Writer/director Ari Groobman’s short film Essentially Amy drops us back into the early pandemic, following a young woman whose world tightens under social tension, family pressure, and rising anti-Asian hostility.
Amy (Stacy Chu) works at her neighborhood grocery store at the height of the COVID lockdowns. She’s all masked up and trying to keep the shelves stocked as tensions rise around her. A well-meaning customer lowers her mask to ask Amy about something on the shelf…and her accent. Moments later, there’s a commotion as a man who refuses to wear a mask is kicked out of the store.
When Amy returns home, her mother (Ping Liu) insists that she take off her clothes at the door and disinfect before entering. She wants to protect Amy’s father. She also doesn’t want Amy working at the store anymore, where every day she’s at risk of getting COVID, and she believes the streets are not safe after watching news of anti-Asian violence.
Soon, the pressure builds. Amy has writer’s block, working on an assignment for medical school—now online. At work, they are short-staffed, displays are falling, her manager wants to talk to her, and the man returns ranting loudly about the “Kung Flu.” When Amy tries to get involved, she wakes up at home with a concussion.
“When Amy tries to get involved, she wakes up at home with a concussion.”
Writer/director Ari Groobman explains that Essentially Amy grew out of his own lived experiences with racism and the complicated dynamics within Asian households, particularly during COVID. He describes being “no stranger to racism,” recalling incidents in Los Angeles and New York, leaving him stunned by the blunt hostility of people struggling during this time. He wanted the film to capture that surreal moment when prejudice blatantly bubbled to the surface. Groobman also wanted to explore how marginalized communities still harbor prejudices toward other minorities, and how confronting that within one’s own family can be as tricky as facing bigotry from the outside world.
Remember COVID? That was my initial response to watching Essentially Amy. Did I really want to relive that experience while also considering the point filmmaker Groobman was making? I was fortunate to live in a community that was trying to make the best of it, and then I’d watch the racial breakdown on the news. Groobman’s film shows that when pushed into extreme circumstances, our extreme nature (both light and dark) reveals itself.
As a film, Essentially Amy boasts solid production values. Every location, from the supermarket to Amy’s family apartment, felt authentic. The film also boasts 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.
Ari Groobman’s Essentially Amy ultimately lands as a “day in the life” of our protagonist, Amy, just trying to make sense of the world and her world in the time of sheer madness around us.
"…When pushed into extreme circumstances, our extreme nature… reveals itself."
