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Sara Wolfkind faces horrors in “Grimcutty.” Photo courtesy of Hulu

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 10 (UPI) — Sara Wolfkind said her film, Grimcuttywhich premieres Monday on Hulu, finds horror in the conflict between parents and teenagers.

Wolfkind plays Asha, a teenage YouTuber who starts seeing viral urban legend Grimcutty (Joel Ezra Hebner). The more his parents (Shannyn Sossamon, Usman Ally) interfere with his use of social media, the more powerful Grimcutty becomes.

“There is miscommunication between the parent, the child or even the teenager, especially with the internet,” Wolfkind told UPI in a recent interview with Zoom. “There’s a power dynamic between them.”

Grimcutty first appears to young people online, then at home, and has them cut their parents. Grimcutty thrives on parental worry, so when one parent’s story goes viral, it inadvertently prompts other parents to hold Grimcutty accountable with their fears.

Ally said he saw Grimcutty as a metaphor for parents’ conflict over the protection of their children. As a new father, Ally said he discussed the theme with writer-director John Ross.

“You feel this tendency to overprotect because there’s such a big, scary world out there,” Ally said. “When does it turn into paranoia and actually harm the child instead of protecting it?”

Ross said he hoped Grimcutty viewers respond to the theme of the dangers of overprotection, adding that he expects the technology featured in Grimcutty become obsolete before parents and children resolve their differences.

“You worry that in five or 10 years it will be horribly dated,” Ross said. “Themes around technology will hopefully be timeless and resonate with everyone, regardless of what technology existed in their generation.”

Wolfkind said she could relate to Asha because her own parents didn’t understand the internet, adding that they might be more afraid than necessary of something they don’t understand.

“My parents are always like, ‘Oh, are you doing this on Instagram?'” Wolfkind said. “They don’t know what’s going on.”

Wolfkind said she also enjoys performing Grimcutty attacks with Hebner.

“It was just scary because often a monster is chasing me,” Wolfkind said. “It was really fun with the monster.”

Asha’s videos are ASMR, in which the hosts speak softly to trigger the autonomic sensory meridian response. Wolfkind said ASMR videos were his biggest challenges on Grimcutty.

“John sent me videos and he gave me a mic to practice with,” Wolfkind said. “It’s a whole other art form that I could never do.”