A Home Renovation Show, But Eerie: That's the Vibe in Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder's 'The Curse'

Fielder's first project since 'The Rehearsal', this new A24 series is co-written by Benny Safdie and satirises all things home improvement on TV.
Sarah Ward
Published on September 29, 2023

Everyone has seen a TV show about renovating homes, buying real estate, blitzing backyards and building dream houses, even if they're not your preferred kind of viewing. But no one has watched an entry in the home renovation genre quite like The Curse, a spoof arriving this spring that gets Emma Stone (Cruella) and Nathan Fielder (The Rehearsal) playing a couple hosting their own home improvement series — and having some bad luck.

Unsurprisingly, Fielder doesn't just star but also co-created, co-writes and co-directs. And, also to the astonishment of no one, the end result looks like far from your average series. A home makeover show, but eerie: that's the vibe in the just-dropped first teaser trailer for The Curse, complete with unsettling tunes to match.

There's also Stone's opening line in the sneak peek at the ten-part series: "did you know you can put out fires with the sun?". Spoken with the cheery tone that's only ever used by people hosting TV shows, those 11 words are as disquieting as the score by the Safdie brothers' collaborator Oneohtrix Point Never.

And, yes, not just the talent that made Good Time and Uncut Gems sound so unnerving but the sibling filmmakers behind them are also involved in The Curse. Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer) co-stars, co-created, co-writes and co-directs, with Josh Safdie an executive producer.

Fielder and Stone play Asher and Whitney Siegel, who host a show on HGTV — American pay TV network Home & Garden Television — called Fliplanthropy.  Newly married, they're trying to have a baby, but find their plans disrupted. Cue The Curse's title, obviously.

(L-R): Emma Stone as Whitney and Nathan Fielder as Asher in THE CURSE, Season 1. Photo Credit: Beth Garrabrant/A24/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME.

Benny Safdie plays their producer, with Barkhad Abdi (Little America), Corbin Bernsen (White House Plumbers) and Constance Shulman (Search Party) also featuring.

Like everything almost everything of late, it seems — Close, Beau Is Afraid, You Hurt My Feelings, Past Livessmash-hit Australian horror movie Talk to Me, fellow TV series Beef, the return of iconic Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense to cinemas, the Nicolas Cage-starring Dream ScenarioThe Curse hails from A24. In Australia, it'll stream from Saturday, November 11 via Paramount+.

Check out the first teaser trailer for The Curse below:

The Curse will stream from Saturday, November 11 via Paramount+.

Images: Beth Garrabrant and John Paul Lopez/A24/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME.

Published on September 29, 2023 by Sarah Ward
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