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Stephen Colbert has roasted Tucker Carlson's weird speech made at a recent Trump rally.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus took the "Questionert" of rapid-fire questions from "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert, and the tables were turned.

SAVE $300: As of Oct. 25, the DJI Power 1000 portable power station is on sale for $499 at Amazon with the on-site coupon. This 1024Wh solar generator is ideal for camping, RV trips, and home backup power.

Opens in a new window Credit: DJI (Amazon) / Mashable Composite DJI Power 1000 Portable Power Station $499.00 at Amazon
$799.00 Save $300.00 Get Deal

When you're out in the wild, the last thing you want is a dead battery. That’s where the DJI Power 1000 comes in handy, and it’s currently available at a reduced rate. Normally priced at $799, this portable power station is down to $599, thanks to a 25% discount. Plus, there’s an additional $100 coupon you can clip on the product page, bringing your final price down to $499.

This 1024Wh power station packs a serious punch, offering 2200W of max output power to handle everything from your camping essentials to power outages at home. Its LiFePO4 battery not only provides robust power but also boasts a long lifespan, capable of up to 4,000 charge cycles. This means you’ll get around 10 years of reliable energy — perfect for those who want peace of mind while exploring off the grid.

SEE ALSO: I reviewed the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and I can't imagine a better social video camera

One of the standout features of the DJI Power 1000 is its rapid recharge capability. Thanks to DJI’s fast-charging technology, you can juice up from zero to 80% in just 50 minutes using a wall outlet, or in 80 minutes if you opt for a solar panel (sold separately). That’s great for when you’re on the go and need to get back to full power quickly.

Got DJI drones? This power station is designed to play nicely with them. You can pair it with optional charging cables to keep your Mavic 3 or Air 3 batteries ready for takeoff, extending your flight time during those epic drone shoots.

And let’s talk about noise — or rather, the lack of it. The DJI Power 1000 operates at an ultra-quiet 23 dB, which is softer than a whisper. This makes it ideal for serene settings like campgrounds or RV parks where you don’t want a noisy generator ruining the ambiance.

In addition to being quiet, it’s also safe. With 26 SGS certifications and a built-in Battery Management System (BMS), this power station protects against over-current, over-voltage, and other potential issues. Plus, it comes with a three-year warranty that extends to five years if you register, giving you plenty of long-term security.

Save $20: As of Oct. 25, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is on sale for $29.99 at Amazon, saving you 40% off its usual $49.99 price. It supports WiFi 6 for smoother streaming and offers access to over 1.5 million movies and TV episodes.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon / Mashable Composite Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K $29.99 at Amazon
$49.99 Save $20.00 Get Deal

Streaming in 4K has never been this affordable. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is down to just $29.99 — $20 off the regular price of $49.99. It's a limited-time deal, so if you've considered upgrading your TV setup, now's a great time to do it. Here's why this little streaming stick might be your next favorite gadget.

The Fire TV Stick 4K offers a cinematic streaming experience right from the comfort of your couch. It supports 4K Ultra HD resolution, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos sound. This means you can enjoy vibrant visuals and immersive audio while watching your favorite show or film. You'll feel like sitting in a mini-theater, minus the sticky floors and overpriced popcorn.

SEE ALSO: Apple TV+ joins Amazon Prime Video as an add-on

But what really sets this model apart is its WiFi 6 support. If you're dealing with a busy network, this feature helps ensure your Fire TV Stick 4K delivers a smooth, lag-free viewing experience. Even when multiple devices are connected, you can still stream in 4K without those annoying buffering interruptions.

One of the best perks? Hands-free control with Alexa. You can simply ask your TV to play specific movies, search for shows starring your favorite actors, or even find those elusive action films with epic car chases. Just say, "Alexa, show me thrillers," and you're all set. Plus, if you're into gaming, you can stream Xbox Game Pass titles directly on your Fire TV Stick 4K without needing a console.

Beyond paid subscriptions like Netflix, Disney+, and Max, this streaming stick gives you access to tons of free content. You can browse over 300,000 movies and TV episodes from ad-supported streaming services like Amazon Freevee, Tubi, and Pluto TV. At $29.99, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K combines power, performance, and affordability. It's a great addition to any TV setup, especially if you want to maximize your 4K screen without breaking the bank.

