Oct. 10- Los Angeles — Sara Wolfkind, whose film Grimcutty will debut on Hulu on Monday, has remarked that the terror of the movie stems from the tension between parents and their teenagers.
Asha, played by Wolfkind, is a young YouTuber who has visions of the internet celebrity Grimcutty (Joel Ezra Hebner). Her (Shannyn Sossamon and Usman Ally) parental interference with her social media use just serves to strengthen Grimcutty’s hand.
Misunderstandings arise “particularly with the Internet,” Wolfkind told UPI in a recent Zoom chat with children and teens. “There is a balance of power between them.”
Young people are manipulated into cutting their parents by Grimcutty, who makes an initial appearance online before moving on to their houses. Because Grimcutty thrives on the parents’ anxiety, the viral spread of a parent’s story gives Grimcutty a foothold in the minds of new parents.
Ally remarked that the struggle that parents go through to ensure the safety of their children is reflected in Grimcutty. Ally, a new dad, supposedly brought up the subject with writer/director John Ross.
Because “the world is such a large, scary place,” Ally explained, “you feel this tendency to overprotect.” When does that stop being a precaution and start being paranoia, putting the child at risk instead of keeping them safe?
Ross said he hoped people would think about the risks of overprotection after watching Grimcutty, but he thinks the technology depicted in the film will be obsolete before parents and children work out their disagreements.
You worry that in five or ten years, it will seem horrifically dated, Ross remarked. To paraphrase the author, “the concepts behind the technology will be timeless, and ideally, resonate with anybody regardless of what technology was around in their day.”
Wolfkind said she could identify with Asha’s parents’ lack of Internet knowledge, adding that her own parents are similarly clueless and may be overreacting out of fear.
“Every time I do something, my parents ask, ‘Oh, are you putting this on Instagram?
‘” It was uttered by the wolf people. “They have no idea what’s happening.”
The Grimcutty attacks were fun for Wolfkind to perform alongside Hebner, she added.
“It was scary because a monster is always hunting me,” Wolfkind added.
“I just had a great time with the monster.”
All of Asha’s videos are Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) videos, in which the hosts speak softly in order to induce the condition. Wolfkind has found the ASMR videos to be the most difficult aspect of Grimcutty.
For practice, “John emailed me videos and he handed me a mic,” Wolfkind added. It’s completely another form of art, and I have no interest in attempting it.