Cursed: The New Netflix Adaptation Of The Arthurian Legend
25/07/2020
by Agnieszka
This time I’ve got for you another Netflix Originals series review that I’ve watched recently. Cursed has premiered on Netflix on 17th July and is the newest adaptation of the legend of Arthur and The Sword of Power. This 10 episode fantasy series is a perfect choice for spending your weekend evening in front of your TV.
Without any unnecessary spoilers, I would like to share with you my thoughts and first impression after watching season 1, so it will be easier for you to judge whether it is right up your street or not.
Main character Nimue is a young Fey girl who’s gifted with special and mysterious powers (starring Katherine Langford best known from 13 Reasons Why). She is being alienated in her village because of her extraordinary abilities, so she decides to run away and start an entirely new life. In the meantime Fey villages are being burned by Red Paladins, Church’s emissaries, whose aim is to destroy the Fey kind. Under the guidance of Father Carden (Peter Mullan) and the Weeping Monk (Daniel Sharman), they brutally kill everyone who isn’t entirely human. When Nimue’s village is under their attack, she comes back, and her dying mother gives her a mysterious sword. Her dying wish is that Nimue should deliver the sword to the man named Merlin (Gustaf Skarsgård). There, Nimue begins her journey with an accidentally met mercenary named Arthur (Devon Terrel) to fulfil the mission given by her mother and discover her true destiny.
This may sound very clichéd, however, Cursed is from the construction point of view a very typical fantasy series. A lot of threads is being led in quite a predictable way, very characteristic for the genre, although this doesn’t detract its quality. Because I think it is really well made, especially when it comes to how the characters are written. One of the best-led characters for me is the Weeping Monk. On the one hand mysterious and very brutal on the other has the best predispositions for a huge metamorphosis. There is a lot of other characters well known from the Arthurian legends, but the story is told in an entirely different way. Of course, we will meet Arthur, Merlin, Morgana or Lancelot (which isn’t so obvious at first) but also Nimue who in the legend is better known as The Lady of the Lake, who has given the Excalibur to Arthur.
But what actually makes Cursed so interesting is the fact that it is only inspired by the Arthurian myths and the story in the series is totally different. Creators of the show give us characters that we know but the story behind them is something brand new. It makes the plot much more absorbing and mysterious with a lot of juicy secrets.
What has also caught my eye are the animated transitions between different threads and scenes. They are really nicely made and make the transitions very smooth. I think they fit the whole story perfectly and give it a fairytale character.
The only thing that I didn’t like that much is that too many threads have been introduced into the show before the very end so they weren’t explained or expanded in any kind of way which just left me with too many questions. I understand that this is a perfect situation for creators to continue the adventures of Nimue and Arthur, but I think some of them might have been moved forward to season 2.
Generally, I really liked the show and I’m definitely looking forward to season 2 to find out what will happen to my favourite characters! Let me know in the comments below if you've already watched Cursed , I'd love to hear your thoughts!