Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (TV Series) The Outside (2022) User Reviews

Interesting, if a little muddled.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 31 October 2022]

Stacey works at a Bank, but isn't one of the gang, she likes taxidermy, she looks a little different, whilst her colleagues are all glorious, and love sensation. A new cream could change Stacey's life.

It has several macabre moments, but this episode is a bit more weird than the first three. It's good, it's not great. Very surreal, it felt more like sci fi than horror.

The era is created beautifully, with great clothes, the music, visuals etc. I love that the eighties are explored so often, it's a great era.

There was something quite bleak about this story, and I don't think it came from the actual event, most of it came from Stacey, and the lengths she'd go to, to fit in.

I love the branding of Alo Glo, well imagined, I could actually see that sitting on a shelf, not sure I could connect the effects of the product with the other ladies in the bank.

Dan Stevens was great, and this does boast a killer performance from Kate Micucci.

A mixed bag, 6/10.

Great acting by Kate Micucci, weird episode

[herminiobraz-10996 · 6/10 · 27 October 2022]

Maybe I'm missing the artistic sensibilities necessary to fully enjoy this episode but I just found it weird and i found the plot a bit boring.

On the flip side, the acting throughout is great. The bank ladies are just the right level of hateful and annoying (hopefully that was the intent) and the husband (played by Martin Starr) is just creepy enough while still maintaining an air of genuine love and support for the main character.

The stand out, however, is Kate Micucci delivering a creepy, disturbing and intense performance that makes the episode tolerable and is the main reason for the 6 it gets from me.

The other positive point comes again form the visuals, good lighting, great CGI and overall very good sets.

Back to the negative points, I really did not care for the ending, it was weird and not in a good way. The final close-ups of the laughing faces might mean something that escapes me but it just felt empty to me, like the director was trying to be artsy just for the sake of it.

Overall a 6 seems like a fair score given the good performances and visuals.

Worst of the series

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 8 November 2022]

THE OUTSIDE is the worst episode of the anthology series yet, more of a heavy-handed satire than a genuine work of horror. The story is about a plain/ugly woman who's gifted some lotion to increase her beauty and the transformation that takes place within her. I get it, the look at the American beauty industrry is quite accurate, and yet the episode feels superficial and stretched out. There are only so many scenes we can see of someone applying lotion and scratching after all. It does have some commendably weird moments, but the gore seems shoehorned in and the last scene is breathtakingly stupid.

Can't believe the low rating on this

[kiratsuki-l · 30 October 2022]

Another proof that trusting IMDB ratings can be a very inconsistent deal.

This episode depicts a very specific horror of obeying norms in society and being brainwashed by tv, commercials and expectations due to the strong desire to fit in a group.

The main character who's completely insecure in her looks destroys her quiet unique life and healthy relationship with a husband who loves and accepts her as she is and supports all her strangeness and uniqueness, just to feel pretty and fit in.

As someone who has been an outsider all my life and also a woman I can understand the desire to fit in but I also understand that at the end of the day you go back home and you're left with yourself. Which I guess is what the final close up is about at the end of the episode.

She accomplishes her goal but at the same time she realizes it's meaninglessness and superficialness but she realizes there's no way back to how it was either.

The way the episode was shot with the close up crazy faces also amplified the unsettling feeling of people who feel like empty shells rather than actual humans with personalities. It was a perfect filming technique to use for this episode.

Trying To Fit In

[moviefest-90757 · 7/10 · 27 October 2022]

The horrors of fitting in, looking the part & making friends, "The Outside" forces viewers to examine the horrifying things people do to fit in and the lengths they will go to be liked. Society often judges people by their "outside" appearance, rather than what's inside, and the people being misjudged wrongly accept the critiques made toward them, when they shouldn't be listening to what they think in the first place, but we're only human, right?

The horrors that unfold are all courtesy of a social commentary that sends the protagonist on a descent into the madness of vanity, but, it's all just a little too messy. There's a lot of other subtext being thrown around, and none of it is subtle at all. It's very in your face. It's predictable. And while it's disturbing, I can't help but feel that it was rather empty.

Kate Micucci is weird and wonderful! Dan Stevens is pure gold. The kill is gnarly as hell! The score is chilling. And some of the camera work is top notch. But this just wasn't my cup of tea!

