Netflix’s Curon is a supernatural teen drama built on a simple premise: two twins return to their mother’s hometown and find it hiding a secret beneath the surface. The result is a show that lands somewhere between Stranger Things and a slow-burn mystery, with a cast led by Margherita Morchio and Federico Russo as Daria and Mauro Raina.
The show premiered on 10 June 2020, with seven episodes that follow the twins as they unpack why their mother Anna (Valeria Bilello) vanished after returning to Curon, a small town in Northern Italy’s South Tyrol region. Her father, Thomas Raina (Luca Lionello), runs an old hotel that has sat empty since the family fled seventeen years earlier.
Trailer, via Netflix.
The Twins Arrive in Curon
Daria and Mauro arrive with their mother to find the town cold toward them. No one wants Anna back, not even Thomas. The twins themselves don’t want to stay either; they’d rather move back to Milan. Their first day at school goes badly, but Daria finds a friend in Micki Asper (Juju Di Domenico), the teacher’s daughter. The two kiss after a late-night party by the town’s lake.
The romance gets tested fast. Micki’s brother Giulio (Giulio Brizzi) can’t accept that his sister might be a lesbian, and he confronts both teens about it. His father, Albert Asper (Alessandro Tedeschi), also carries unresolved history with Anna. Micki struggles with the rejection from her old friends and the betrayal of her best friend Lukas (Luca Castellano).
The Nightmare That Drives the Plot
Anna disappears, and the twins start looking for her. They uncover the truth about their grandmother’s death through a nightmare Anna keeps having. In it, she sees someone who looks identical to her shoot her mother and then turn the gun at her. The trail leads to the town’s lake.
The mystery of the grandmother’s death and the secret surrounding the lake finally get solved, wrapping up the central plot thread by the final episode. It’s a neat resolution, though the pacing drags in the middle stretch.
A Cast With Limited Range
The young leads carry the weight. Morchio plays Daria with a steady presence, and Russo brings the right mix of frustration and curiosity as Mauro. Bilello anchors the family dynamic as Anna, giving the show its emotional core.
The supporting cast is thinner. Giulio Brizzi plays Giulio as a hot-headed bully, and Juju Di Domenico plays Micki as a wounded outsider. The adult roles, led by Alessandro Tedeschi as Albert Asper and Luca Lionello as Thomas, lean on typecasting rather than depth.
What Works and What Doesn’t
- The premise is strong: a sleepy town hiding a supernatural secret
- The performances from the young leads are solid
- The resolution feels rushed compared to the setup
- Some supporting characters feel underwritten
The show’s biggest weakness is its middle section. Episodes three and four meander through small-town gossip and mild tension without building toward anything. The pace picks up again once Anna disappears, but the momentum is slow to recover.
A Decent Start, a Softer Middle
Curon isn’t a bad show, but it doesn’t quite reach the heights of other Netflix originals in its genre. The supernatural elements are kept vague enough to sustain intrigue, but the show never fully commits to them. The family drama is stronger than the fantasy, which limits the show’s appeal to viewers looking for a pure thriller.
| Episode | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival |
| 2 | Welcome |
| 3 | The Town |
| 4 | Secrets |
| 5 | The Lake |
| 6 | Discovery |
| 7 | Truth |
The show earns a 6.3 out of 10. It’s a decent entry point for a new audience, but it doesn’t stay with you long after the credits roll. The twins’ journey is worth watching, but the execution keeps it from greatness.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
