📺 The Curse 🏠💸🤨
The Curse is a dark comedy series starring Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder, and Benny Safdie. It focuses on the adventure of Whitney (Stone) and Asher (Fielder) as they try to start a family while starring in an HGTV television show called “Flipanthropy”. They seek to help residents of Native American communities create a modern, sustainable, and politically correct housing complex.
Of course, good intentions backfire when they collide with reality. Accusations of cultural insensitivity, misappropriation, labor mismanagement. And with the involvement of Dougie, an eccentric producer who wants to amplify the dramatic factor of the series. He pushes his focus at the expense of the real estate project, the well-being of the inhabitants, and — of course — the stability of the starring couple.
With a mix of criticism of modern culture, social media, the fight for likes, and the presentation of a false and empty life, the show takes us through an uncomfortable, intense, and sometimes absurd rhythm, but one that undoubtedly invites us to analyze and question how we seek to “feel like better people,” the motives behind some initiatives, and of course, the whole farce surrounding the concept of “reality” or “influencer.”
Strongly recommended, with magical, absurd, and sometimes hilarious notes. The Curse has been one of my biggest surprises this year. It has a cinematic style that fascinatingly blends innovative production with Safdie in charge, with the concept of the absurdity of reality and human behavior that Nathan Fielder has been offering for years.
⭐ 9/10. Paramount+
🎥 A short film about love 🔭💔
I hadn’t had the chance to see one of the first film adaptations of Kieslowski’s “The Decalogue” series. In this instance, as it is characteristic of the prestigious Polish director, a brief narrative is presented, yet with a pleasant experience in which human feelings become the protagonists.
Tomek, a postman deeply attracted to Magda, a mysterious and interesting client, after discovering that she lives in a building across from his window, begins the habit of following the details of her life daily through a telescope.
On the other hand, Magda, not fully aware that she is being observed, experiences her days with love and heartbreak in her surroundings. Clarifying that she is looking for something deeper. As Tomek gradually intensifies more direct and daring interactions, Magda, intrigued by this new character and his great fascination, begins a path that goes beyond a conventional romantic story. Delivering to us, the viewers, a reality check in which both discover much more than what was presented at the distance of a telescope or a conventional romantic interest.
A film that celebrates feelings, human relationships, and where idealization, the blows of reality, and, above all, the importance for humans to discover others and allow themselves to be discovered.
⭐ 8 /10. MUBI
🎥 Heathers 🖤💅
A 1998 film directed by Michael Lehmann, Heathers is a dark satire of college romantic comedies. Starring a very young Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, and Kim Walker, we move through the halls of Westerburg High School. Veronica, one of the quietest members of the popular clique, is troubled by the ruthless behavior of her peers, mainly Heather Chandler, the leader of the group.
When she meets JD, a mysterious and rebellious new student, her world is turned upside down by youthful stupidity, love, and the search for meaning. Leading both of them down an unexpected path filled with death.
A very dark comedy, strange for its time, and with an absurd way of presenting teenage dramas and discomforts. With a pink, idiotic, and absurd tone, it invites us to laugh and appreciate the risks that youth can take in their most naive years, escalating to a tremendous, deep and intense level.
⭐ 9/10. MUBI
