Review: The Curse hit every trope on its spiral into tech-induced insanity, but was a treat for J-horror fans
The story follows Riko (played by Yukino Kaizu) and her ex-boyfriend Jiahao (played by Yu) as they try to find out what happened to their two friends who died in mysterious and violent circumstances after opening a video sent to them on social media.
If you are a woman of a certain age, you will have fond girlhood memories of sleepovers with your friends themed around gore, curses and vengeful spirits.
Good times, indeed!
In contrast to the American slasher horrors of the 70s, 80s and 90s, Japanese horror writers of the late 90s and early 2000s were doing something entirely different in the form of J-horror.
By the early 2000s, Hollywood was all over it.
'Ju-On' became 'The Grudge', 'Ringu', 'The Ring' and 'Floating Water' became 'Dark Water'.
And then western audiences moved on to zombies, found footage and the likes of 'Insidious' and so many sequels.
So, it was a real treat to see the 2026 Japanese Taiwanese horror movie, 'The Curse', at this year’s Japanese Film Festival at Garter Lane.
Late 90s and early 2000s J-horror had a thing for tech and curses.
In 'Ringu' (1998), the curse is spread through a VHS tape, and in 'One Missed Call' (2003) through mobile phones.
'The Curse' (2026), directed by Kenchi Ugana, continues this exploration of the dark side of tech for today with a curse spread through social media.
The story follows Riko (played by Yukino Kaizu) and her ex-boyfriend Jiahao (played by Yu) as they try to find out what happened to their two friends who died in mysterious and violent circumstances after opening a video sent to them on social media.
As is the fashion in contemporary horror, 'The Curse' spread through social media is an allegory for how we use tech today and a reminder that our online presence can quickly take on a life of its own, and that what we say from the safety of our phone screens can have devastating impacts on real people.
'The Curse' hit every horror genre trope on its spiral into an insane ending.
With scenes almost straight out of 'The Exorcist' (if you know, you know) and 'Ju-On' ('The Grudge').
It maintained an atmosphere throughout not unlike what you might feel when you hear a noise in your bedroom in the middle of the night.
It was gory and gross from the start, becoming fantastically weirder from there.
And yet, in the end, it was entirely unpredictable.
