Recommended: Conjuring Kesha on Discovery+
What's Conjuring Kesha About?
Along with her celebrity friends and a variety of "paranormal experts," pop star Kesha visits supposedly haunted locations to see if she can contact spirits.
Who's involved?
Why (and to whom) do we recommend it?
Though it nods toward spiritual enlightenment, Conjuring Kesha is mostly a good-time spookfest, with the creepy sound effects, jump scares, and ominous camera angles you'd expect. Kesha even carries a camcorder at certain moments, so the production can cut to her grainy footage for the maximum Blair Witch effect.
Which is fine! There's a reason people giggle their way through ghost stories at campfires and slumber parties: It's fun to get creeped out, especially when there's no real danger. And to be clear: Despite Kesha and company's earnest declarations that they're terrified, it's obvious that every aspect of the show is manufactured entertainment. The places Kesha visits advertise haunted tours on their websites and often sell t-shirts with spooky writing. Kesha herself is always in high-fashion outfits and perfect make-up, and nobody wears shoes that are practical for running away from a poltergeist.
Each of these details make the show more ludicrous and enjoyable. The only false notes come when producers insert teachable moments. In the first episode, for instance, a ghost in an abandoned prison reveals itself to be transgender, which leads to Whitney Cummings giving a tearful speech about how gender oppression is the only thing more terrifying than being locked in a haunted jail. In the second episode, a breezy tale about the phantom in an old theatre gets derailed for a conversation about the Native Americans who were forced off their land so the building could be erected in the 1800s.
These are important issues that deserve disccussion, but their inclusion here feels forced and a tonal mismatch. Happily, they're only brief diversions, and the show spends most of its time in its lightly eerie wheelhouse.
Pairs well with
TOPICS: Conjuring Kesha, Discovery+, Betty Who, Big Freedia, Karen Elson, Kesha, Whitney Cummings