The Curse

As a little child, I once let go of a helium balloon and watched in horror as, because of me, it rose somewhere far, too far, until it disappeared from my sight. Not beyond the horizon or underwater, but simply gradually becoming so small that it ceased to be visible. It traumatized me for a very long time back then, and since then, I have refused helium balloons, and even now, I feel anxious when a little child passes by with one, and I tend to start yelling at them to hold it properly. I have long searched for a suitable frame of reference into which to classify Safdi's work (although only one of the brothers is behind the series, there are plenty of common elements with their joint films). Where do I know these endlessly stretching empty dialogues from? That need to beg creators to move on from this uncomfortable scene already? The loss in dead phrases, misunderstood rituals, blind imitation of patterns, and ultimate failure without acknowledgment? Is it Forman, Passer, or Papoušek? *The Curse* is actually an updating and transposition of Czechoslovakian New Wave awkwardness into contemporary (American) social environment. Following this pattern, *The Curse* is one of the most intense horror experiences for me about total loss of identity. During scenes from the circle teaching people a sense of humor or when Whitney listens through the door as her husband presents himself as a tough guy, I gnawed my hand in horror. Small, small, smallest, practically invisible. After the last episode, I was afraid to go to sleep. PS: In this case, the ten-hour length of the series is justified, as in a more compressed version, in my opinion, it would devolve into a mundane safe satire on engaged wealthy white people, whereas this wants to be closer to them. PPS: Instead of Christopher Nolan, I would rather expect the series to impress Werner Herzog. (02.04.2024)

I binged the entire series after the WTF twitter responses to the last episode, and the prevailing feeling is probably confusion coupled with crankiness. The series has plenty of flashes of brilliance, but I don't feel completely satisfied as a viewer. It worked best for me in moments of comedic satire on virtue signalling, over-the-top camerawork and the hypocrisy of the rich, but The Curse has many more of those genres and themes, and they don't all seem to come to a satisfying conclusion. The last episode is quite crazy from about the halfway point on, but it's preceded by nine hours of relatively down-to-earth normal drama. It strikes me as a reflection of the conceit of the creators, the same conceit that the show's protagonists suffer from. (14.01.2024)