Mediocre

[DiaBilllie · 6/10 · 27 October 2022]

Except for the performance of Kate Micucci, nothing is memorable about this episode. The only I gave it an 6 is because the strong performance from her. Interesting premiere at the start but then nothing ground-breaking happens until the very end of the episode. And it wasn't giving any explaination or any backstory, it just happens and you have to accept it. Overall, the worst episode so far and unnecessary long. If only Lot 36 was this song it would have been a better episode.

Plot : Longing to fit in at work, awkward Stacey begins to use a popular lotion that causes an alarming reaction, while an unnerving transformation takes shape.

From a different perspective.

[sittingonthecusp · 6/10 · 30 October 2022]

Kate Micucci is as wonderful as she ever is but I have to parrot the other reviews in that as a whole, this episode felt off. The editing was a little clunky, the narrative structure felt held together with pva glue and the overall message was...contradictory, I guess?

I do, however want to talk about this from a personal level because of all the episode in this series, this was the only one I had to turn off; NOT because it is average, but because it genuinely scared me. Perhaps this review will be a little tangential and bias in an unusual way but I'm sat here after finally watching the second half and feel compelled to talk about it.

I am a sufferer of what's known as TSW. If you haven't heard of TSW, that's perfectly fine. TSW stands for Topical Steroid Withdrawal and is what happens when one overapplies topical cortical steroids to their skin. It is a jarring, horrific process to undergo and I say this as a man who loathes talking about my struggles. Topical steroids are precribed for dermatitis and eczema and very frequently, they are the go to solution for short term skin problems. For good reason too, they work very effectively. However when overprescribed, or prescribed in too large a dosage, they can lead to a dependency and full frontal physical addiction.

This is what happened to me.

Much like the AloGlo man, I was told this miracle cream would heal me and that it was the answer to my itchy, imperfect skin. I was advised to use it for over a year, starting with weak steroidal creams and slowly ramping up the dosage as my skikn developped a tolerance to the therapy. See, one issue is that when people come off of short term steroid use, the skin can have a mild adverse reaction. With symptoms presenting very similarly to the eczema that caused the prescription in the first place. I saw 4 different doctors and two different private dermatologists and every single conversation left me with the advice that steroids were my cure.

The only way to get off the steroids is cold turkey quitting.

Let me tell you, however bad my eczema felt or however itchy I was DOES NOT COMPARE to the hell that has been the last two years of my life. Just Like Micucci's character in this episode my life was spend with dry, cracked, bloody skin from head to toe. I became unable to work, I feared leaving the house as my appearance became so ghastly i couldn't stand to look at myself.

Micucci's line "If i'm perfect then why do I want to cut my skin off and throw it in the garbage?" was one of the hardest hitting lines of dialogue i've heard in a while. I physically couldn't watch her claw at her skin because this was my life for so long. Scratching myself raw, praying that the burning would stop.

I am fully self aware that this review has become something of a wet sob story but It highlights something about film ideology. Horror is subjective and can absolutely spring from an individual's personal experience. While I dislike the episode as a consumer of Netflix. The impact this episode had on me has shaken me.

If you know anyone suffering from TSW please make sure they are okay. I urge anyne reading this to do a brief google search and learn a small amount about TSW. I don;t advocate for many things, but my current mission is to prevent as much suffering at the hands of steroidal creams as possible.

Huge drop in quality

[ddschneider72 · 2/10 · 27 October 2022]

I was so impressed up to this episode. The first episode was pretty good. The second two were great. This one was just horrible. It wasn't scary, frightening, funny, or even entertaining.

It was the typical ugly duckling story told in a terrible way. Didn't make much sense either. Apparently some cream takes about 45 minutes of the episode to just give her skin rash and then at the end she meets a blob person made up of the cream and becomes pretty, after killing her husband for no real reason. It was just all over the boards. It made no sense at all. I don't understand how this was included in a great series but I guess every series needs its clunker and this was it hopefully for the series. It was painful to sit through I highly recommend skipping it.

People want different things out of horror, I guess

[Sundown93 · 9/10 · 29 November 2022]

I shouldn't be surprised to see all the low ratings... But this episode was incredible!