SAVE UP TO $16: As of Oct. 25, save 20% on the KIWI K4 Boost and KIWI H4 Boost battery head straps for the Meta Quest 3/3S at Amazon. The K4 Boost drops to $55.99 (originally $69.99), while the H4 Boost is down to $63.99 (originally $79.99).

The best battery head strap deals at Amazon Best battery head strap for comfort KIWI K4 Boost $55.99 at Amazon (Save $14) Get Deal Best battery head strap for ventilation Kiwi H4 Boost battery head strap $63.99 (Save $16) Get Deal

Getting into the world of VR is pricey enough, but keeping your headset charged shouldn’t have to be. Right now, you can save 20% on two of KIWI design’s popular battery head straps for the Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S, thanks to a coupon deal at Amazon. Just clip the coupon on the product page, and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

The KIWI K4 Boost head strap has a built-in battery that extends your playtime by up to three hours. No more frantic sprints for a charging cable mid-game. Its design is all about comfort: the enhanced rear support and thicker padding make long sessions easier on your head and neck. With dual fast charging, you can juice up your Quest and the K4 Boost simultaneously in about 2.5 hours.

For a little more, the KIWI H4 Boost offers a similar battery boost with a few extra perks, like an adjustable front-to-back field of view (FOV) and side ventilation to keep you cool during intense gameplay. It even promises a zero-pressure fit — perfect if you’re tired of feeling like your headset is squeezing your face.

SEE ALSO: The best gaming headset for every platform

These head straps carry on the trend of brilliant build quality from KIWI, so it’s a great time to pick one up and give your Quest 3 or 3S a bit more stamina. If you want the freedom to explore virtual worlds without a low-battery warning or play Beat Saber without the headset wobble, these deals are worth a look. Clip this 20% coupon deal before it's gone.

SAVE OVER $80: As of Oct.25, the Shark Matrix Plus Robot Vacuum is on sale for $349.99 at Amazon, saving you 19% on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark Matrix Plus Robot Vacuum $349.99 at Amazon
$430.00 Save $80.01 Get Deal

We're big fans of robot vacuums here — just take a look at our review of the best models and you'll see why. So we're always on the hunt for robot vacuum deals, big and small. And this Amazon deal on the Shark Matrix Plus Robot Vacuum is one we couldn't ignore.

As of Oct. 25, this model is on sale for $349.99 at Amazon.This is the lowest this vacuum has been priced at since December 2023, so you know you're getting a great deal.

But what's so special about this model? Besides all the obvious pros (no more manual vacuuming), this device doesn't just pick up dirt, it mops your floors too. It uses Sonic Mopping to scrub hard floors 100 times per minute, and if you know it's about to encounter an extra deep stain, head to the app and initiate Matrix Mop to get 50% better stain cleaning in certain spots.

SEE ALSO: I've tested over 20 robot vacuums and these are the best for every budget in 2024

This vacuum also boasts an impressive precision matrix grid, meaning it takes multiple passes over dirt and debris to ensure it is all removed. And the smart features don't end there: the CleanEdge Detect system uses blasts of air and corner recognition to remove debris from edges and corners pulling the debris into the cleaning path. Plus, there's no need to manually map out the path for this vacuum, because it uses 360-degree LiDAR vision to learn your space, detect obstacles, and pick up dirt.

Like many high-end vacuums, this machine self-empties, self-charges, and holds up to 60 days' worth of dirt, limiting your work even further. The base is bagless, so both useful and environmentally friendly as it eliminates the need for waste bags.

Convinced yet? Head over to Amazon to grab this deal.

Whether you're exclusively a solo gamer or spend most of your time in online gaming lobbies, having a great gaming headset is only going to enhance the experience. Better immersion and communication are never a bad thing, and I almost always play with one strapped to my noggin.

After spending a few weeks with the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro, I can confidently say that you should look no further if you've been searching for a new gaming headset, because it's the best I've ever used. It sounds great, feels great to wear, and I can't see myself switching headsets anytime soon.

SEE ALSO: Gaming starter kit: All the gear you need to play like a real gamer Next-level immersion

The Razer BlackShark V2 Pro sounds simply divine. No matter what I was playing, the headset made me feel way more engaged than I usually do thanks to not only the crisp audio playback, but also that gorgeous surround sound.

