The horror comedy anthology, Grind, made its premiere at SXSW! I’m here to tell you I was all about it and not just because it stars the lovely Barbara Crampton, amongst other fine actors. The four-part anthology focuses on the put-upon worker in the gray landscape of big corporations and capitalistic greed. It’s smart, funny, and just weird enough for us horror fans.
Desperation breeds more desperation
We first enter the world of MLMs and stylish leggings. Hello, LuLaRoe (allegedly)! A young woman quickly finds herself in over her head. Desperate to pay her bills, she goes all in on the business without reading the fine print. As she quickly falls behind on quotas, she is forced to deal with the bizarre consequences.
Although I found this segment to be a little too silly, it definitely set the tone for the rest of the film. I won’t spoil the best part of this one, but it does involve a large man in leggings, and I loved it.
Writers Ed Dougherty and Brea Grant really knew what they were up to and tapped into the grit and shit we have to put up with sometimes just to make a buck these days. And they really hit it with the gig economy. We see it in this story of a food delivery driver who fails to earn a good rating or decent tips. He ends up taking a food delivery order that he soon regrets. The poor guy is struggling to make ends meet and is stuck in a cycle of bad ratings and terrible tips. That is horror enough, but Dougherty and Grant manage to punch it up a couple of notches.
Within reach
When you thought things couldn’t get worse, enter the world of content moderation. No, never mind. Don’t do that. Don’t enter it. Just don’t ever do that. Just know this was my favorite segment. Promised a great-paying job, a man takes on the role of a content moderator. It was messed up in the absolute best way possible. Seriously, who wrote all the crazy clips the moderators had to watch?
Whether you’re on the side of unions or not, I bet we all agree on one thing. Employees get treated like shit. And that’s why a group of employees successfully unionized their cafe. On the night of their big victory, a mysterious large box arrives, and the boss man wants to watch them open it. Ensue mayhem! This just goes to show it’s always one step forward, two steps back.
Grind cleverly covers the work culture of people trying to make a living wage. Sadly, it’s just a little too relatable these days. Even with all the real-world bleakness, though, Grind finds a way to entertain us with some humor and horror. Because this was the premiere, I stayed for the Q&A after the movie. This is when you could see how everyone involved had a great time making this movie. A glimmer of hope that not all jobs suck. Hopefully, you’ll be adding it to your watchlist, as I know I’ll be rewatching it as soon as I can.
Check out more from SXSW 2026 here.