Like many anthology shows, this has been hit and miss for me but I was generally underwhelmed with the series so far...and then this little gem came on. Wow!

If you like slow burn atmosphere, under your skin body horror, dark comedy, social satire, great acting, retro feels and great direction, then this is the episode for you!

If you're looking for generic tropes, CG monster and a ton of gore, well, there lots of that on Netflix for you.

Ana Lily Amirpour is exactly what this show needed to shake it out of genericland.

It's a Strong and Effective Metaphor, But That Doesn't Make it Fun To Watch

[DYouKnowWhatIMean · 7/10 · 31 October 2022]

I understand this episode is about the unhealthy beauty industry and the role media plays in creating unrealistic and often unachievable standards. I understand it's a dialogue aimed against focusing on a persons outward traits, and instead valuing what's deep within. It's very clear that part of the message is how all of this affects mental health and creates unnecessary anxiety and stress that nobody should have to deal with in our mundane, routine, and repetitive lives.

I. Get. It.

But that doesn't make it good. It was a chore to sit through. Annoying. Uncomfortable. It's supposed to be, it's part of the message. It aims to unsettle and disgust you and is extremely effective at doing so. This is both a compliment and an insult. Because it works for what it's trying to achieve, it's just not entertaining in the process. While I'd rewatch the 3 previous episodes again, this one is an instant skip. I will never watch it again.

I'm left with regret for not turning it off in the first 5-10 minutes. Because in those first 10 minutes, I'd already figured out what the entire episode was about. So why did I need to sit through a full hour? It just wasn't worth my time.

With that being said, of the 4 episodes I have seen at this point, this will undoubtedly stick with me the most, for better or for worse due to its imagery, casting and effects work. It's technically brilliant. It's extremely memorable, I'd just prefer that it wasn't.

It's so bad, I'm actually angry

[deadmenandsinners · 1/10 · 1 November 2022]

It's like the writer just drew a bunch of ideas out of a hat and crammed then all into a story. *Reaches into hat* taxidermy! Yeah taxidermy is creepy, let's put that it. *Reaches into hat* weird sexual lotion scenes! Yeah, let's put that in too, why not?

It's literally, woman hears noises, her husband comforts her, setting up that she has a loving and patient husband. She goes to work, wants to be included with these (awful) women, who end up including her and inviting her to a party. She tries their lotion, and has a bad reaction. Then all the sudden the TV is talking to her, telling her to buy more of the lotion, which for some reason she does. Meanwhile, her husband is reassuring her that he loves her how she is. The TV continues to talk to her and she continues using the lotion. All the lotion congeal into a lotion humanoid, which she makes out with (of course) which apparently turns her into a murderer. She submerges herself in the lotion, becomes beautiful (with the help of make up and a new hairdo), taxidermies her husband and now fits in at work. Taa daa. I just saved you 58 minutes.

It was well acted sure, but the story was so inconsistent and all over the place. When she called her husband because she heard a noise and he reassured her that she was safe, why did they never revisit that? Why did the women invite her to the party? It didn't feel like they were trying to be mean to her, if anything they were including her. They were absolutely unlikable, but not because they were being mean to her. Why was the lotion such a sexual thing? And why did she have to make out with the lotion creature? Why did she kill her husband and taxidermy him? It didn't feel consistent with her character or the story at ALL. She wants to be beautiful, she's not a murderer. Sure, the idea of that is cool and creepy but not when it's done so poorly.

Why not set up that she's unhinged, then she imagines the TV talking to her, then she starts to see herself in the TV as young/beautiful/popular and she starts to neglect herself and her life because she lives in a daydream? She could even start to rot away and look all gross but she doesn't care because she's so consumed with the daydream. Honestly I don't know why the women at the bank are even in this story. She could have been watching the TV and seen beautiful women and then seen the ad for the lotion, bam. Done. Why not have her skin herself! That could have been cool. She made that comment that she wants to throw her skin in the garbage and she knows how to skin things, they've set that up, run with it! Or maybe she could have killed and taxidermied the women at the bank, then she could bring them all home and hold dinner parties every night with them where she's the center of attention and they all love her! Another reviewer mentioned she could have gone on a rampage and killed the women at the bank! Sure! Do that!! That would have been better. I am NOT a writer but I feel like I couldn't have written something more interesting and more cohesive.

