New quotes from The Curse creator Benny Safdie revealed fans' suspicions about the series' twist ending may have been warranted.
The A24-produced Showtime series ended spectacularly with Nathan Fielder's Asher Seigel seeing the final result of the show's titular curse and being sent drifting through space. At the same time, his TV host wife, Whitney (played by Emma Stone), goes into labor with their first child.
This shocking (and bizarre) finale sent audiences into a frenzy of confusion, with theorizing abound amongst the show's fan base.
Benny Safdie Confirms The Curse Theories
In a recent interview, co-creator of The Curse, Benny Safdie, confirmed fan suspicions about the ending of the cerebral streaming series.
On the idea of the finale - which saw a dramatic shift of camera angle, ending on this floating omniscient-type photograph as opposed to the point-of-view candid camera work of the rest of the series - Safdie said "[the camera angle is] very different" and was meant to represent "a release" of sorts (via
Film at Lincoln Center):
"Well, they're very different. I think that's the important thing there. It's the first time it does that, and it's the only time it does that... and why? We have our reasons, it's almost like something is free in that moment so it made sense. I don't know what it is but something kind of… there was a release of some kind and it was like, destabilized, you know."
This intentionality was something fans picked up on immediately upon the finale's release.
Some believed this choice of floating in space with Nathan Fielder's Asher to end the show was the creators hinting at the camera being a facsimile for an omniscient character of sorts, with this entity watching over everything across the show's 10 episodes.
A few fans even went as far as to say this was the physical embodiment of the central curse itself, a mysterious force that looms over Fielder's virtue-signaling HGTV host across the show.
As the camera shifts from its candid, documentary-style filmmaking to the final floating shot, the "release" Safdie referred to seems to have to do with Asher being dead in space, finally free of the curse, just as fans suspected.
Will The Curse Get a Season 2?
Following the surprising conclusion of The Curse Season 1, fans are itching to know if the subversive streaming drama will ever be heard from again.
Nothing official has been confirmed about the existence of The Curse Season 2, but the show's creators have hinted there could be more in store.
Despite Season 1 ending fairly definitively, Safdie previously revealed "there are ideas" for a potential sophomore effort:
"There’s a lot more fun to be had in this world. It’s not off the table. There are ideas, but it’s definitely too premature to put them out into the world."
The Curse Season 1 did leave a few things open for interpretation, particularly with Emma Stone's Whitney.
Season 2 could see her raising the child audiences witnessed her bring into the world in the finale. However, it will be a little bizarre for her husband, Asher (played by Nathan Fielder), not to be present seeing as he seemingly died at the end of Season 1.
What could be a fun twist is having Asher return in a potential second season. As Stone's Whitney seems to finally be happy with Asher out of her life at the end of Season 1, his popping back up would be earth-shattering for the 'put on a smile for the camera' HGTV creator.
The Curse is streaming now on Paramount+.
