Writer/director Jonas Odenheimer’s non-fungible nightmare, “NFT: Cursed Images,” arrived on digital and in select theaters this past weekend. While the premise cleverly updates the ‘death curse chain’ trope for the crypto era, the film struggles to overcome a fragmented story, unlikable characters, and a tedious crash course in digital assets.
The film wastes no time introducing the stakes. We follow a young woman (Najarra Townsend) and her boyfriend (Charlie Rich) as they walk home from a party. She is visibly uneasy, clutching a gifted NFT intended to be her entry into the world of digital investment. We quickly learn the gift is actually a cursed image that leads to the film’s first “real-life” NFT encounter and the first of the film’s mostly off-screen kills.
From there, we meet our core ensemble: a group of crypto-savvy millennials gathered to celebrate a friend’s financial success, courtesy of his crypto endeavors. Unfortunately, the characters are largely unlikable, seemingly by design. They lean heavily into grating stereotypes of Millennials and Gen Z, making the first act a chore to navigate. While the performances themselves are competent, the personalities on screen leave much to be desired.
Compounding the character issues is the film’s heavy-handed exposition. Because NFTs remain a niche topic for many, the next 15 minutes feel more like a crypto crash course than a horror movie. Here we learn the what, why, and how of NFTs that stalls the tension just as it should be building.
The momentum picks up when “Captain Kit” (Patrick Shearer) is airdropped seven NFTs from the “Crypto Horrors” collection—a set of 666 reportedly cursed images. Naturally, he distributes them to the group, setting the supernatural clock in motion.
The creatures themselves are the film’s undisputed highlight. Their transition from digital icons to in-world manifestations is impressive, especially for an indie budget; I only wish the “real” versions had more screen time.
Additionally, a late-film revelation about the creatures’ origins in global folklore felt like a missed opportunity. This is one of the story fragments that should have been explored more and would have been an interesting way to set up the film’s lore early on. Instead, it’s a mere throwaway device to show that traditional methods for ridding yourself of a centuries-old curse might not work in the digital age.
In the end, despite a promising premise and solid visual effects, “NFT: Cursed Images” is a bit of a digital mess—proving that even a brisk 72-minute runtime can feel long when the characters are this taxing.
Where to watch “NFT: Cursed Images”:
