Grimmfest 2026: Grind
Approaching the anthology horror similar to the Amicus productions of the late 20th Century, Grind is a scathing, yet highly polished depiction of the horrors of late-stage capitalism and the degradation of worker welfare within large corporations directed by Brea Grant, Ed Dougherty, and Chelsea Stardust.
The first segment is Lala Leggings which stars Barbara Crampton as the founder of an MLM scheme which forces their ambassadors to sell and meet quotas, with ridiculously torturous consequences if said quotas are not met. Light-hearted, and taking on a more comedic tone, this segment is still effective in portraying the exhaustive and exploitative practices of pyramid schemes and how they are not designed to benefit the lowly seller.
Delivery chronicles the struggles of a food delivery worker who in order to make a decent amount of money on one particular night, is forced to engage in bizarre and increasingly dangerous tasks, lest they be stuck in a time loop. Despite its seemingly comedic play, this segment has shimmers of the darkness behind the overall theme of Grind and its commentary on dangerous exploitation practices of lower-waged workers.
Content Moderation starring Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette is the anthology’s darkest and most unsettling segment. Marquette plays an office worker employed under false pretences as he is pushed into becoming an online content moderator, despite that not being the position he interviewed for. As he is exposed to the most disturbing content uploaded onto a social media platform, he finds himself falling deeper and deeper into a spiral, which he can’t seem to escape from. Marquette is the stand out across all four segments of Grind, and depicts perfectly the entrapment many feel in their jobs, governed by huge shady corporations.
Union Meeting closes the anthology off as the overworked staff of a coffee chain decide to stand together in order to demand better working conditions, better pay, and far better treatment. Unfortunately, the large corporation they work for has other ideas.
Grind is a thoroughly enjoyable anthology that examines the capitalist hellscape a lot of workers find themselves in and being exploited by. Whilst it does take on quite a comedic and light-hearted portrayal, the message it puts across is a disturbing and sobering view of the lengths to which employees have to go through in order just to earn a living-wage, if even.
4 Screams out of 5
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