Hit So Hard review

Documentary about the life of Hole drummer Patty Schemel

Why you can trust 12DOVE Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Purportedly the story of drummer Patty Schemel’s (’90s alt-rockers Hole) rise and fall, but really an attempt to shoehorn in as much of her home-filmed Kurt Cobain footage as possible, P David Ebersole’s scrappy documentary is a mess of talking heads sharing half-remembered truths.

What hits hardest is how, without Cobain’s talent, grunge’s veneration of self-obsession/destruction really curdles.

“I am announcing my persona as a cunt!” slurs chief culprit Courtney Love, just another hollow-eyed survivor of the era who has seemingly learnt nothing at all.

Freelance Writer

Matt Glasby is a freelance film and TV journalist. You can find his work on Total Film - in print and online - as well as at publications like the Radio Times, Channel 4, DVD REview, Flicks, GQ, Hotdog, Little White Lies, and SFX, among others. He is also the author of several novels, including The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film and Britpop Cinema: From Trainspotting To This Is England.