LOS ANGELES (AP) ā āWeāre certified Fresh!!!!! Donāt miss out!ā filmmaker and actor posted online in December, referencing his latest project with and comedian Nathan Fielder.
Attached to the ostensibly straightforward was a photo of the Rotten Tomatoes score for āThe Curseā ā an impressive 94% endorsement from critics who watched, next to a comparatively atrocious audience score of 35%.
That's a feat the trio seems to relish.
āI want to know what it is that we actually did,ā Safdie laughed, trying to pinpoint why exactly their series was so polarizing ahead of the Los Angeles premiere for its finale, which airs Friday on Showtime.
Safdie recently made headlines for confirming his professional split from his brother and collaborator, Josh Safdie (who is credited as as an executive producer on the A24 series). Although the pair had made acclaimed independent films like āGood Timeā and ā ā ā which had a similar chasm between audience and critical response ā the co-creator and star of āThe Curseā has had a successful year on his own, including acting roles and
And while the series has not exactly been a hit with the masses ā it was by far the series this season ā āThe Curseā has garnered a cult following of devoted fans, even inspiring filled with analysis, theories and deep dives into suggested obfuscated symbolism and religious references within the show.
It follows Whitney and Asher Siegel (Stone and Fielder), a newly married couple making an HGTV series called āFliplanthropy,ā where they purchase rundown houses in EspaƱola, New Mexico, and convert them into mirrored, pressurized āpassive homesā ā often likened to thermoses for their ability to self-regulate temperature ā with no windows, heating or air conditioning.
as harmful to the residents it displaces, but Whitney and Asher bill their undertaking as one that will benefit the community, arguing they have practices in place to ensure EspaƱola's residents will not be forced out of their community ā just their homes.
While filming the show with Asherās frenemy and producer, Dougie Schecter (Safdie), Asher has a strange encounter with a young girl who curses him ā a turn of events that arouses paranoia for the couple, despite their best attempts to convince themselves of its irrationality.
Though the genre-bending series might come across as merely nonsensical and avant-garde, a closer look invites viewers into a poignant meditation on questions concerning gentrification, racial and class guilt, religion and marriage.
The finale takes a turn so bizarre and terrifying that one wonders if Fielder had input from his friend, horror director ā and whether Asher is in fact cursed. Those who crave closure or coherence will be disappointed with the final episode. But thatās not to say it isnāt there, only hard to find.
While Safdie credits Stone, who also worked as an executive producer, with getting the show greenlit thanks to her clout, many who tuned in solely for have surely been caught off-guard by its esotericism.
And while some might be surprised at Stoneās participation in a project so catered to a specific, almost fringe, taste ā especially as she simultaneously racks up awards for her performance in āPoor Thingsā ā she sees a continuity between āThe Curseā and her films.
āA surrealistic experience I think has been interesting to me for a long time. āBirdmanā was sort of that way. āLa La Landā was sort of that way. Thereās an element of fantastical in the midst of a sort of groundedness that I find really intriguing,ā she said while āāThe Curseā definitely does live in that world.ā
Stone had become friends with Fielder after seeing āevery episodeā of his reality series on Comedy Central, āNathan For You,ā in which Fielder provides bizarre and often destructive marketing advice to small businesses, including some viral stunts so over the top and confounding that they attracted .
Stone said she was so eager to work with Fielder, who co-created and wrote the series with Safdie, that she agreed to join the cast before she even knew what it was about.
For faithful fans, like Stone, of Fielder, who reaped critical acclaim for his HBO series, the tone and themes of āThe Curseā are not surprising. His deadpan humor relies on exploiting awkward situations, real or contrived, and he is known for his almost superhuman ability to .
āI donāt know about that word or what it means exactly,ā Fielder said sheepishly.
āOr that itās intentional,ā Stone interjected.
But the comedian maintains his emphasis on painfully awkward circumstances in his work is meant to reflect the discomfort and absurdity of real life.
āLife is uncomfortable, I think. Interacting with people ...ā he trailed off, nervously ā though it is difficult to discern in a conversation with him what is a bit and what is real. āI feel like if you filmed anyoneās life, it would look a lot like the show.ā
Krysta Fauria, The Associated Press
