Press and Reviews
%20(conflicting%20copy)%20(conflicting%20_20260107_13553.png)
%20(conflicting%20copy)%20(conflicting%20_20260514_11255.png)
Filmmaker Ari Groobman is celebrating a major milestone as his short film “Essentially Amy” recently went viral on Instagram, surpassing 2 million views and prompting widespread discussion around everyday racism and the Asian American experience during the COVID pandemic.
“Essentially Amy” firmly, candidly, and with utter transparency affirms the existence of truths that we don’t always wish to acknowledge about the state of our disposition towards others while still possessing at its core the heartening encouragement that even through times of seemingly endless struggle and polarized, disparaging manner we treat that which we don’t take the time to understand first, there IS hope and genuine celebration of heritage and belief in a better world out there, which we should ALL embrace, regardless of pandemic, ethnicity, or any other thing that attempts to divide us.
Groobman’s film shows that when pushed into extreme circumstances, our extreme nature (both light and dark) reveals itself.
The film boasts solid production values. Every location, from the supermarket to Amy’s family apartment, felt authentic. The film also has outstanding performances from its cast. Groobman got precisely what he wanted out of his actors, particularly Stacy Chu, who plays Amy, and Ping Liu as her mom.
What gives "Essentially Amy" its emotional bite is its refusal to simplify prejudice. Racism exists here both openly and uncomfortably close to home, embedded in generational fear and unexamined bias. The film recognizes how confronting these contradictions within your own family can be more destabilizing than facing hostility from a stranger, and it sits in that discomfort without offering easy moral clarity.
Projection shows Groobman as one to watch on the indie scene. His sense of the human condition, as well as how to mold his influences into something new, provides the script with enough bite to perfectly capture the tug-of-war raging within. With the impressive short, he immediately puts his proverbial flag into the heart of horror. Great things are coming his way.
“Projection” is, at its root, a film about trauma. Director Groobman does a fantastic job painting what psychological and physical trauma looks like... The threats at the end of “Projection” is used to describe Katie’s psychological state, not garner cheap jump scares or tension. It leaves a solid short film its wake that also allows you to think after the credits roll. And for an indie film that’s less than 13 minutes, that’s a strong accomplishment.
Projection beautifully blends family dysfunction, giving it a horror twist, and I love the title and how it plays in the overall story. This is a story of abuse, and the devastating mess is impressed upon children like an explosion. Katie not only carries the trauma into adulthood but also plays the role of her sister’s rescuer… which begs the question: are you actually rescuing a sibling or placing them in a more precarious situation?
Groobman doesn't just want to scare his audience; he wants us to feel the unbearable, suffocating weight of carrying another person's cruelty inside your own mind. "Projection" is a raw, technically confident short film that understands a fundamental, terrifying truth about survival: the hardest doors to lock are the ones inside our own heads.
Ari Groobman’s Projection builds itself on the fresh memory of trauma—so new the absence that the air around it is still warm...While the title of Projection makes a play on its psychological plot and its cinematic medium, the film constructs itself under the influence of the history of its genre. It results in an effective climax a la early and classic horror cinema, combining lighting, editing, and a generous dose of gore. Go into it for a contemporary uptake of your vaunted favourites.
ESSENTIALLY AMY – Amy is a young Chinese American girl working at her local grocery store during the height of the pandemic. Amy must confront growing racism towards Asian Americans, while at home, she must mitigate her mother’s expectations and personal bias towards Black Americans. After a brutal assault, Amy and her family must reevaluate their perceptions, and Amy must come to terms with who she really is and what she really wants.