Seventeen years after tragic events that forced her to leave Curon, a woman and her children return to discover the curse that drove her out of the town.
Curon (2020) is an Italian fantasy thriller, available on Netflix (English voice over dubbing). The programme was created by Ezio Abbate, Ivano Fachin and Giovanni Galassi and stars a full cast of Italian actors, such as Valeria Bilello and Luca Lionello.
In just seven episodes we are given a thought provoking and eerie narrative, presenting the horrors of which are happening in this small town in Northern Italy. My favourite part of this programme was the general plot, it's extremely interesting - and shares similarities to the 2019 horror film Us, directed by Jordan Peele.
Another highlight of this programme is it's breaking of stereotypes. Usually, whilst watching a programme, we can make predictions of what will happen. We are often handed all the clues, therefore when we guess correctly, we feel intelligent. Most of my predictions or ideas throughout this show were completely wrong, or completely the opposite of what I expected. I appreciate Curon a little more for this reason.
Thomas (the grandfather) was one of my favourite characters. His back story lines up perfectly with how he acts in the present. He has such a tough exterior, although he's a very caring person - he is willing to suffer to protect others. I really admired his character for this.
In television, the protagonists are often portrayed as perfect people with hardly any flaws. They are usually some abnormally great person, though this wasn't the case here. I feel as though the daughter Daria (Margherita Morchio) was the most central character or protagonist of the programme, however she's not exactly a good person. She is cocky, rebellious and almost aggressive. She has her good traits, but in real life she would definitely be the girl to stay away from to keep out of trouble.
My BIGGEST problem with this show was the music. I was wondering whether there was trouble due to the language dubbing but it was unreasonably awful. The music would just cut in and out suddenly, and the style was a horrible fit. The music they chose could have been incorporated well, if positioned correctly. However there would be an emotional scene and then intense dance/rave music would just cut in. It felt so out of place, and took me out of the experience. I feel terrible that with everything that goes into a production, the audio included in post production could decrease the quality of the programme so dramatically.
Other than the music, I wasn't pleased with a couple of things. There was a random scene of the teenage daughter in the bath. It was unnecessary and uncomfortable, especially considering Daria is seventeen years old. I always feel great disappointment by unnecessary sexualisation of women, if it doesn't add to the story or their character, I feel it shouldn't be included.
My general negative comments would be that sometimes I found myself a little lost, as they didn't make things very clear. For example, they imply Anna left Curon as a child, but then we are shown a flashback of her leaving as an adult before the twins were born. I feel there could have been a little bit more of a clearer explanation.
Overall, I'm glad I got the opportunity to branch out and watch a piece of Italian television. Having the programme dubbed was important to me as I'm a slow reader and find it difficult to read subtitles and appreciate the visuals together. I feel the positive aspects of the show made the programme a worthwhile watch, as I always appreciate a little rule breaking and surprise. It is refreshing to be introduced to these new actors. I hope Netflix continues to provide us with similar content outside of the English language.
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