Ilove how a TV show or book can spark an immediate fascination with a subject; binging on facts, sourcing materials to read up on and what-not. My recent coverage of A Painter’s Tale: Curon 1950 sparked an interest in the former town’s history after it was submerged to make way for a lake.
During a spree on YouTube, watching forgotten and sunken civilisations, it’s evident that this happens everywhere. The significance of Curon, however, is the prominence of its bell tower that remains protruding through the water.
The perfect postcard composition, the location is an ideal muse for some storytelling – whether that be historical fact, fantasy – as in the case of the game, or even the supernatural. The latter is the direction of this post as the game prompted a two-day session of Curon, on Netflix.
Return To Curon – With Some Spoilers
An Italian supernatural drama set on location in the former town of Curon and the offshoot Curon Venosta, we’re first introduced to the assumed protagonist, Anna Raina as a 17-year-old. Living in the family hotel with her mother and father, the latter tells her to hide in her room as someone has entered their home unannounced.
Unable to stay confined to her room, Anna goes to the hotel lobby to witness her mother being shot. The assailant? Herself. Fast-forward to 2020, and it transpires that Anna has made a life for herself in Milan with her twins, now 17-years-old, Mauro and Daria. However, she decides to return to her hometown – the first time since the incident and receives a very hostile welcome from the residents, including her father, who has remained in the now inoperable hotel.
Enrolled in the local school, the twins swiftly make some enemies, some kneejerk relationships and several love triangles throughout Curon. It wasn’t until episode 2 that this felt more of a teenage show – in hindsight, it says so in the write-up, and has a 15 certificate in the UK.
It isn’t the typical teenage angst we usually see – well, struggling to fit in, conflicts with authority, and general identity is a given. Still, it’s the supernatural element that should be the focal point. In short, Curon resembles a modern Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, without the aliens, but it’s a slow burner that dangles that carrot enough to keep you engaged.
By the end, there was closure, and it made sense. Well, as much as it could have, and it paves the way for a sequel – should Netflix cash in on it. I think it finished well, but if it gets greenlit, they’d need to introduce new characters or perhaps explore the potential of a religious cult that was touched upon. They could really run with that.
The cinematography in the series was fantastic, and the lighting and post-production ambience set the mood. I almost regretted starting the series late at night, though. Horror doesn’t both me, but the supernatural plays on my mind. Fortunately for my sleep patterns, it never materialised, and unfortunately for the story, there were a few opportunities missed. The biggest disappointment was the threat.
Breakdown ** Spoilers follow **
When a character in Curon has denied their personality, to almost lock away a part of themselves in fear of facing the truth, that repressed ego doesn’t disappear and instead lies dormant.
Legend has it that the bells can be heard in the winter at this real place, but they were removed when the town was submerged in 1950
The significance of the bell tower is an actual curse. Whether it was a result of the Rainas (Anna’s lineage who ‘owned’ Curon and instigated the dam back in 1950 – the show, not reality), or the people left behind – notably the religious procession, it was left unanswered. Perhaps this leaves it open for a follow-up?
Curon the series clasps on to this, and as a result, the person undergoing internal conflict will endure an unbearable headache and hear the bells in their head. Nobody else will hear them.
Once the bells stop, their doppelganger – the side of them they locked away – emerges from the lake to take the real one’s place. They aren’t inherently evil; well, murder is wrong and all, but they’re essentially the side of us that we choose to ignore or deny when in theory, the lesson is for them to co-exist. Otherwise, we get a Hank situation from Me, Myself and Irene.
Lukas, Lukas, Lukas…
Lukas is one of the teens who’s the first to get a counterpart in 2020. A repressed individual fearful of his own shadow (ironically), and declaring the love to his best friend Micki, his doppelganger comes out of the Curon lake to seek his position as a replacement. This isn’t imagined as both physically exist, but they can’t live side by side, so the lake version overthrows the other. This was the downside to the series.
Nicknamed Kitten for his submissive nature, Lukas goes from a timid boy to a somewhat camp nemesis. Naturally, it’s the same actor playing both roles, and they differ in manners, which is fine. But that stare down the camera with the head tilted forward with a sinister grin was a bit too cliche. But that wasn’t the worst part. That came down to the physical threat.
Lukas is not remotely threatening as a character, and even when the doppelganger takes the mantle, other than a noticeable change in his behaviour, he still has the same physical strength. In one scene, we see him confront a bully in the toilets. It wasn’t remotely scary, and the other guy easily had the upper hand physically, yet he cowered away.
When both Lukas’ meet, the doppelganger swings around a hammer with about as much accuracy and menace as wielding a stick of celery. That classic teen ‘run and trip’ didn’t even get off the ground. He was so intimidating that timid Lukas, then Micki, couldn’t even stand in his presence. It was pretty laughable unintentionally.
When Hell Freezes Over
It’s a shame then, as visually, it was excellent. Entirely in Italian and Austrian German, I could not determine how good the acting was in terms of enunciation, but I was happy with their performances – albeit Lukas’ doppelganger. The real Lukas was a decent, believable character. The entire Raina family was well cast, including Thomas, who had to endure all the hardship in Anna’s absence – both past and present.
My interest had waned around episode 6, but the final episode was pretty conclusive, and a new series could go either way; leave as a standalone and it’s fine, or commission a follow-up, but make sure to keep the existing cast and explore Michael Ober’s character, who was underused.
Curon was an entertaining series that didn’t quite reach the heights of the supernatural element. The concept was good, the production excellent, and again, despite the hammy ‘chase’ scenes, the casting was great.
Is it worth a watch? Sure. It’s not convoluted; you don’t need to know anything about the history either. In truth, the historical element is not mentioned much, and other than the frequent aerial shots of the tower (which are excellent), it could be set somewhere entirely different and still be of intrigue.
