ItsDusty

Cursed is a fantasy retelling of the Arthurian legend that despite its best efforts, falls victim to poor storytelling, and at best a decent cast of actors. The main cast of actors do fairly decent job (including the characters for Nimue, Arthur, Merlin, and the main antagonist), however they are surrounded by supporting actors that do a poor enough job to bring the entire experience down several notches. Pulling some additional talent may help this, however largely the acting thus far has been serviceable, but not great. The story itself...works. If you have low standards, you may find it enjoyable at times. The plot meanders along at a leisurely pace, despite the seemingly frantic events going on about the main characters. This is made far worse by flashback after flashback which kill the pacing, filling in details that could just as easily be filled through context or dialogue. As an example, in the first episode one main character loses control of their magic and nearly kills someone, giving context for why the village doesn't like them. In the next episode, almost the exact same scene happens, establishing the same information, but in flashback form. Please, respect your audience to be able to fill in blanks, not every answer needs to be explicitly given, and definitely not multiple times. In terms of the production values of the show, they're decent. The setting is interesting enough, though doesn't feel lived in. Costuming looks usually authentic, with some strange looking outfits here or there, but not overly noticeable. Sets are for the most okay, however certain areas feel like they got skimped on the budget. The occasional CGI for the most part looks either surprisingly good, or distractedly bad. A good example of this is a number of CGI wolves in the first episode that look fine in still shots, but have strange floaty movement when in motion. Not bad, but definitely distracting. Overall Cursed is fine. Of all the things to call this show out on, I'd say the story suffers the most from far too many flashbacks, paired with acting that is on par at best. I'd be interested to see what the show can do with a season two if they get a larger budget to fill out their acting cast, and if they could streamline the story cutting out unnecessary bits. If you're done with Game of Thrones or The Witcher and still need more fantasy itch scratched, this might work for you. But dont expect to be yearning for a second season.