Arts·Group Chat

Is The Curse satire or just pure cringe?

Culture critics Falen Johnson Amil Niazi join Elamin to weigh on the show’s absurd finale

Falen Johnson and Amil Niazi weigh on the show’s absurd finale

Emma Stone attends the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 14, 2024 in Santa Monica, California.
Emma Stone attends the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 14, 2024 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)

The Curse, a black satirical comedy thriller created and written by Nathan Fielder, just wrapped up its first season. Streaming on Paramount+, the show stars Emma Stone and Fielder as Whitney and Asher, a couple who are gentrifying a New Mexico community and filming it for HGTV with their director friend Dougie.

The show supposedly turns a funhouse mirror on white liberal guilt, gentrification, the art world, reality television and many other aspects of modern life. But the jury's still out on whether The Curse reads as satire or if it's pure cringe. 

Culture critics Falen Johnson and Amil Niazi join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to weigh in on what The Curse's absurd finale means.

LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.


Panel produced by Jane van Koeverden