Man, I just really disliked this episode. Too many conflicting ideas all creamed together. I get what the writer/director were going for, I really do. But holy freaking crap, this one is a mess.

Kate is great

[rus34 · 8/10 · 27 October 2022]

I've always been a fan of Kate, her quirky take on the characters she plays are always interesting and fun. In "The Outside" she plays the ugly duckling wanting to be a swan. It shows that most will do anything to be accepted.

Her transformation aided with the "miracle" product sold and created by a tv spirit? Played wonderfully creepily by Dan Steven's is a playful look at her descent into what everyone thinks they want... but usually regrets BBB once they get it.

In my opinion one of the top three in this season of Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of curiosity.

I Look forward to another season.

The Outside

[bobcobb301 · 7/10 · 6 November 2022]

Like so many episodes before it, they suck is in with a good story and then it has to get over the top supernatural. That being said, the actors cast felt like people we would see on Fargo and then all the way to the end it felt like Fargo, which is definitely a high compliment.

I just feel like it did not need to go on for so long. Her floating at the end could have been cut short, they could have wrapped everything up with one or two less television set appearances by the Alo-Gel guy, but all in all this was another enjoyable episode of the incredibly bizarre series Cabinet of Curiousities.

Waste of talent

[jbartell-1 · 4/10 · 27 October 2022]

Kate Micucci and. Martin Starr are amazing actors whose talents are completely wasted in this overlong, over-preachy, badly paced story. The point trying to be made (the cosmetics industry preying on vulnerable people's insecurities) is made in about 5 minutes and then the rest is just hammering it home over and over and over. This whole episode could have easily fit into a 15 minute segment of "Night Gallery". This had me reaching for the fast forward about 10 minutes in. It really suffers compared to other episodes of this show. Skip this one and re-watch "The Autopsy" or "Lot 36" as a better use of your time.

Curiouser and curiouser.

[BA_Harrison · 19 December 2022]

Episode four of Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities is the strangest one yet, but is a lot of fun thanks to bold direction by Ana Lily Amirpour and a terrific central performance from Kate Micucci as social misfit Stacey, whose unusual looks lead her to try Alo Glo, an expensive skin cream that the TV adverts guarantee can transform a person inside and out. That it does, eventually turning the once gawky gal into a babe as promised but driving her to murder in the process. Miccuci is wonderfully weird as Stacey, her mannerisms suitably bizarre, her unorthodox appearance accentuated by some false teeth and a nasty hair-do.

Amirpour's stylish, surreal visuals perfectly compliment the craziness of the plot: Stacey's co-workers slathering each other with Alo Glo at a Secret Santa party is hilariously OTT (reminding me of the shunting scene from Society) and Stacey making out with a 'lotion being' in her basement is off-the-charts absurd. The ending might be lacking in genuine surprises, but the ride there is so enjoyably offbeat that it matters not.

Adipose meets Alo Glo

[fireworksness · 7/10 · 7 November 2022]

In this tale the use of taxidermy seems to represent maintaining beauty that can be admired. Stacey who is skilled at taxidermy wants to maintain her own beauty. She becomes manic in her attempts to do so. Some questions are left unanswered. Is Stacey's mind playing tricks on her because she is a paranoid and anxious individual? Did the lotion engulf the other women in their homes as it engulfed her? Is there an alien ingredient here that we are meant to infer?

Overall I can't help drawing comparisons to the Doctor Who episode "Partners In Crime" where the characters are aiming to lose weight and purchase pills that encourages the fat to just fall off. In fact it does fall of and at some points completely kills the individual in an attempt to grow more of itself (the alien Adipose). The "nanny" growing the Adipose is similar to Dan Stevens character as he is encouraging her to change by letting his product engulf her entirely. Obviously this is the less family friendly version, what could have been an ending had the aforementioned program not been a family program.

