The Cursed
Short description
Set in the late 19th century, this horror thriller follows the aftermath of a massacre committed by a brutal land baron against a Roma clan. This violence triggers a curse that brings nightmares to the village and leads to the death of a young boy and the disappearance of the baron's son. While the locals believe a wild animal is responsible for the tragedy, a visiting pathologist named John McBride warns that a sinister entity is hiding in the forest.
The film was written and directed by Sean Ellis, following his work on Anthropoid. It stars Boyd Holbrook as McBride, alongside Alistair Petrie and Kelly Reilly as the baron and his wife. The production was a collaboration between the United States and France, involving LD Entertainment and Piste Rouge.
The movie earned 5 million USD at the worldwide box office. Audience reception was generally positive, with a rating of 6.2/10 on IMDb from 23,000 votes and 6.6/10 on TMDB from 449 votes. These figures are closely aligned with the rating from film critics, which stands at 6.4/10 based on 128 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Boyd Holbrook liked the script so much that he convinced Sean Ellis to give him the role of the British character (John McBride).
- The werewolf mythology presented in the film feels more authentic than the Hollywood tales of the last century on the subject. In Sweden, werewolves are often depicted as creatures with an animal appearance (which could be either a wolf or a bear), with a human enclosed deep inside. When the animal's skin is peeled away, one often finds either parts of the transformed human or something belonging to them (in the film, this nuance is reflected in the scene involving the autopsy of the character played by Anya Rose Daily).
- According to Sean Ellis (the film's director, screenwriter, producer, and cinematographer), he drew inspiration for the project from George Waggner's horror film "The Wolf Man" (1941), as well as an 18th-century French legend about an unknown beast.
- The dresses worn by the character played by Kelly Reilly (the grey plaid one and the black one) fasten with a zipper down the back. The scenes with this character take place in 1881, whereas the patent for the zipper was granted in 1917, and zippers only began appearing on women's dresses in the 1930s.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
