We have all done something we regret in our past, something that keeps us up at night – no matter how big or small and eventually, no matter how much we try to forget it, the guilt will catch up with us.
Grin follows the story of Eva (Gareth Tidball), who visits her family to meet her mother’s new partner, Lucian (Simon Davies). To help the family get to know each other, Lucian suggests they play a board game called Grin. Thinking it’s just an old creepy board game, the family play along and eventually are each visited by a demonic creature, and Lucian is not exactly who he seems.
It’s a simple story that is executed well, mainly thanks to the incredible costume design of the monster; it is a genuinely creepy being that manages to cause mayhem and create some classic but effective jump scares, and what is a monster without the vessel that summons it? The board game is an excellent piece of prop design that looks so real and has a simple story behind it to get the player to play and summon the creature.
The set design in general holds up well; set within a remote old country house, there is plenty to play with to create an unsettling feeling as well as dark corners and hidden spaces for said jump scares. There are also some extremely effective uses of gore and violence throughout; whilst it could have gone harder and been a lot meaner, there are the odd moments that stand out and look very cool for the small budget.
There are moments throughout the film where it felt like it lost its way a little bit; hearing the back story of the creature didn’t quite feel like it was needed, and the religious turn it took during the climax of the film also felt out of place. Whilst the story is a simple one, it could have been more effective if it stayed as simple as possible and give is a more terrifying monster just being mean to be mean. The acting doesn’t always quite fit, and a couple of the posh English accents feel so put on they almost feel as though they are caricatures; this does not, however, take away from an interesting script with a clear story it wants to tell.
Grin has some extremely effective moments, with a monster that looks good enough to rival some of the movie greats and some jump scares that work well; it’s hard not to find something to like about this. Although it loses its way towards the end and keeping it to a simple slasher may have worked better, it never feels like it goes too far one way or the other and sticks nicely to the story, and the warning being told.
Grin had its world premiere at FrightFest 2026 on Thursday, 27 August