Soothe your skin and your soul.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 6/10 · 25 November 2022]

'The Outside (2022)' is arguably, the most aesthetically distinct entry in 'Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities (2022)'. Its pastel colours provide relief from the relentlessly dark and dreary atmosphere of its peers, but it's vibe is still every bit as unsettling in its own 'picking at a scab' kind of way. The piece focuses on a self-conscious woman who desires to be pretty (and popular) like her beauty obsessed coworkers despite her gentle husband's insistence that she's already pretty (and popular) enough. At a Christmas party, she is introduced to an expensive face cream that she has a strong negative reaction to. However, despite all the burning and itching and peeling and pain, she soon finds herself obsessed with using the substance thanks to ominous promises of perfection from a television advert that seems tailor-made to prey on her insecurities. The affair isn't as overtly horrific as the others in Del Toro's curious cabinet, instead evoking a sort of suburban psychological horror that carries a lot of societal relevance and has an overt allegorical underpinning that isn't so much subtext as it is the text itself. Because of this, the more overtly outlandish elements - which may or may not be in our protagonist's head - and the occasional bit of abrupt brutality actually feel out of place, almost as if they're included just to tick a box. The potentially supernatural TV adverts do work surprisingly well, though, which is largely thanks to Dan Steven's wonderfully ostentatious, vaguely European mouthful of an accent. Kate Miccuci turns in solid work as the down-on-herself hero, while Martin Starr is excellently subdued as her gentle husband. The piece isn't afraid to be strange, with its in-your-face presentation and heightened nature exaggerating its underlying unease. It's as unsettling as it is unsubtle, but it isn't always all that gripping. Some of it just feels a bit too blatant for its own good, and it doesn't really nail its ending. It's a decent effort, though, and it tackles some interesting themes.

Ugly duckling becomes ... Killer swan!

[Coventry · 6/10 · 11 April 2023]

Deliciously weird and biting satire aimed at the cosmetics industry and the typically American beauty standards of women having to look young and silky skinned, even though well in their thirties or forties already. Who else than a rebellious female and British director like Ana Lily Amipour ("A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night") was the ideal choice to direct a brutally confronting body-horror tale such as this? "The Outside" isn't nowhere near original or innovative, and - in fact - owes a lot to "American Psycho", "Bug", "Society" and a handful of David Cronenberg classics, but it's spookily absorbing thanks to the uncanny ambiance, the excellent special effects, and the superb performances of Kate Micucci and Dan Stevens. The latter is genius as a manipulative beauty-guru promoting his sinister Alo Glo lotions & ointments via nightly TV-commercials.

Didn't work for me, maybe because of placement after third epiu

[fuzzbll · 2/10 · 29 October 2022]

I know what the episode is trying to convey but it didn't work for me. But maybe it's because I was taken aback by the third episode and loved it and then this came along and in comparison it was just... boring? I haven't watched the rest of the season yet but I feel like maybe if this episode came after the 2nd one (the one with the rats), I might've liked it more? Not sure.

And maybe I didn't really like it because of the ending, I've kinda been expecting that she would go on a rampage, covered in the lotion and kill all those annoying women in the bank or something. But I really didn't understand why she killed her husband? If she had to kill someone, why not the women? Or maybe drown herself in the lotion if you wanted a depressing ending.

I feel like this episode could've been better. But I really believe, if it didn't came after the third one, I would've liked it more.

A great allegory tale for the beauty industry

[tudorgrigoriu · 10/10 · 27 October 2022]

I loved this episode, even if it is not as "normal" as the other episodes or as other horror genre items. It presents very well the obsesion we have for beauty products, instead of accepting that beauty comes from within. The main characters obsession takes control of her life and slowly eats her up.

Love the ending where it shows how we tend to gather over nice looking people, without knowing that maybe they are completely insane.

It is understandable why the masses will not appreciate this but I am here to defend it. Great one, thanks.

Not really understand the stuff animals but I think that was just the horror factor in all of this. Or maybe again to underline her obsession with looks, i don't know.

An uncut gem with more than a few flaws

[diegocastej-68130 · 7/10 · 22 October 2023]

From the begging to the end, this episode was good for my eye, I liked very much the camera and photography work done in here, giving it an uncomfortable feeling through the episode, I found it enjoyable and pleasing.

On the other hand we have a script with more than one hole on the trama, a script that washes off the tone of the series and with little to no importance in the horror or suspense structures, not even the cliches.

The thing I loved about this is that it really stands out from the rest! Such a good idea that needs to be worked and refined in a special way.

Note that it is REALLY different from the tone of the series and that's what makes it special, it is worth to watch, but if you're expecting horror or at least suspense in here, this is not for you.

