughtless condescension. Early on, the show evokes a queasy feeling about how it might regard Native Americans and the black child who pronounces the curse, but the subject of race later erupts in a volatile argument between Asher and Whitney. However the next seven unpredictable episodes unfold, The Curse is already one of the most richly imagined and acted shows of the year.
★★★★★
The Curse premieres on Paramount+ with Showtime on 10 November in the US and on Paramount+ on 11 November in the UK.
Love film and TV? Join BBC Culture Film and TV Club on Facebook, a community for cinephiles all over the world.
If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.
And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.
[ad_2]