The BlackShark V2 Pro is packed with Razer's patented Triforce Titanium 50mm drivers, which are split into three parts so they can be individually tuned for high, mid, and low tones. And let me tell you, it's for the better — everything sounded incredibly clear and detailed, especially while playing games like Astro Bot and Star Wars: Outlaws, which both have top-tier audio design. Because the headset is also equipped with THX Spatial Audio, you can hear where sounds are coming from with impressive accuracy. Passive noise cancellation is also pretty good, cutting down on a decent amount of outside noise without rendering me completely unaware of my surroundings.

A crystal-clear microphone with one small flaw

When it comes to gaming headsets, the audio on your end isn't the only kind of audio that matters. If you're playing online, you'll want your buddies to be able to hear you loud and clear, or else it could spell "game over" for your squad. I'm happy to report that the BlackShark V2 Pro's microphone quality is great (at least according to my friends whom I've been playing Space Marine 2 with). My teammates consistently said I sounded crystal clear with no noticeable lag on either of our sides.

I did have one small issue with the BlackShark V2 Pro's mic, though. While not a dealbreaker at all, I didn't love the microphone's detachable design, and would've much preferred a retractable style for portability's sake. Sure, it's easy enough to just pop the mic off and stow away the headset itself, but now I'm stuck holding this small appendage with nowhere to put it but... next to the headset, I guess? What do I do with this thing?

Where am I supposed to keep this little mic dongle? Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable An extremely intuitive headset

I always appreciate a gaming headset with on-board controls that I can play around with on the fly; the BlackShark V2 Pro's are a joy to use due to their intuitive and simplistic nature. You get a button to switch between wireless and wired modes which is super convenient, a volume knob, a mic mute button, and a power button. That's all there is, and it's all you'll need.

This headset has the essentials at hand. Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable If there was any latency here, I couldn't find it

Worst case scenario is when your gaming headset is laggy. If you're playing competitively online, the response times for your audio input and output could be the deciding factor between a win and a loss, so you're going to need something with relatively low latency. The Razer BlackShark V2 Pro has that in spades.

Even when using it in wireless mode (which connects via a nifty little USB dongle), I couldn't pick up on any latency at all, no matter how hard I tried. At least, it wasn't detectable to my naked ear. Neither was it to my online friends. I usually never use my gaming headsets in wireless mode because I often find it to be a more laggy experience than playing with them wired in. However, with the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro, I exclusively use it wirelessly because I just can't tell the difference.

I could wear this all day

I've tried out a lot of gaming headsets, and the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro beats them all by far when it comes to comfort. The headset's FlowKnit memory foam ear cushions are soft and breathable with a padded adjustable headband to match. Even after numerous multi-hour gameplay sessions, I never felt even a hint of soreness. The build quality feels very premium, featuring a durable exterior that I think is going to stand the test of time, as well as steel reinforcement in the headband that doesn't sacrifice flexibility.

Even the overall look of the headset is really nice and streamlined, which isn't something that can be said for a lot of gaming peripherals, in my opinion. It still has a gamer-chic aesthetic, but gives more pilot vibes than Cyberpunk 2077 NPC. Although the exposed wiring on either side of the headband does look kind of cool, it can become frustrating when it gets caught on stuff. At worst, I could see it becoming damaged over time if the wiring keeps getting snagged on random objects (I haven't seen any yet, thankfully), but if you just take care while storing the headset, you should be fine.

Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable Battery life is good, not great

When in wireless mode, the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro runs off a battery that didn't necessarily impress me but didn't bother me, either. I was able to get about 20 hours on a single charge before switching over to wired mode, which ended up being a pretty seamless experience when using the SmartSwitch button on the side of the headset. No gameplay interruptions when your headset runs out of juice, here.

Is the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro gaming headset worth it?

The Razer BlackShark V2 Pro is absolutely worth the buy. Although $199.99 isn't cheap for a gaming headset, the value you get for your money here is just fantastic. The shortcomings are few and far between, and the headset's combination of comfort, quality, and style in one package certainly justifies the investment.

