The Cursed (previously titled Eight For Silver) is a story about consequences. Steeped in historical context, the film follows the inhabitants of a small village suffering from a curse after a group of landowners murder a Roma clan. The vitriol and atrocity hurled at these innocent people come back to bite land baron Seamus Laurent (Alistair Petrie) in the ass when his son and daughter become victims of this curse, as well as his whole town. Enter pathologist John McBride (Boyd Holbrook), who has been following the Roma clan in hopes of finding the truth behind the death of his family, who also aids this plagued town against the sinister evil that lurks within the woods.
The curse comes from the land baron's desire to keep “his” land and in doing so the Roma people, who possess spiritual power, curse their oppressors. The Baron and his town face the consequences by slowly being picked off by a vengeful creature. The film begins with a brutal opening sequence set during World War I. It's here that writer-director Sean Ellis sets the tone. The Cursed is a slow march through the violence humans inflict upon each other and his approach is unflinchingly honest. There is a soldier hoisted into an infirmary tent where a doctor pulls out three bullets, one of which is a fang-shaped silver bullet. The film then flashes back to Seamus Laurent’s humble estate where his sweet children play and his wife, Isabelle (Kelly Reilly), dotes on her family. Ellis, who is also the cinematographer, doesn’t contrast the tone of the film with this shift in time. Rather, the dark and sombre atmosphere is an extension of his cinematography as he shrouds the Laurents under a heavy layer of fog and gray skies that spell trouble.
The Cursed, which should have kept its more interesting title Eight for Silver, is a slow burn. It is not the typical werewolf drama set in the past — in this case, the 19th-century — where hysteria about a supernatural creature builds momentum for an explosive end. Instead, Ellis opts to slowly trudge through to the end, building on the dire circumstances with disturbing imagery to create a great deal of dread rather than thrill and suspense. The film doesn’t hammer on about werewolf lore and there is little mention of the supernatural creature at all. The Beast of Gévaudan is mentioned in passing, but that is merely a nod to what the film is about. At a distance, the film leans on the history of lycanthropy, but there is little rumination about the how and what is happening. What is left is contradictory social commentary, as well as an odd conflation of werewolf mythos with religion, and it's all too much for The Cursed to chew on.
While the film is as sumptuous as the average gothic period drama set in Europe, it is lacking in identity. There is no unifying vision when it comes to crafting the lore of the creature that stalks the village, and very little reckoning with the moment that spurs this situation. The film opened with the horrors of the trenches in World War I, but the story actually starts with the obliteration of a Roma clan that is filmed from a distance, but is not any less disturbing. There seems to be an attempt to speak to the casual brutality towards marginalized groups in a colonial society, but The Cursed is uninterested in actually interrogating the problem or effectively dealing with what the narrative suggests.
As well-intentioned as Ellis is, his choices ultimately continue to marginalize, stereotype, and dismiss the experiences of the Roma people, using their suffering as fodder for his horror film. Ellis is not interested in using the narrative to drive home some commentary about colonization and racism. The setup vilifies the Romas further as they have no presence past their awful demise. They are faceless or grotesque terrors that haunt the nightmare of children and use them to spread the curse. The Cursed is a film that is steeped in history and attempts to subtly suggest that whiteness and the ignorant pursuit of superiority have their consequences.
Horror is no stranger to cleverly veiled social commentary, but what The Cursed lacks is depth and momentum. Contributing to that is a relentlessly monotonous and solemn tone, which emphasizes the tepid and boring performances, most notably from Holbrook, who is simply a vessel for information. Ultimately, The Cursed is merely a slow trek through horrific gore, lackluster and confusing werewolf lore, and a muddled understanding of the legacy of the Roma. In more discerning hands, the film could have accomplished what Sean Ellis seemingly set out to do. As it stands, The Cursed is not a werewolf horror worth devouring.
The Cursed releases in theaters on Friday, February 18. It is 112 minutes is rated R for strong violence, grisly images and brief nudity.