Nathan Fielder's The Curse Release Date, Cast, Plot, And More Info
If you like you find humor and horror in the uncomfortable, then I have incredible news for you. Nathan Fielder, the ingenious comedian behind the small business improvement satire "Nathan for You" and the HBO meta-series "The Rehearsal," is teaming up with one of the directors of "Uncut Gems" to deliver the highly-anticipated Showtime series, "The Curse."
Emma Stone and Fielder star in the forthcoming show as Whitney and Asher, a couple that recently landed a home improvement show. Their HGTV-style series "Flipanthropy" is produced by Dougie, a stringy-haired mysterious figure played by Benny Safdie who is "holding onto secrets of his own," per Variety. The couple is simultaneously struggling to conceive — a struggle seemingly augmented by a looming curse.
So when exactly can you expect to see "The Curse" on your screens at home? And is there an opportunity to see it in person? Luckily, /Film found out everything there is to know about the creepy comedy coming this fall.
When does The Curse premiere?
The series debuts its first three episodes at the New York Film Festival on October 12th. It has its streaming premiere on November 10 on Paramount+, two days ahead of its on-air debut on Showtime on November 12 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
"The Curse" is produced by A24, the studio behind "Euphoria," and Showtime, the network behind "Mad Men." Safdie has distributed his films through A24 previously, including the Robert Pattinson-led "Good Time," which is streaming through Showtime on Paramount+. Fielder's most recent project, "The Rehearsal," was released through HBO and is available on Max. A24's previous television series, like "Euphoria," are also available on Max, while other Showtime shows are located primarily on Paramount+.
What are the plot details of The Curse?
As much as the forthcoming Showtime series will explore the relationship between Fielder's Asher and Stone's Whitney, it will also focus on the dynamic between the house-flipping show and the surrounding community.
"They live in an area called Española, which is close to Santa Fe," Safdie explained to GQ. "And that's where they're building their new homes. They have a very different way of gentrifying the community. They want to do it ethically, and they want to do it in a way that doesn't hurt anybody. So they want to make a show about that. And you follow their lives as they're doing it."
Gentrification's negative impact on the local community is clearly at the center of the show and our protagonists' minds. The titular curse haunting the couple likely has something to do with the disruption of the community or even just their fear of being disruptive. Maybe they are so paranoid about the impact of gentrification that they imagine an Española native has put a curse on them.
Who is the cast of The Curse?
Stone is a mega-star, perhaps best known for her lead role in the 2016 blockbuster "La La Land." She is also well-versed in comedy, having starred in "Easy A" and earned her breakout role in "Superbad." This also won't be her first time working with a filmmaker like Safdie. The actress has starred in the two most recent films from Yorgos Lanthimos, "The Favourite" and the forthcoming "Poor Things," which won a Golden Lion at its Venice premiere. Lanthimos is known for his offbeat sensibility, and Stone is uniquely successful at interpreting the strange tone of his work.
The coupling of Fielder and Stone is something the world never saw coming, and yet it makes perfect sense. They both have a similar sense of humor — a wit that rides out the discomfort in the room and finds the funny in it. Although it's easy to see how two awkwardly funny people are similar, it's hard to imagine them having chemistry. But a lack of chemistry or even an active anti-chemistry might make the marital couple all the more interesting. Through Fielder's off-the-rails meta-comedy and Stone's diverse filmography, it's clear that they both have the comedic sensibility and emotional range to pull off a genre-hopping series like "The Curse."
Safdie gained notoriety through his directorial collaboration with his brother on films like "Uncut Gems," but this will not be his first time in front of the camera. Safdie starred opposite Pattinson in "Good Time," which he co-directed with his brother. Additionally, Safdie has had supporting roles in a number of other films, including Christopher Nolan's 2023 smash hit "Oppenheimer." He has played a few nefarious characters in the past, so this won't be totally new territory for him, but he looks almost recognizable in his transformative hair and wardrobe for Dougie.
Who is the director of The Curse?
"The Curse" was co-created by two of its stars — Fielder and Safdie. Despite Safdie's directing chops, Fielder is directing the series along with David and Nathan Zellner, best known for co-directing the 2018 film "Damsel" led also by Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska. It's possible that this responsibility was given to Fielder due to his experience directing television. Either way, Safdie definitely trusts the comedian with the task.
Safdie was a long-time fan of Fielder's first TV show, "Nathan For You." The "Heaven Knows What" director even wrote a CinemaScope article about his favorite episode of the Comedy Central series. It interested him that "Nathan For You" plays with the reproduction of realism in "Santa/Petting Zoo," a concept he explored further in "The Rehearsal" by attempting to replicate real-life scenarios for people to practice. Safdie wrote that his favorite episode is "Smokers Allowed" because it "plays like a bizzaro Home and Garden TV reality show," using all of the cinematic "language" to create a perfect satire. This seems to have planted the seed — pun intended — for "The Curse," a satirical take on HGTV.
Their mutual admiration quickly became a real-life friendship, which evolved almost immediately into a creative collaboration. "In those initial hangouts, it was clear we were on a similar wavelength," Fielder told GQ."We both think a lot about tone and realism. We weren't even intending to collaborate on a project actually, it just sort of happened organically the second time we hung out."
The idea for the show started out as a joke, but the more it expanded, the more real it became. "We came up with the idea for 'The Curse' and we're like, 'This is so stupid, but it's really funny,'" Safdie elaborated.
Who are the writers and producers of The Curse?
All three stars of "The Curse" are also executive producers for the series. Stone is credited under the banner of Fruit Tree Productions along with "Brigsby Bear" director Dave McCary and "Bodies Bodies Bodies" producer Ali Herting. The trio have worked together before to produce the 2022 film "When You Finish Saving The World," led by Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard of "Stranger Things."
Both Safdie and Fielder are producing "The Curse" under the Elara Pictures banner, the company started by Safdie and his brother through which they self-produced most of their films, including the Adam Sandler-led "Uncut Gems" and "Good Time." Elara Pictures also produced the 2022 film "Funny Pages," which was released through A24.
The "Nathan For You" creator and "Uncut Gems" director have each written at least two episodes for the series. Carrie Kemper, who has written and produced episodes of both of Fielder's previous ventures, is also credited with writing two episodes and likely served as a head writer on the series.
Has The Curse released a trailer?
The teaser trailer for "The Curse" shows Whitney and Asher filming a segment for "Flipanthropy." When their saccharine on-camera banter is over, they hold painfully forced smiles for an eerily long time before the director asks for another take. Whitney's face drops for a moment before she plasters her smile back on to do it all over again. It suggests that the couple has to act completely false for their show and that it weighs on them.
But far more interesting than these micro-expressions is what the couple is actually talking about doing — a conversion of the local fire home to solar power. While going green seems like an ethical idea, it is an undoubtedly risky venture for this couple to embark on. If something goes wrong with this new technology that prevents the firefighters from doing their job, it could cost lives. Moreover, Whitney and Asher could be held responsible.
When the creative duo behind "The Curse" first conceived of the idea for the series, they imagined it being more light-hearted. Fielder's forte is comedy, although he moves into some pretty high-concept and tender territory in both of his shows. Safdie and his brother are masters at evoking visceral discomfort in their films, using wildly different techniques than Fielder but tapping into a similar emotional response. Their collaborative relationship ended up skewing more towards drama than they expected. "It started out as a 30-minute comedy and became an hour-long comedy-drama," he told GQ.
"The Curse" promises to be skin-crawlingly funny and possibly even horrifyingly uncomfortable. November can't come fast enough!