Razer BlackShark V2 Pro $199.99 at Amazon
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When it comes to streaming options, the list goes on and on: Hulu, Netflix, Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. And that's before you even look at their vast libraries of movies and television within each one!

It can be overwhelming. So, Mashable offers watch guides for all of the above, broken down by genre: comedy, thriller, horror, documentary, animation, and more. But maybe you don't know what you want beyond something new and entertaining. No worries. 

SEE ALSO: The best Netflix TV shows of 2024 (so far)

Mashable's Entertainment Team has scoured the streaming services to highlight the most buzzed-about releases of this week and ranked them from worst to best — or least to most watchable. Whether you want nail-biting horror, heartwarming comedy, chilling true crime, or a binge-worthy new series, we've got you. 

7. Trap

M. Night Shyamalan is in fine form in his latest film, Trap, which takes an already out-there concept and spins it into a bonkers fun thriller. Josh Hartnett (Oppenheimer) stars as Cooper, a devoted dad who's taking his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to the concert of her dreams. There's just one problem: Cooper is also a serial killer known as "the Butcher" — and this whole concert is a trap set to catch him.

SEE ALSO: Josh Hartnett compares his new role in 'Trap' to his character Zeke from 'The Faculty'

So begins a delicious cat-and-mouse game where you can't help but root for the mouse, serial killer though he may be. Hartnett's performance is a nonstop blast, as are the many twists and turns offered up by the film's concert-centric premise. Want a series of musical set pieces? Pop star Lady Raven (R&B singer Saleka, who is also Shyamalan's daughter) has got you covered. How about ludicrous ploys to get backstage? Cooper will give you exactly what you want, including a wild-eyed suggestion that he and Riley pop through a trapdoor in what remains one of the funniest film moments of the year. Perhaps most shocking of all is that amid all this chaos, Trap manages to craft a surprisingly compelling story about fatherhood (even if that father is, yes, a serial killer).

As Siddhant Adlakha wrote in his Mashable review, "Trap is practically an ode to his daughters and their teenage years, though it also wrestles with some of the darker implications of fatherhood." Between that, Hartnett's knockout turn, and the tightly wound suspense of the concert scenes, what more could you want? Get on the Trap train, people! — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka

How to watch: Trap is now streaming on Max.

6. Territory

Territory is a land succession drama that takes place on an Australian cattle ranch. This new Netflix series is co-created by Mystery Road's Timothy Lee and Ben Davies, with Wolf Creek's Greg McLean directing. You'll meet the Lawson family, owners of the world's largest ranch, Marianne Station. But what happens when the reign of patriarch Colin (Robert Taylor) ends? Anna Torv (The Last of Us) stars alongside For All Mankind's Michael Dorman, Vikings: Valhalla's Sam Corlett, and Longmire's Robert Taylor.

Mashable's Amanda Yeo described the show as "Yellowstone meets Succession in the Australian outback" in her review, writing, "Contending with such titles, Territory puts in the effort to set itself apart by embracing its distinctly Australian characteristics, making it different enough to be intriguing while still familiar enough to be comfortable." — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

Starring: Anna Torv, Dan Wyllie, Robert Taylor, Jake Ryan, Clarence Ryan, Michael Dorman, Sam Corlett, Tyler Spencer, Hamilton Morris, and Philippa Northeast

How to watch: Territory is now streaming on Netflix.

5. Inside Out 2

Pixar's sequel to 2015's Inside Out is finally streaming, with youngster Riley Andersen's (voiced by Kensington Tallman) anthropomorphic emotions gaining some roommates inside her head. Why? She's starting high school. You remember. Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Liza Lapira), and Fear (Tony Hale) are joined by Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser).

As Mashable's Belen Edwards wrote in her review, "Like 2022's Turning Red, which in itself proved a groundbreaking representation of puberty, Inside Out 2 embraces the complexities of this daunting life stage, especially when it comes to feelings of self-worth and anxiety. The result is a frank take on mental health that proves more mature than its predecessor, while also maintaining a well-needed touch of irreverence and Pixar comfort." — S.C.

Starring: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, and Kensington Tallman

How to watch: Inside Out 2 is now streaming on Disney+.

4. The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

In the mood for a documentary this weekend? Then check out The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, which uses World of Warcraft recreations to dive deep into a deceased Norwegian gamer's rich online life.

