‘A Cursed Man’ Review: A Fascinating Look At Faith
I’m obsessed with documentaries and reality TV about the paranormal. Not because I’m a believer, but because, even if the supernatural contents of these ghost and cryptid hunting shows are hoaxes perpetrated by the filmmakers, the stories they share will always say something real about the storytellers and their audience.
That’s why I was intrigued when it was announced that documentary filmmaker Liam Le Guillou (director of the underrated An Unknown Compelling Force, which explores the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident) announced that his next project, A Cursed Man, would be an intimate story following his personal relationship with all things supernatural.
An independent production, A Cursed Man follows Le Guillou as he sets out to test his own belief in the occult by allowing an assortment of spiritual experts to perform hexes and dark rituals on him. What follows is a surprisingly poignant exploration of how and why the darker side of faith can be even more fascinating than the light, with the film taking us on an eerie trip spanning several different cultures and belief systems.
While this engaging premise might invoke images of a Mythbusters-inspired experience where a skeptic engages in scientific experimentation to reach an objective conclusion about the nature of curses, A Cursed Man is definitely not an impartial bit of cinematic research. Le Guillou might interview doctors and other scientifically-minded experts here, but it’s clear from the outset that he was already open to the idea of the paranormal long before he was cursed. This fact makes it impossible for the documentary to properly assess the power of suggestion.
In reality, the film is more of an introspective journey through different forms of faith and how different cultures deal with concepts like retribution and the nature of evil. Despite his unwavering consent, Le Guillou initially has a tough time finding religious experts willing to perform a curse on him. The documentarian is forced to confront the fact that he’s dealing with serious beliefs here, not a series of horror movie tropes.
This general reluctance to aid in Le Guillou’s “experiment” is one of the film’s most interesting elements. Despite the notion that most believers would want to see their faith validated in a shocking documentary, most of these witches and Vodouists seem to be genuinely concerned with the director’s safety. The reactions to his bizarre request range from puzzled looks to genuine resentment. One voodoo practitioner even questions why the filmmaker would opt to test his faith through a curse instead of a blessing.
Of course, the issue with this inward-looking approach is that the film’s premise lends itself to more of a long-term science project than something that can be explored in a few short months. The curses themselves—which range from a Hoodoo spell to a curious pact with Satan conducted in a Mexican cave—occur way too late into the film, with the director choosing to conclude his ordeal after what should have been the beginning of the second act.
While I understand that A Cursed Man is more about Le Guillou confronting himself than it is about actually trying to objectively prove if curses are real or not, this rushed format makes the whole thing feel like a pilot for what might initially have been conceived as an episodic adventure. I might just be jaded after decades of consuming horror media, but I feel like a few nightmares and a light injury aren’t enough to sustain a feature-length exploration of the occult.
This lack of compelling “evidence” is made even worse by ill-advised attempts at injecting genre flair into the film. Dramatic music and stylized editing make certain rituals seem silly rather than terrifying. That’s not even mentioning how uncomfortable it is to watch real religious practices being depicted like exotic horror shows. The ending is especially egregious in this regard, with the experience culminating in a Wiccan cleansing ritual that feels about as spooky as an Irish-Catholic baptism but is still accompanied by overly dramatic music and narration.
Thankfully, these blunders are mostly outshined by some genuinely interesting information about these unconventional beliefs, usually presented by an actual practitioner of the faith. Likewise, Le Guillou never speaks over anyone’s opinion, realizing that he’s an outsider wanting to learn more about concepts that are clearly outside his cultural comfort zone.
Even if you also find yourself frustrated with the film’s overall structure, you’ve got to admit that there’s a remarkable level of sincerity on display here. The director goes so far as to preserve candid moments of criticism that could easily have wound up on the cutting room floor, such as when Divine Prince Ty Emmeca suggests that his fascination with curses comes from a place of sheltered privilege. It’s also refreshing to see Le Guillou’s quest turn into a globetrotting journey instead of having his film focus on the same handful of religions that we usually see represented in Western media.
As a skeptic myself, I would have preferred to see a more objective exploration of how the mere suggestion of a curse might affect a non-believer’s life over an extended period of time. However, even with its muddled execution, A Cursed Man still manages to provide viewers with a compelling look at some of humanity’s darkest beliefs.
A Cursed Man premiered at Dances With Films 2024 and is aiming for a digital release on February 13, 2025.
Summary
Despite its muddled execution, ‘A Cursed Man’ still manages to provide viewers with a compelling look at some of humanity’s darkest beliefs.
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