(The 2026 SXSW Film Festival runs March 12-18 in beautiful Austin, TX. Check out Chris Reed’s Grind movie review, fresh from the fest. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
A well-constructed anthology film that ably mixes horror and comedy, Grind—from the directing trio of Brea Grant, Ed Dougherty, and Chelsea Stardust—is also a sharp critique of late-stage capitalism and the Amazonian/Starbucksian/Etceterian behemoths at its center. Divided into four sections, bookended by a prologue and epilogue, the movie has a lot to say about the world of today and has a lot of fun saying it. Think the oligarchs who rule our universe are evil? They are, and Grind finds the twisted humor in our desperation (with a hint of optimism at the end).
The malignant business entity that drives the plot is DRGN (pronounced like the mythical creature), represented by veteran genre actor Barbara Crampton (Suitable Flesh) and comedian Rob Huebel (International Falls). We start in a packing warehouse where speed is of the essence. From there, the nightmare spreads, sprouting into tales of woe, misery, and a good many laughs.
In “MLM” (also the title of an eponymous 2024 short by Brea Grant) a woman named Sarah (Jessika Van, also in the short) makes the ill-considered decision to sell “Lala Leggings,” not realizing that missing the daily metrics quota leads to dire consequences. Even with the help of her more experienced friend Molly (Courtney Pauroso, ditto), Sarah finds herself on the losing end of an impossible bargain. Will she survive? Not if the “Axe Man” gets his way.
In “Delivery,” Benny (Vinny Thomas) is a DoorDash/Uber Eats-style gig worker who takes an order he probably shouldn’t have, especially since it lands him in something of an infinite time loop unless he follows instructions to a bloody T. Before long, he’s caught up in a sticky situation (literally, as in the bag he must carry is dripping). Throw in some cool practical effects and we have a winner.
“Content Moderation” comes next, and in many ways hits the hardest. Our corporate overlords get off on humanity’s collective suffering, and poor Joel (Christopher Rodriguez Marquette)—a teacher with outstanding student loans—is hired to ostensibly decide what can go up (and what can’t) on the social-media site “Hatchbook.” Except that the prize he is promised if he completes what turns out to be a Sisyphean task is not what he thinks it is. Cut to … gruesome cutting.
Finally, “Union Meeting” brings us back full circle to a plot point from the opening, with a special gift delivered from headquarters to the workers at a “Neptulia Coffee” branch who have dared to unionize. That’s a big no-no, and DRGN has plans to stop it. Fortunately, these savvy employees are not as helpless as they seem to the bosses. And so we conclude on a more hopeful note (if you believe in pitchforks, that is). The grind is on; throw the meat in and crank.
– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)
