Tamal Kundu
‘Grimcutty’ is a Hulu monster film set in the digital age. The story follows Asha Chaudhry (Sara Wolfkind), a former track athlete trying to be an ASMR YouTuber. Her parents, Leah (Shannyn Sossamon) and Amir (Usman Ally), worry about her, believing that her sudden shift in interest stems from depression. Their fears become entrenched after they learn about Grimcutty, which Is apparently an internet challenge where several young people have harmed themselves and those around them. What they don’t realize is that their fears for their children are manifesting in reality and putting their lives in jeopardy. Here is everything you need to know about Grimcutty. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Unveiling Grimcutty: Fears and Meanings
In the eponymous film, Grimcutty is an internet meme that has come alive. It’s the literal manifestation of a parent’s fears about their children’s online activities. Leah and Amir are responsible parents. They are involved in their children’s lives. However, the miscommunication between Asha and her parents makes things complicated for them. When Leah and Amir learn about Grimcutty from their friends, they ask their children if they have heard about it. The children genuinely don’t know what it is. Asha searches the internet for more information but only finds videos of other teenagers as bewildered by it as her, having no idea where the rumors about this internet challenge started.
Meanwhile, Leah and Amir do their own research. The more they look into the matter, the more concerned they become, eventually manifesting Grimcutty for Asha, who is the only person that can see the monster. So, when it comes for her, her parents see her acting erratically and harming herself. They become even more worried, further empowering the monster.
According to writer-director John Ross, ‘Grimcutty’ is a film about the dangers of parental overprotectiveness. He told UPI in an October 2022 interview that he hoped the themes presented in the film would continue to resonate with the audience even if the technology became outdated. “You’re worried that in five or 10 years, it’s going to be horribly dated,” he said. “The themes around the technology will be timeless, hopefully, and resonate with everybody regardless of what technology was around in their generation.”
Ally told the same outlet that the monster in ‘Grimcutty’ serves as a metaphor for the lack of balance between the desire to protect and willingness to allow a modicum of independence. “You feel this tendency to overprotect because there is such a big, scary world out there,” the actor stated. “When does that turn into paranoia and actually harm the child as opposed to protect them?”
For Wolfkind, it all goes back to miscommunication. “There’s miscommunication between the parent or child or even teen, especially with the Internet,” she said. “There are some power dynamics between them.”
How Does Grimcutty Come to Life?
For an individual child or teenager, Grimcutty is created from the concerns and overprotectiveness of their parents. As for how the urban legend first started, it is revealed that a woman named Melinda Jeynes is responsible. We see her in the prologue of the film. Like other parents who appear in ‘Grimcutty,’ she is concerned about her son Brandon’s online activities and keeps him locked up. Her overprotectiveness manifests as Grimcutty and attacks Brandon, who stabs his mother to save himself.
Melinda subsequently continues to keep Brandon locked in his room. As a result, she isn’t worried about his safety, and Grimcutty doesn’t appear. She writes a blog about Grimcutty, claiming it’s a harmful internet challenge. The blog goes viral among the parents in the town, and Grimcutty starts appearing in front of many young people.
Read More: Grimcutty Ending, Explained: What Happens to Asha? Is Amir Dead?
