Grind (I) (2014) User Reviews

Well done misery and wretchedness

[thorr97 · 1/10 · 2 June 2014]

This is a well done movie that is also truly miserable and wretched.

The production values are excellent. The sound quality, the cinematography, the scripting, the dialog, the singing, the acting, and everything else technical or artistic are all spot on.

And it's a miserable and wretched experience to watch.

The portrayal of "a musical story exploring a damaged man's search for a connection in an interconnected world" doesn't even begin to describe just how ugly, soulless, and depressing the whole thing is.

As an exercise in how to "professionally craft a short film that was is miserable and wretched as possible" - this one takes the cake.

I would not recommend ever letting any heterosexual person see this film. Ever. Otherwise they'd all demand all gays be sent to "Conversion Therapy" for their own good.

And I'd think that most gays would find this film equally repulsive as well.

There are really no redeeming characters in it. Well, okay, perhaps one - the token het female friend of the two horribly dysfunctional gay male leads who comments about how appalling their actions are. Beyond that, no.

Sitting through this film made my skin crawl and were it not paired with another film that I did want to see, I would've left the theater within minutes of this thing's starting.

Yeah, it was that miserable an experience.

Creative and Thought-Provoking

[drtodds · 8/10 · 11 February 2018]

"Grind" (2014) A short, musical film based on the Gay Hook-up App "Grindr". This short is very well done from an execution standpoint: good music and singers; good filming; good editing; good pacing; lots of pretty faces and bodies to look at; and really good acting (Anthony Rapp channels his inner "Sweeney Todd" deviously!). While light-hearted in many aspects, it touches on serious issues such as: gay-bashing; the lack of ability to personally connect in our digital age; the superficial and de-humanizing nature of on-line apps and hook-ups -- and the risks we all take when we use them. "You don't REALLY know who you are talking to" is a repeated refrain in this story.

Cyrano, Sweeney Todd, in sparkling, dark gay musical fun

[Bagricula · 8/10 · 10 October 2014]

Pros: Memorable and moving music, excellent singers, beautiful shots and sets, and a unique perspective on the dark psychology of psychopathy meeting modern fluid anonymity. You leave filled with questions and speculation.

Cons: Characters aren't fully realized and film would have benefited from more time to gesture at the contours of personality and relationships. Some plot points are slightly obscured in the editing for the version I saw. You leave filled with questions and speculation.

Because this deals with gay culture, with hook-up culture, and with technology-mediated communication, Grind does hit a lot of hot button issues and is bound to generate controversy. Ultimately, I was comfortable with the stylized depiction of these things as one angle by which to view these issues. The film does not adopt an authoritative or preachy position, and does not I think aspire to speak definitively as much as to paint one picture among many.