That gamer is Mats Steen, who died in 2014 from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. His parents Robert and Trude worry that he didn't make any connections while he was alive, as he spent so much time physically isolated and playing World of Warcraft. Yet when they post about his passing on his old blog, a wave of support from Mats' World of Warcraft friends proves he was anything but alone.

Director Benjamin Ree reenacts Mats' in-game conversations with the help of over 42,000 pages of gaming logs, painting a portrait of Mats as someone who was caring, empathetic, and central to his online community. As I wrote in my review for Mashable, the film "serves as a touching tribute to what Mats meant to so many people, as well as the power of the virtual ties that bind us." — B.E.

How to watch: The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is now streaming on Netflix.

3. Late Night with the Devil

Writers/directors Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes (aka the Cairnes Brothers) won critical acclaim for their Satanic Panic gem Late Night with the Devil out of the 2023 SXSW film festival and even garnered praise from Stephen King. And now, it's easier than ever to watch at home, as this frightening film has come to Hulu.

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The Boogeyman's David Dastmalchian plays Jack Delroy, a late-night talk show host who's clinging to relevance. For Halloween, he decides to craft the spookiest lineup he can muster, with one of his guests seemingly possessed by something sinister.

SEE ALSO: 34 bloody excellent Australian horror movies that'll mess you up (and where to watch them)

As Mashable's entertainment editor Kristy Puchko wrote in her review, "Paying tribute to '70s horror, Late Night with the Devil is steeped in the era's aesthetic and its emerging moral anxiety, as well as the methodical pacing that draws us in, grabs on tight, and won't let go until that final ghoulish moment." — S.C.

Starring: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Georgina Haig, and Josh Quong Tart

How to watch: Late Night with the Devil is now streaming on Hulu.

2. What We Do in the Shadows, Season 6

Everyone's favorite vampire roommates are back for one last hurrah in What We Do in the Shadows' sixth and final season — so consider this your sign to tune in or catch up if you haven't already!

This season brings more bloodsucking chaos to the lives of Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch). From a new vampire roommate named Jerry (Mike O'Brien) to landing jobs in corporate America to Laszlo's new Frankenstein-esque experiments, Season 6 is a delightful ride — and a reminder of why What We Do in the Shadows has one of the best comedic ensembles on TV. — B.E.

Starring: Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, Mark Proksch, Doug Jones, Mike O’Brien, and Kristen Schaal

How to watch: What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 is now streaming on Hulu.

1. Star Trek: Lower Decks, Season 5

Created by Rick & Morty writer/producer Mike McMahan, Star Trek: Lower Decks is an animated sci-fi comedy as packed with outrageous action as it is audacious laughs. Far from the strong-jawed drama of most of Star Trek's movies and TV series, Lower Decks plays like a workplace sitcom, covering everything from intimidating alien threats to the thankless clean-up work demanded of the holodeck. In every episode, there's reason to thrill and cackle. And now is the perfect time to begin a binge watch (or rewatch).

SEE ALSO: Even if you're not a Star Trek fan, it's time to get into 'Lower Decks'

This week, Paramount+ debuts the start of this sensational show's fifth and final season. Having seen the first five of the 10 episodes promised, I'm freshly in love with this sensational series, and not ready to say goodbye. In my review, I cheered, "Lower Decks didn't only amuse me with its spirited screw-ups and clever turns on sci-fi cliches and Star Trek tropes. It drew me into the world of these characters so intensely that I want more, more, more."

Lucky for us, there's plenty more Star Trek adventures on Paramount+.

Starring: Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero, Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O'Connell, Fred Tatasciore, and Gillian Vigman

How to watch: Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 debuts with two episodes Oct. 24, with new episodes weekly.

Star Trek: Lower Decks is ending, and I'm not ready.

Created by Rick & Morty writer/producer Mike McMahan, Lower Decks giddily shook up the one-hour sci-fi drama format of the long-running Star Trek franchise. Its focus shifted away from noble captains and their courageous bridge crew going on universe-saving missions. Instead, this workplace comedy embedded audiences in the cramped bunk beds and chaotic inner lives of a band of eccentric ensigns, who barely make it out of their daily tasks alive.

