The Curse: Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder's Unsettling Psychological Thriller

Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder, two of the more singular voices in contemporary film and television, teamed up for The Curse, a series that uses the trappings of genre television to probe what we accept as goodness and to skewer the artifice people ignore. Its avant-garde approach can frustrate at times, but the show’s idiosyncrasies repay repeated viewings.

The story follows Whitney and Asher Siegel, played by Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder, hosts of an HGTV-style home-flipping program who begin shooting a pilot in Española, New Mexico alongside their cameraman Dougie Schecter (played by Safdie). Their project draws criticism that it gentrifies a largely Native American community, and a strange encounter with a young girl leads Asher to believe he may be cursed.

The series cultivates paranoia and suspense while withholding any definitive answer about the nature of that misfortune.

the curse, emma stone, nathan fielder, benny safdie, whitney siegel, asher siegel, hgtv, española, gentrification, native american