(This my first review, pls bear with me. 💀💀)

Weakest of the bunch. Sound setting but zero substance.

[jalib-66193 · 1/10 · 17 December 2022]

I am sorry but this episode is terrible.

Most relatable context, great cast but poor, poor execution. It is one of the longest episodes in terms of runtime and it is almost entirely dead air. Over 45 minutes of the episode are spent needlessly trying to be a slow burn, but there are a few problems with that ,1: The context is so simple that it neither needs or deserves so much time watching the main character repeat the same actions over and over again. 2: A slow burn has to be building towards some kind of pay off, this episode has none, literally none. 3: The inflated runtime, which 99% of which takes place in 2 rooms in 1 house don't add any kind of tension or atmosphere, they just make it tedious to sit through.

Then if you do have the patience to see it through as mentioned there is no pay off and also no ending whatsoever. When I say "no ending" I do not mean that there is no "spoon feeding" obvious ending or that there is no satisfying ending, I mean there is genuinely no ending. You are watching the story happen and then the credits roll, there wasn't even an attempt at bringing any resolution the story whatsoever, the writers for this episode had an easy job because they only had to write the basic premise of a story with no need to flesh out it and didn't have to write any 3rd act or any ending. Throughout the entire episode there is just 1 single scene where something actually happens and it is scripted in such a weird way that it plays off more like a teenagers attempt at black comedy than anything even approaching horror or tense.

The best of the first half of the series

[rachel-filmer82 · 8/10 · 27 October 2022]

I'm surprised by the poor reviews here and that so far this episode has the lowest rating. It's the first episode in this first half of the series that felt unique and interesting to me. I've seen the first five episodes which have been devoid of horror overall - aside from this episode, I found that all had interesting build ups but they all failed to stick the landing due to being too predictable or reliant on CGI that's overall not great.

This episode is the exception. I was waiting for the predictable ending that didn't come. I can see that it may be overly stylised to some, but at least it's original and memorable.

The performances are great, the female coworkers are certainly the stuff of nightmares. Overall it's fairly tame on the horror front, but made me squirm on many occasions.

Of all the episodes I've seen, this is the only one I would rewatch.

Okay-ish

[jpismyname · 6/10 · 31 October 2022]

Set in the 1980s, a socially awkward bank employee named Stacey uses a magic lotion that will make her appear more physically attractive. It's also giving Stepford Wives vibes.

This episode is kind of an allegory for beauty products and how they promise to make one more beautiful in the eyes of the judgmental society and give people unrealistic beauty standards. And also how far can someone go to be accepted?

The story is weird. Kate Micucci acted really well and her character is really creepy. But I dunno, I guess this episode could've been better. I thought at times it was too "cheesy" and predictable. Nothing really even scary about this episode.

If Only They'd Come Out With a Cream to Cure My Boredom!

[frankelee · 2/10 · 31 October 2022]

I had to pause this episode a few times and go watch the grass grow so I could get some excitement back in my life. This painful one hour long episode is about an ugly woman who works at a bank and doesn't feel beautiful enough to fit in with the other tellers, none of whom are amazing looking oddly enough.

Fortunately for her, a guy on the television hawking skin cream begins talking to her directly and encourages her to try one of her co-worker's favorite products. So she does! Does it ultimately result in the actress changing her veneers to ones straighter but no more believable looking, and making her look like a completely different, taller actress when shot from behind? Sorry, no spoilers!

The main character is a dope (maybe she should have checked that beauty company's catalog for a brain tonic that could make you not be an imbecile!) and the story has no point. It's not scary, but more importantly, it's not interesting. It's painfully uninteresting. Pointless scenes drag on forever until you wish YOU had married an axe murderer.

There is a sort of fairy tale quality to the episode, it's sort of set in the 1980s, yet with digital flat screen TVs and cell phones that clearly came after the 90s, in the same way a traditional tale is just set in "the middle ages," with no historical realism. And maybe that explains why the main character is basically just an empty tool with no personality or intelligence, like some fairy tale protagonists who do something stupid and then have something horrible happen to them. But, all excuses are meaningless in the face of the terrible script and horrible editing. You won't be caught up watching TV in the middle of the night if you turn this on at bedtime!