‘The Curse’ Review: Nathan Fielder Reinvents the Haunted House Genre
Home improvement shows have long been a staple of reality TV. From Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to Property Brothers, these shows have allowed audiences to watch the hosts and crew work hard to create a vision, while also allowing them to salivate for a life that may not be attainable to them. Like almost all reality television, working-class audiences sit back and watch a life that they yearn for unfold upon their screens, eyelids peeled back over hours, images printed upon their brains even once a binge session is over. Showtime’s new series The Curse peels back the glamor of these shows, and forces audiences to consider the reality TV they consume.
The show follows Asher (Nathan Fielder) and Whitney (Emma Stone), a recently married duo who are trying to get their show “Flipranthopy” picked up by HGTV. Their show focuses on a handful of eco-friendly “passive homes” the couple have created and gifted to certain members of the New Mexico town of Española. In doing so, Asher and Whitney believe that they will benefit the people who reside in this community, seeing themselves as patron saints of climate activism. But, these houses are more than just eco-friendly homes: they act as cursed property, reinventing the horror trope in which houses are built over cursed land. Here, instead of the land being cursed, it is Asher and Whitney themselves whose presence in Española begins to fracture the town.
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One day, Asher is told by his cameraman Dougie (Benny Safdie) to go and give a little girl he meets in a parking lot $100. It’ll look good on camera and prove that Asher and Whitney aren’t simply here to take over the town, but to do right by its inhabitants. When Asher goes to take the money back from her, she squints her eyes and mutters, “I curse you.” While it looks like it may be a childish game, the encounter makes Asher and later Whitney paranoid, cracking open their already fragile psyches and setting in motion an unforgettable period of their lives.
The Curse is less about curses and hauntings than it is a perfect encapsulation of white guilt, which is perhaps more sinister and troubling than the former. Each episode forces us to watch Asher and Whitney trip over themselves in an attempt to make various situations right, even when they aren’t necessarily wrong. They put their feet in their mouths each time they are forced to interact with a person of color, making it clear that while their guilt is brimming beneath their skin, they haven’t actually done any work to better their understanding of the various communities located in Española. They speak to community members like they have encountered aliens who have just arrived on Earth as if these people are not intelligent enough to understand the “work” the couple is attempting to do.
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This work, making a handful of houses that appear eco-friendly, is never going to reverse the amount of damage done to the planet already. In doing this, especially in a place like Española which is predominantly filled with people of color, Asher and Whitney are directly responsible for displacing a community. While it isn’t necessarily violent, depending on the route that Asher and Whitney (and their show) go in, it could certainly end up that way. Their presence is uneasy, more so than the curse that is placed on Asher in the first episode.
These uneasy characters birth a stellar showcase for some of the best performances of the year. Emma Stone is perfectly cast as Whitney, a woman who strives to do “good” as a means to make herself feel better for her landlord parents evicting people in precarious situations. She’s magnetic, her turn here showcasing perfect comedic timing and focusing on a darkness that feels akin to her character in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite. Her magnetic eyes draw not only Asher into her world but the viewer as well, nearly hypnotizing you to the point of placing your head inside the television screen.
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Of course, Nathan Fielder is magnificent as well, with Asher teetering the line between pathetic and terrifying. Under Whitney’s gaze, he remains a shell of himself, aiming to do anything to please her, including embarrassing himself in rooms filled with their peers. Here, it’s where Fielder shines, using his comedic chops to ultimately craft a flawed and at times terrifying man, who people on the internet will undoubtedly be calling their “poor little meow meow” at some point or another.
The Curse excels where many other shows have failed. It’s a blistering look at gentrification and white guilt, yet it still remains funny all throughout. Fielder and Benny Safdie—who co-wrote the series—are a match made in heaven. The two truly understand what makes people like Asher and Whitney tick, and use this as a motivator to craft one of the best shows of the year. The passive houses the couple use as a means to make the world a better place glitter and shine with their reflective outside walls. In the end, the boundary of these houses serves as a mirror for not only Asher and Whitney to be forced to reconcile with themselves, but the viewers watching as well.
Summary
The Curse excels where many other shows have failed. It’s a blistering look at gentrification and white guilt, yet it still remains funny all throughout.
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