‘The Curse’ reviews: Emma Stone is ‘masterful’ in Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie’s ‘wickedly uncomfortable’ new comedy series
On November 10, 2023, “The Curse” premiered on Paramount+ (and two days later on Showtime) starring Oscar winner Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder as a newlywed couple trying to conceive a child while co-starring on their problematic new HGTV show. The new comedy series was written by Fielder and Benny Safdie, who co-stars as the couple’s HGTV show producer.
With predominantly positive reviews, the series has amassed a score of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics consensus reads, “A wickedly uncomfortable marriage of sensibilities between Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, with a masterful Emma Stone tying everything together, ‘The Curse’ will make viewers cackle and squirm in equal measure.”
SEE Showtime drops trailer for Emma Stone comedy series ‘The Curse’ coming November 10 [WATCH]
Ross Bonaime of Collider praises the series, stating, “’The Curse’ works so well because it finds the perfect tonal middle ground for its three leads. With Stone, we get glimpses of the wilder, more daring work that Stone has recently done with filmmakers like Yorgos Lanthimos. For Fielder, he can create cringey, almost excruciating scenarios that you want to escape but can’t. And with Safdie, you get that similarly agonizing stress that feels like it’s growing and growing until it has nowhere to go but to explode.”
Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly writes, “Blending cringe comedy with contemplative character study and undertones of horror, ‘The Curse’ is unrelentingly odd and tough to forget.” Baldwin continues, “Nathan Fielder fans know he is not interested in giving the audience a comfortable viewing experience. The comedian and writer established himself as an auteur of verité humiliation with Comedy Central’s ‘Nathan for You’ and more recently, HBO’s ‘The Rehearsal,’ both of which showcase Fielder’s ability to push socially awkward situations to their most revealing extreme. His latest endeavor for Showtime — ‘The Curse,’ co-created by Benny Safdie (‘Uncut Gems’) — is scripted, but it lives in the same triangle of humor, disquiet, and truth.”
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Nick Schaeger of The Daily Beast says, “Led by Emma Stone in what may be the finest performance of her career, it’s simultaneously choke-on-your-laughter weird and squirm-inducingly terrifying, the two climaxing in a finale of mind-boggling insanity.” He adds, “There’s no way to properly stress the sheer strangeness of this out-there affair, nor to prepare audiences for the surprises it has in store…Much of ‘The Curse’ plays as a wacko takedown of HGTV programming and its reality TV brethren, deriding the genre as a playground for manipulative two-faced narcissists who so vigorously play fictional roles on- and off-camera that the line between what’s genuine and what’s make-believe ceases to exist.
Alex Maidy of JoBlo’s Movie Network confirms, “You will find yourself laughing, cringing, and at times, covering your eyes but never looking away from the screen. ‘The Curse’ is weirdly wonderful and one of the best new series of the year.” He adds, “I am a fan of everyone involved in this project, including A24 and their continuous streak of financing the strangest projects that no one else would produce. Led by Emma Stone in one of her best performances to date, ‘The Curse’ further cements Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder as preeminent talents as writers and filmmakers.”
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