Impulsive and enchanting, Mariner (Tawny Newsome) is the feisty leader of her motley band of friends; she relishes margaritas and role-playing games about Klingon warfare. Her right-hand man is by-the-book brown-noser Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), who dreams of earning his own captain's chair someday. Meanwhile, Orion badass/unapologetic nerd Tendi (Noël Wells) gave up a life of plundering and piracy to study science aboard the starship Cerritos. Her best bud, engineering cyborg Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), shares her enthusiasm for all things science, as well as a mutual crush that's been achingly unspoken for four seasons and counting. Their energy — which often involves much squealing — is countered by the ever-stoic Vulcan transfer T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz), who has become the series master of deadpan delivery.

Together, they've tackled extraterrestrial beasts, personal catastrophes, the horrors of a holodeck gone wrong, and much, much more. But with their latest season, they set forth on their fifth and final frontier. And it's going to be hard to say goodbye.

Lower Decks kicks off with what could have been for every major character. Credit: Paramount+

Season 5 launches with "Dos Cerritos," an ambitious episode in which the Cerritos crew runs into their parallel dimension doubles. Swiftly, audiences are invited to marvel at what might have happened if Billups (Paul Scheer) had risen to his royal destiny or if Mariner ever got promoted to captain. It's a conceit that allows for visual gags through cheeky variant designs, but also shows how far these ensigns have come — and how far they may still have to go.

While Mariner and her captain/mom face a reality in which their roles are reversed, Boimler is caught up in how confident his double is. Maybe it's the beard? To be more like his briefly glimpsed parallel self, Boimler decides to grow facial hair. And props to McMahan, because the evolution from clean-shaven to bold bushiness is charted across the five episodes given to critics through a mounting array of awkward looks. A few stray hairs become a sketchy mustache, with a scraggly goatee on the way. It's funny every time Boimler pops up with truly awful facial hair and unmatched moxie as he goes on a dangerous undercover mission, engages with an ancient alien ritual, and touches down on Starbase 80. Oh, yeah.

Lower Decks Season 5 tackles new terrain. Credit: Paramount+

In past seasons, Starbase 80 was established as a punishment station, where Mariner was punted when it was thought she'd betrayed the Cerritos. In episode 5, "Starbase 80?!," we'll finally witness what all the fuss is about — and with a Nicole Byer appearance to boot! Elsewhere this season, Lower Decks will dive deeper into non-Starfleet stories, following up with compelling characters like the Klingon who helped Mariner escape the clutches of the crazed traitor Nick Locarno in Season 4. But best of all, we get to see Tendi doing more pirate action!

SEE ALSO: 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 4 review: This spoofing spinoff is one of the best sitcoms now streaming

Yes, yes, Lower Decks has been rewriting the history of the Orions, giving them a complexity beyond being merciless plunderers. Still, it's a thrill to watch the Mistress of the Winter Constellation kick butt, but in her own uniquely non-lethal, brainy way! While Season 5 displays how Tendi has grown through Starfleet, it also shows how Rutherford is struggling to cope without her. Unexpectedly, it's his Vulcan buddy who makes a grand emotional gesture to ease his aching heart. And true to this show's form, it's in a way that is delightfully unhinged.

In all these little ways, McMahan's team of writers and animators charts new terrain for their lovable losers, who are getting promotions, life lessons, and hilarious hijinks to an almost overwhelming degree. The series has moved away from focusing on kooky misadventures, carving out an arc of what it means to be a young adult figuring out your path among the stars. And so even amid cartoon violence, much Boimler yelping, and pitch-perfect callbacks, there's an emotional tug to every episode as we draw near to not only the Season 5 finale, but also the series finale.

Lower Decks brought together Trekkies and newbs. Credit: Paramount+

I've written before about how Lower Decks became my gateway into really understanding Star Trek. The show's short-and-sweet comedy setup didn't demand I know decades' worth of lore to enjoy the ride. But the more I watched and rewatched, the more I began to venture into other Star Trek series. Partially, this was so I could better enjoy the bevy of Easter eggs nestled in the show's dialogue and background designs by a team who clearly loves this sci-fi franchise deeply (but not too seriously). But a bigger part is that I became as enchanted with Starfleet as Boimler and his friends.

