Press and Reviews
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.
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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.
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.
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.