Curio: To Domhnall on his 37th Birthday

Digital painting by MenekahCurated by Nathaniel R

This week's episode of Curio is inspired by a recent screening of the first four episodes of HBO's Run. The series is so unusual in its pacing, withholding, character work, and sense of untethered possibility that it's difficult to say what it might amount to once the season (or series) is a wrap. On a scene by scene basis, though, it's a thrill. That's due at least in immeasurable part, to the chemistry between series stars Merrit Wever and Domhnall Gleeson. Neither of them are generally tasked with selling this kind of romantic comedy / sexy yearning and the series is all the better for that. So fresh!

With today being Domnhall Gleeson's birthday, let's look at how arts and crafts people capture his ginger gorgeousity...

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Horror Actressing: Sonoya Mizuno in "Ex Machina"

by Jason Adams

Is Alex Garland's Ex Machina a horror film? For all of its Frankensteinian elements I could be swayed towards a yes or a no, but when it comes to viewing the film via Sonoya Mizuno's character of "Kyoko" -- Mizuno can currently be seen co-starring on Garland's Hulu show Devs -- the "yes" argument feels substantive and then some...

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Review: "The Little Stranger"

by Chris Feil

Adapted from the Sarah Waters novel, The Little Stranger is a ghost story in a lower register, more a delicate gothic character study than a stone cold chiller. Think of it like a Shirley Jackson tale turned inward, where the separation of class and circumstance draw the demons from within and without. It’s not a horror film to satisfy the jump hungry or the thrill seekers, but one that slowly grips you from behind and one you will unexpectedly recall vividly.

The staples of such subtle genre pieces are all present: a once lively mansion lost to decay, the somewhat reclusive family that remains, the weight of a dead child covering it all in a fine layer of dust. A local doctor Faraday pays a visit to Hundreds Hall to tend to the maid of the Ayres family. Though its residents have worn along with the estate, Faraday is still taken by the memory of when he had visited it as a boy, on the very day that the Ayres daughter Susan became deathly ill.

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