Last year’s Sundance captivated audiences with Sean Ellis’s newest film Eight For Silver, the visually stunning and atmospherically rich entry into pop culture’s werewolf movie catalogue, and offered a fresh and exciting glimpse into a subgenre that has inspired filmmakers for decades. Over a year later the film is finally released with a new cut and a new name–The Cursed–and while a few elements of this film did not completely stick the landing (I’m looking at you bad CGI), the ultimate product is a unique and hair-raising slow burn Gothic horror that leaves audiences enthralled, engaged and excited about the future of werewolf movie lore.
Seemingly simple, the plot of The Cursed does not leave much room for interpretation. The Romani, a nomadic group who have a legal claim to the land that wealthy and powerful aristocrat Seamus Laurent (Alistair Petrie) and his community live on, settle onto the land and start making a home for themselves. The cruel and cold Laurent immediately sics his loyal band of followers onto the group, resulting in an inhumane and bloody genocide that is unlike anything we’ve seen before on film. In the midst of the savagely brutal massacre, one scorned woman spits a furiously sharp curse that will quickly come around to haunt the colonials for their hateful crime.
The film takes off from there, as the entire village begins having the same horrifying nightmare of a disturbing scarecrow keeping watch over the open, empty fields. Soon children are consistently disappearing in the night and often found slain in the morning with evidence of animal mutilation. Laurent’s son, among several other children, goes missing after getting a nasty bite from an animal attack. Cue pathologist John McBride (Boyd Holbrook), a mysterious outsider who comes to investigate after hearing of the brutal killings happening inside the community. McBride states that he has encountered this exact situation before and knows how to help; soon he is knee-deep in constructing violent traps that will catch the predator and save the community. Luckily for McBride, his trap works and he quickly catches the culprit responsible for the killings. Bad news is, he’s up against something far worst than we the audience could’ve ever dreamed of–a werewolf/zombie hybrid monster who is triple the size of any human and ready to gnash its teeth into every man, woman and child’s flesh.
The strongest aspect of this film is by far Ellis’s absolutely immersive cinematography and his commitment to creating a terrifyingly bleak world these characters live in. The camerawork really set the tone of this film and delivers a sense of complete dread from beginning to end, never giving the audience a chance to breathe as we’re enveloped in haunting shot after haunting shot. Robin Foster’s score works in tandem with the cinematography, adding an upbeat element to the film and bringing the audience along for the thrill while still consistently keeping that dreadful nuance throughout. These two facets are what give this film an edge over other modern horror films and are likely what The Cursed will be remembered for in the future. It is also important to mention that while this story takes chances and positions itself to be somewhat unique, the heart of the story is unfortunately problematic. This movie portrays the Romani, referred to as “gypsies” in the film, as occult-worshipping Satanists who spout curses and turn children into werewolves. Its no secret at this point that this stereotype is offensive and honestly, a little tired. Ellis does go out of his way to try and build a narrative that strays from past cliches, and the Romani plot is not front and center after the first 15 minutes luckily, but the effects are felt and this did need to be addressed.
My other biggest complaint with this film is the CGI, specifically when it comes to the werewolf/zombie beast. When I say it looked like a combination of the two, I mean it in that I was unsure which it was really supposed to even be–it looked like they couldn’t decide and just kind of sloppily threw some ideas together to make this creature look different than anything we’ve seen before. It certainly did look different, and not in a good way, as I was completely distracted and taken out of the moment every time we got a glimpse of this very strange monster. That is the biggest bummer of all, as the cinematography and score are so tight and doing so much to make these creature moments impactful but alas, Ellis and co dropped the ball a bit here.
The performances are not to go unnoticed of course, as they are quite strong, though a bit subdued. Boyd Holbrook is perfect as John McBride as his calming but dedicated presence are what truly carry this film to the end. Alistair Petrie is incredibly hatable as Laurent and Kelly Reilly gives a memorable performance as Laurent’s wife Isabelle, the only person willing to believe McBride’s theory that werewolves are behind it all. The biggest standout of all was Roxane Duran as Anais, the woman who places the curse upon Laurent and his people. Her powerful performance radiates outrage, desperation and pain in a way that is almost palpable. I certainly will not be forgetting her turn as Anais any time soon.
Ultimately The Cursed is a refreshing take on an old trope that takes risks and offers something inventive. It mostly succeeds and the final result is a well-made werewolf flick that will delight most horror fans. This film by no means changes the game but it will hopefully open up doors for other filmmakers to explore this genre in a new light. If you love an atmospheric Gothic horror slow burn then The Cursed is absolutely the one for you.
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