SEE ALSO: Even if you're not a Star Trek fan, it's time to get into 'Lower Decks'

I binge-watched Star Trek: Strange New Worlds because I heard they were doing a crossover episode with Lower Decks. How does a live-action drama series cross over with an animated sitcom? The Strange New Worlds episode "Those Old Scientists" answered that with aplomb, then doubled down on its smoldering, sexy approach to Star Trek by offering up a musical episode with "Subspace Rhapsody." From there, I've been trekking all across the franchise's riches on Paramount+.

Lower Decks didn't just amuse me with its spirited screw-ups and clever turns on sci-fi cliches and Star Trek tropes. It drew me into the world of these characters so intensely that I wanted more, more, more. And while Season 5 will only offer 10 episodes, it's nice to know there are plenty of stories beyond in their sister series.

What does the rest of Season 5 have in store? Will Tendi and Rutherford end up together? Will Mariner find the confidence to be the kind of captain she'd like to see in Starfleet? Will Boimler's beard ever come in? And where will the Cerritos leave us? I both can't wait to find out and never want this show to end. Much like Evil, another critically heralded Paramount+ show that recently drew to a close, Lower Decks is a series that is sharply funny, joyously subversive, and rousingly poignant. It's not enough to watch it. You'll want to revisit it. You'll want to explore beyond it. And you'll likely wish there was more Mariner and Boimler mayhem to come.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 debuts with two episodes Oct. 24, with new episodes weekly.

TL;DR: Use Skoove for AI-powered piano lessons while a lifetime subscription is $119.99 (instead of $299). The sale ends October 27. 

Turns out, learning to play the piano is very different from learning to type. So why do they call it a keyboard? 

If you're also struggling to learn piano on your own, check out Skoove Premium Piano lessons. Skoove is an AI-powered app that listens while you play and offers a flexible, interactive way to improve your piano skills without the need for expensive in-person lessons. Skoove adapts to your level and guides you step-by-step, and it's only $149.99 for a lifetime subscription, but this sale ends soon. 

How does Skoove work?

Skoove’s unique use of artificial intelligence makes it more than just a practice tool. It listens as you play, providing real-time feedback that helps you correct mistakes on the spot and develop stronger technique with every session.

With over 400 piano lessons and thousands of instructional videos, the platform personalizes your learning journey, ensuring you stay motivated with music that suits your interests—from John Legend’s hits to timeless pieces by Bach and Beethoven. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach; Skoove tailors each session to your progress, making it easier to stay engaged and really improve. 

Compatible with all keyboards and pianos, Skoove lets you practice anywhere, whether you prefer a traditional acoustic piano or a MIDI setup connected to your tablet or computer. The platform works seamlessly across devices, including iOS, Android, and desktop systems, giving you the freedom to learn on your own terms. For those moments when you need extra guidance, Skoove’s instructors are available to offer personalized support.

The subscription’s lifetime access means you’re never rushed—progress at your own speed and explore new material whenever you’re ready. Regular updates bring new songs and lessons, keeping things fresh and exciting.

One day left

Don't miss your chance to learn piano your way.  

You only have until 11:59 p.m. PT on October 27 to get a Skoove Premium Lifetime Subscription for $119.99 with code SAVENOW. 

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Opens in a new window Credit: Skoove Skoove Premium Piano Lessons: Lifetime Subscription $119.99
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TL;DR: Avoid holiday stress by getting a Button Remote for your Apple TV/Apple TV 4K, only $34.97 (reg. $39) until October 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT. 

The holidays are almost here, and for many, that means the whole family piling into the living room for a little TV time. Now, imagine all your loved ones trying to figure out how to use the voice controls on the Siri Remote for your Apple TV. If you want a simpler alternative, check out this Button Remote compatible with Apple TV and Apple TV 4K. It's on sale for $34.97 (reg. $39), but that price won't last much longer. 

What can the button remote do?

What sets the Button Remote apart is its seamless connectivity and user-friendly design. It features a Home Button that allows easy access to your tvOS Control Center, making navigation a breeze. You won’t have to fumble through menus or struggle to find the right input again. 

The design is sleek and intuitive and similar to classic remotes, so you might actually be able to spend some time in the kitchen instead of explaining to your uncle how to find Netflix.

Plus, with its durable construction, you can count on your Button Remote to stand up to daily, even during the holidays. 

