Filmmakers Brea Grant (Torn Hearts, 12 Hour Shift), Ed Dougherty, and Chelsea Stardust (Satanic Panic) combine forces to skewer late-stage capitalism with a humorous horror anthology, Grind. An Amazon-like conglomerate serves as the central hub connecting a quadriptych of worksploitation tales of the highly relatable, if uneven variety.
Grind hits the ground running with its lambasting of everything from MLMs to delivery services to unionizations, with all paths directly leading back to nefarious corporation DRGN. It opens with a tense look from inside an Amazon-like warehouse, where its workers face horrific consequences if they miss their package quota. From there, Grind employs Barbara Crampton as the Founder and Rob Huebel as an upper-level DRGN manager, serving as the connective tissue anchoring the segments.
Consistency varies in this anthology, but Grind at least smartly gets its roughest segment, “MLM,” out first. Crampton gives a valiant effort as the domineering yet ominously encouraging boss to two new reps of Lala Leggings as they struggle to maintain their sales goals. This segment quickly gets a bit too off the rails and loses sight of its messaging, but at least it succeeds in establishing the anthology’s overarching big comedic swings.
“Delivery” ramps up the action and carnage with a fun supernatural twist to the hells of being a DoorDash driver, one that makes up for clear budgetary constraints with vibrant creativity. From there, Grind careens into its best and darkest segment, “Content Moderation,” starring Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette as a hopeful DRGN employee promised to move up the ranks if he can succeed in clearing his content queue. It’s not a spoiler to reveal that DRGN has no intention of letting a plebe ascend into upper management and take drastic measures to snuff out hope and sanity.
It’s this segment that feels fully realized and the most polished, both in scares and messaging. It’s also filled with fun homages and memes, including a recurring Frogman jab. “Union Meeting” closes out the anthology with a comical depiction of Starbucks stand-in Neptunia, where its employees attempt to unionize until DRGN unleashes Neptunia’s mascot to squash it.
There’s a noticeable difference in technical precision and quality between segments, with rough seams showing in parts. Grind makes up for it with scrappy DIY spunk and attitude, even when it leans too far into twee humor. That’s largely because it’s so relatable and authentic in its biting commentary on an unsustainable gig economy. Who can’t relate to the work grind at this stage?
Grind holds up a middle finger to all conglomerates and billionaires that view their employees as disposable cogs. It tackles quite a lot of ground with clarity and with an admirable sense of humor. The anthology also fills its cast with a lot of notable horror talent, including Gigi Saul Guerrero, Matt Mercer, and Dead Meat’s James A. Janisse.
What Grind lacks in polish, it compensates for in its smart and earnest lambasting of the work grind. It’s a fun, cathartic reminder that it’s not just you; the current cruelty of big companies sucks. Grant, Dougherty, and Stardust commiserate with an uneven, lighthearted anthology that takes an energetic stab at the system that chews up its employees and spits them out.
Grind made its world premiere at SXSW. Release info TBD.
