X
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Netflix
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Netflix
Summary At the urging of her dying mother, Nimue (Katherine Langford), who later becomes the Lady of the Lake, travels with a young mercenary named Arthur (Devon Terrell) to return a sword (Excalibur) to Merlin (Gustaf Skarsgård) in this re-imagining of the Arthurian legend based on the book by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler.
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Netflix
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Netflix
Cursed (2020)
Season 1 Premiere: Jul 17, 2020
59
4.8
Summary At the urging of her dying mother, Nimue (Katherine Langford), who later becomes the Lady of the Lake, travels with a young mercenary named Arthur (Devon Terrell) to return a sword (Excalibur) to Merlin (Gustaf Skarsgård) in this re-imagining of the Arthurian legend based on the book by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler.
All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
59
38% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
62% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
59
38% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
62% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Cursed may not be the most serious or profound program that TV has to offer, but you won’t find many shows more solidly built or satisfying. ... Rarer and more exciting still is that this fantasy drama understands that you can’t make good television in any genre without getting fundamentals like character, themes, storytelling and aesthetics right.
Langford (“Knives Out,” “13 Reasons Why”) is effective if not exceptional, somewhat mirroring the entire enterprise. The gore quotient here runs high, but unlike “Thrones” and “The Witcher” there is no underlying erotic throb fueling things and humor is scarce.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 152 User Ratings
4.8
36% Positive
55 Ratings
55 Ratings
16% Mixed
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
47% Negative
72 Ratings
72 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 152 User Ratings
4.8
36% Positive
55 Ratings
55 Ratings
16% Mixed
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
47% Negative
72 Ratings
72 Ratings
Despite its confusing plot, overly complicated mythology and sometimes cheesy effects, there's a watchability to "Cursed," in part due to its young star Katherine Langford.
It's an OK show with the raw materials to have been much better given just a bit more commitment to its premise.
Turn off your brain, and "Cursed" is fun and more evenly paced than other recent genre debuts. But at best, it feels like a small plate meant to keep our bellies full until we get a new season of "The Witcher," a yarn that's far and away wilder and messier but also a reliably better adventure.
The Arthurian legend represents a fertile screen playground, explored and revised from practically every conceivable angle. Yet other than its visual style, Netflix's "Cursed" represents a pale addition to that mythology, approaching the story from the perspective of Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, without yielding many dramatic ripples.
This is the expensively made, atrociously written, chaotic, borderline-barmy tale.
Decent enough, mediocre story and acting, some elements are good, some are bland and not the best choice.
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It pains me to do this because I love Arthurian Legend and I’m about the biggest Frank Miller fan out there, but this was just so so for me. I thought the cast was good and the first 4-5 episodes weren’t bad, but it went no where and really felt like they were killing time in hopes to get a second season. It’s kind of the same way I felt about the American gods 1st season and they had a better cast.
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The King Arthur Legend with a female lead?
Of course! So we get this one to cross off our list, too.
The setup isn't too bad, Katherine Langford is ok as Nimue, the lead character.
In the beginning she's depicted as powerful but her powers and their limits are never really established.
So sometimes, when in danger, she doesn't or can't use her powers and sometimes she does/can, depending most likely on what the script writers want to happen next.
Another thing: If you want a female lead and the story is about a magic sword,
how about you cast an actress that can actually wield a sword?
Langford couldn't convince me for a second that she can win any fight with that sword.
And the fight with the wolves...cringe worthy.
Which brings me to the special effects. Yes, it looks like they didn't have a big budget for CGI, but they could have used it more cleverly. But they didn't and some effects look really bad.
With regard to the rest of the cast, only Gustaf Skarsgård stood out as Merlin.
Even though Merlin is depicted as a drunk, Skarsgård balanced out the characters weaknesses to have him somewhat likeable.
Father Garden and King Uther were convincing enough as villain and rivals to get hold of the sword.
But the ones that should have made an impression are Arthur and Gawain, but they were totally bland and not contributing anything substantial to the plot.
They serve as good people to talk to, to give advice and for the female lead to make love to.
I don't blame the actors. The script simply doesn't give them enough to do.
Fallen victim to the woke agenda, they aren't allowed to be strong and forceful, only the women are.
Male villains, of course, are allowed to be strong and dangerous, and show all that 'tocthic mathculinity". That's their reason of being.
The season's finale is surprising, but not in a good way.
They were going for a massiv cliffhanger, I guess, but the last scenes feel totally off.
To wrap it up, 'Cursed' is for people who need a regular dose of fantasy fare and who aren't picky about it.
My main complaints about it are the lead's arbitrary use of her powers, her lame sword fighting, the arbitrary plot development, the pushing of the woke agenda and the lack of memorable characters that aren't villains.
I don't know about you, but to me, that's too many complaints for it to be a good show.
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A poor show filled with bad performances with 1 or 2 exceptions. At times, the fight choreography has painful pauses between each action that feels so much like a quick time event from a video game, I was half expecting to have to press X to make the next swing happen. No logic to the story and its really hard to care about the main characters. I think it could have been more palatable if they had just dropped the Arthurian lore.
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Production Company:
- Arcanum
- CAMA Asset Storage & Recycling
- Netflix
Initial Release Date: Jul 17, 2020
Number of seasons: 1 Season
Rating: TV-MA
Awards
Bafta TV Craft
• 1 Nomination
Young Artist Awards
• 1 Nomination
