"Grimcutty" fails to do much with meme-horror concept

Grimcutty (2022)


If such “creepypasta” Internet memes as Slender Man or Momo mean anything to you, “Grimcutty” would like to introduce a new boogeyman. This is a horror movie that wants to explore the inverse relationship between social media challenges, overprotective parenting, and self-harm. At the same time, it wants to literalize parental hysteria as a disturbing monster and scare the poo out of you. It’s a pity, then, that writer-director John William Ross doesn’t quite succeed on either level, shortening the lifespan of “Grimcutty” even before Halloween.


After quitting the track team, perpetually nervous teenager Asha Chaudry (Sara Wolfkind) spends most of her after-school hours making soothing ASMR videos for her YouTube channel. Her parents, the strict Amir (Usman Ally) and the more easygoing Leah (Shannyn Sossamon), already limit the phone usage of her and her brother, secretive Dark Web-scrolling “golden child” Kamran (Callan Farris), and force them to leave their devices at home for “phone-free outings.” Then, once the online challenge of “Grimcutty” spreads through social media, all parents go on high alert. As a local mommy blogger’s brainwashing post reads, children believe they can see a monster known as “Grimcutty” (played in prosthetics by Joel Ezra Hebner) who forces them to cut themselves or, worse, kill themselves and their parents. Asha’s parents want to keep their kids safe, storing their phones and laptops in a detox box until they find out more information (“fascists!”). But when Asha begins seeing Grimcutty for real, will anyone believe her and how can she stop it?


No amount of creepy conceptual promise can ultimately salvage “Grimcutty” from its mediocre execution. The arrival of Grimcutty for the Chaudry family—and the powerful influence of helicopter parenting on Amir and Leah—happens way too quickly. There’s not enough time for much unease to envelop the viewer or allow us to believe anything, and the writing does not do the adult performers many favors. In spite of an unflattering hairstyle modeled after the boys on “Stranger Things," Shannyn Sossamon does manage to fare better than her co-star, Usman Ally, who overacts much of the time as the annoyingly one-note Amir. Sara Wolfkind is at least engaging as Asha; though at some point, Asha even delivers a piece of dialogue one can only assume is a nod to Sam Raimi, but the filmmakers haven’t really earned it. Looking like Ryuk from “Death Note” mixed with Gru from the “Despicable Me” movies and maybe the Zuni Fetish Doll from “Trilogy of Terror,” Grimcutty, itself, is creepiest from afar, and the creature design is by far the film’s highlight. Gen Z teens living online may get more than a few jump scares out of “Grimcutty,” while others will just find it bland, derivative, and unevenly acted. It may be better than the 2018 feature “Slender Man,” but at this point, just save your screen time. 


Grade: C -


20th Digital Studio released “Grimcutty (100 min.) on Hulu on October 10, 2022.

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