I don’t know why I watched NFT: Cursed Images other than morbid curiosity. It is absolutely what it sounds like: a movie in which cursed NFTs come to life and kill their owners. While not groundbreaking plot –wise, it has a few things going for it. It also brings up some interesting discussion about how to iterate on familiar concepts. 

• Directed by: Jonas Odenheimer
• Written by Jonas Odenheimer
• Starring: Najarra Townsend. David Wayman. Mariah Nonnemacher

NFT is one-hundred-percent inspired by The Ring. It starts with a couple discussing the cursed NFT and then being killed by it. Then, we jump to our main cast. After discussing the overly self-centered, negative aspects of their financial state, these millennials discuss crypto schemes. A fair bit of the short (1:13) runtime has to be devoted to covering what NFTs are, and how people use them to make money. If your concept has to be explained this much, maybe not the best start? Or maybe its how they explain it. 

The Cast

The main takeaway from these scenes is that all these people are kind of trash. They don’t seem to like each other, and I don’t care much about them. This is unfortunate because we’re stuck with them for the next hour.  The stand-outs are Nes, the worst of the group, Dan, the one who actually seems smart, and James and Cass, the exes. There are others but they get such little screen time and personality we actually get a new category of bait: NFT Bait.

The Formula

NFT: Cursed Images follows the formula set by The Ring.  Yes, I’m going to talk about The Ring, not Ringu. Ringu is better, but there are culturally relevant differences.  The group somehow gets the NFTs and then has an undetermined amount of time before the cursed images kill them. Since it follows the pattern most popularized by The Ring, I think it’s important to talk about one of my least favorite terms in fiction: spiritual successor. 

It’s an often-used term and it’s one I hate to hear because so often when creators take something that they love and try to update it, they miss what made the core concept so compelling to begin with. 

The Complexity of Theme

For The Ring, it’s about more than just an evil kid. It’s about the destructive force of viral media and how toxic and evil ideas spread through technology.  It’s a multi-layered piece that gets into media influence in compelling ways as it also analyzes the destruction of family. As these two themes combine, you have a full analysis of how modern technology destroys human connections. 

You also have a strong set of internal rules for the mythology. Before you die, you see the ring. “Seven days” from the beginning, the viewer and the characters know the general parameters of the ticking clock they are up against.  In short, The Ring is thematically and logically consistent.

There Was Potential

NFT: Cursed Images could have been. There is certainly enough material there to work with. NFTs are a thing born out of cultural desperation in a time when people were confused and scared. They’re a get–rich–quick scheme founded on concepts of exclusivity and FOMO.  It shouldn’t take much to make that scary.  But, it needs to use the core of what the technology is, how it works, and why that’s relevant to the curse. 

There are some token attempts at this. Each image is a unique demon, and since each NFT transfer would generate a record, this could have been used to track it back or something. It’s not. This is because with around seven people to kill off, the script has to race through the deaths at the cost of developing any kind of lore, tension, or mood. 

The creature designs are pretty cool, so I didn’t hate seeing them. I just wish they were used better. 

Look, the idea of desperate people trying to sell a curse for their financial benefit could have been workshopped into something truly chilling. Imagine: a metaphor for pump-and-dump schemes, and those who knowingly exploit the technologically unsavvy for their own benefit. 

Instead, a lot of things happen and then nothing happens. 

The Ending.

Ok, so the rules. One of the big problems I have with NFT: Cursed Images is that there are no real rules. You get the NFT and if you hold onto it for “too long”, it kills you. There’s no indication of what “too long” is. For one of the friends, it’s like two hours, and for others, it’s longer.  A character makes a comment that only your NFT can kill you, but this is contradicted in the opening… and kind of the ending too? 

The ending makes no sense. It doesn’t fit with the rest of the movie, and I don’t get it. It’s abad shock ending for the sake of the shock ending. I’m not sure what we’re left with at the end. It’s not nihilistic in the same way that The Ring is, which makes a profound statement about the futility of fighting technological progress. It’s just kind of there. 

If you analyze the actions of the characters and the consequences of what happens to them, it’s largely meaningless. Doing the right thing by the rules didn’t work. So, what is the point? Is there a larger meta point about being turned into zombies by technology? If so, then why did the one character who gave away their NFT get affected? 

Final Thoughts

It’s a mess, and now I feel like I’ve spent more time thinking about this than I should have. Go watch The Ring.