Notable Cast: James Paxton, Christopher Rodriguez
Marquette, Rob Huebel, James Urbaniak, Barbara Crampton, Vinny Thomas, Aubrey
Shea, Courtney Pauroso, Ify Nwadiwe, Jessika Van, James A. Janisse, Sharlene
Cruz, Jon Gabrus, Teri Gamble, Hannah Alline, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Anastasia
Washington, Bries Vannon
Well, if you’re going to make a socio-political satire
horror film, taking a shot at the gig economy is a great way to do it. In an
age where satire is essentially dead, thanks to real-world events that could
not possibly be any dumber, it’s nice to see a film like Grind succeed
at being successfully funny and manage to be creatively empowered to have
something to say while doing it. It helps that the talent in front of and
behind the camera are working with the same spirit and tenacity to make it all
work, but Grind manages to blend comedy and horror in some refreshingly
fun and smart ways. Each story in this anthology has its own distinctive voice
without betraying the film's overall intention, and the combination proves to
be lethally hilarious.
It should be noted that Grind's approach to its various stories is very much comedy-first. Although the phrase ‘horror comedy’ will be thrown around, the horror is not at the forefront. In fact, what Grind does so well with each of its stories is use the comedic premise to eventually collapse into a horrifying event. So the balance is there, but it leans far more into the satire and comedic slapstick of its gig-work setups rather than a more serious horror tone. Keep that in mind when going in.
Yet each story manages to take its premise into horror with relative ease. With the first tale, “MLM,” an influencer finds that her quotas and stock of leggings come with dire consequences if you’re unable to make your numbers for the owner, played by scream queen Barbara Crampton. This one has no problem immediately going over-the-top as its protagonist, portrayed with a gleefully fun deer-in-the-headlights performance by Jessika Van, finds out that her quick-cash job might end up getting her and her direct supervisor, axed from the gig. It sets the precedent for the rest, as this one packs in a ton of quick-witted dialogue and plenty of internet jokes while still managing to hit some surprisingly fun character beats.
The more physical horrors of “MLM” return in the finale, “Union Meeting,” which sees the employees of a small NOT STARBUCKS coffee shop finally agree to unionize against their employer. While the idea of a corporate union buster being a monster of sorts unleashed to literally eat the union is certainly a tasty one, this segment benefits from the silliness of its broad-stroke characters (highlighted by that one person who takes their job far too seriously) and the wild amount of jokes thrown into the dialogue. There’s a Daredevil joke here that had my wife and me in tears; it was so well delivered out of the blue.
The middle stories, “Delivery” and “Content Moderation,” both tend to aim for more of the existential horrors of its satire than a straight-up physical threat manifested by the overlords that gig workers face. Both work incredibly well in terms of how far workers are pushed into making decisions against their best interest for the sake of wanting a better life, and it makes for perhaps the scariest stories of the bunch, even if they never lose sight of the joke on hand. “Delivery” has a NOT DOORDASH food runner come face-to-face with the cosmic horror of making the most unusual delivery of his career, complete with a time loop that will not let him walk away, and “Content Moderation” looks at the horrors of what people have to witness in social media content posting. When a NOT META OR AMAZON new employee, played by a very frazzled Christopher Rodriquez Marquette, finds himself in “hell’s basement” reviewing content for their social media platform, he literally puts himself through a reality-warping series of videos to try and get promoted to the company’s next level. There’s plenty of jokes about cubicle life to be had here, and the fact that they have to descend a flight of stairs through the void to get there will certainly resonate with many people watching this one. Again, the cosmic horror that phases through this one made it one of my favorites just for how the satire feels both grounded in reality and willing to push the overarching themes into some surprising territory. Bonus points for the Frogman reference here, too.
Anthologies can ultimately be hit or miss with the stories included, but Grind manages to pretty much nail all of them. None of them feels disjointed from the overall theme of the film, nor do any of them betray the satirical comedic nature of its ideas, even if each one has enough of its own voice to stand on its own. I knew this film would have bite with names like Brea Grant and Chelsea Stardust on its docket as directors (shoutout to the third director Ed Dougherty too - I may not have seen anything else by him, but if it's as good as his writing and directing on this then count me in on anything he touches next) but I did not expect to enjoy this one as much as I did.
While Grind is still grinding its own way through the festival market this year, definitely see it if possible. And for those waiting, it’s worth the wait to see it when it eventually makes its way to you.
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