The Grim & The Dark provides a concise introduction to the most overused term in miniatures
Gently Blanched.
The Grim & The Dark has one heck of a pitch. A documentary about miniatures games is enough to raise an intrigued eyebrow, but when it’s both specifically about the niche grimdark skirmish games you’d see in the pages of 28 Magazine and fronted by Napoleon Dynamite, it moves into full-on, what the actual fuckity-fuck territory. Apologies to Jon Heder, by the way. I’m sure it sucks being constantly associated with a character you played in one movie, but that’s what you get when your acting breakout is a cultural phenomenon, I guess.
That’s your premise — Napol…sorry, Jon is introduced to miniatures games and the concept of grimdark, then follows the trail from his home in the US, through Finland and then England, culminating in an interview segment with John Blanche, the former Games Workshop art director whose illustration forms the basis of the grimdark aesthetic.
The result is a concise, yet comprehensive documentary that overcomes a shaky start to provide a decent overview of what grimdark is, where it came from, and what it means to aficionados of the style. Somewhat ironically, considering the attention his involvement has garnered, Heder doesn’t feel like a particularly active force in the film. Instead he is a passive vehicle for the audience’s questions, being pulled along as he attempts to comprehend the nature of grimdark. While a surprising choice, it works. Heder seems interested in the hobby and, as far as cyphers go, he makes an ideal slightly nerdy everyman.