Save yourself a holiday headache

Do you really want to explain how the Siri remote works to your extended family? 

There's still time to get the Button Remote for Apple TV and Apple TV 4K for $32.97, but that price is gone after 11:59 p.m. PT on October 27. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

Opens in a new window Credit: Function101 Button Remote for Apple TV/Apple TV 4K (Bluetooth + Infrared) $34.97
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TL;DR: Get a refurbished MacBook Pro (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for just $449.99 (reg. $1,499). 

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Refurbished MacBook Pro (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $449.99
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The worst part about a MacBook is the price. If you can get around that, then they're solid computers that can last quite a while — especially with the creative and multitasking power that comes with MacBook Pros. Even older models are a worthwhile investment, especially if you're looking for a reliable computer for daily tasks that don't take too much processing power. 

This refurbished MacBook Pro is in near-mint condition but costs just $449.99 (reg. $1,499). 

What's under the hood?

This MacBook is a match for office productivity, the finals week rush, and everything in between. With a 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM, you have plenty of room for apps and plenty of power to run them.

The Touch Bar is more than just a cool accent. It gives you shortcuts and controls that adjust based on the apps you're using, while the integrated Touch ID ensures secure logins and quick access. And with four Thunderbolt 3 ports, this MacBook is as versatile as your workday, handling everything from charging to external display connections.

The Force Touch trackpad and full-size backlit keyboard make typing comfortable and precise, whether you're writing emails late at night or coding during a flight. And with up to 10 hours of battery life, you can confidently tackle your day without constantly searching for an outlet.

Weighing just over three pounds, this laptop is light enough to take anywhere, making it a great companion for on-the-go professionals or students. Despite being a refurbished model, it arrives in near-mint condition with minimal signs of wear, so you get to enjoy Apple quality without the Apple price. 

The 720p FaceTime HD camera keeps you connected with crisp video calls, while stereo speakers with high dynamic range enhance your media experience. 

Who knew a MacBook could be this cheap?

Don't miss your chance. Time's running out to get a refurbished MacBook Pro on sale for just $449.99. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

TL;DR: If you need a reliable PDF app, a PDF Converter Pro lifetime license is only $24.97 (reg. $99) until October 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT. 

Opens in a new window Credit: Acethinker PDF Converter Pro: Lifetime License $24.97
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PDFs are common. Good PDF apps are not. Sure, Adobe has Acrobat, but Adobe apps aren't exactly cheap. 

Whether you’re a student juggling multiple assignments or a business professional needing to convert files for reports, if you need a low-cost PDF app, check out PDF Converter Pro. This all-in-one PDF app lets you convert PDF documents into various formats or manipulate PDFs as is, and you can get it for life for just $24.97 (reg. $99) — but not for much longer. 

What can PDF Converter Pro do?

Tired of convoluted app menus? PDF Converter Pro gives you a simple, user-friendly interface where you can convert or alter PDFs. You can change PDFs into editable Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, enabling seamless editing and sharing without losing the original layout or content. That means images, text, and hyperlinks are preserved, so you don’t have to worry about losing important details during the conversion process.

PDF Converter Pro’s built-in OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology is a game-changer, allowing you to extract text from image-based PDF documents. If you have any ancient, faded master copies lying around, you can finally scan them to make a new version that you can actually edit. Students, that means you can also scan your readings and turn them into searchable documents. 

This all-in-one PDF app even lets you edit existing PDFs with tools for merging and splitting, extracting images, and compressing files to reduce their size without sacrificing quality.

On sale but not for much longer

October 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT is the deadline to get a lifetime license to PDF Converter Pro for just $24.97. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

Tom Hardy is a one-man comedy duo who deserves better than Venom: The Last Dance. The English actor has played a variety of tough guys, from gangsters (Legend) and supervillains (The Dark Knight Rises) to the ultimate road warrior (Mad Max: Fury Road). But he might be at his very best as the oft-frustrated journalist Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote Venom, who is basically intrusive thoughts in the form of a goo demon. And for three movies (more if you count post-cred cameos), Hardy has been fighting valiantly for the love story that is Eddie and Venom's.

SEE ALSO: Does 'Venom: The Last Dance' have a post-credits scene?

From Venom to its sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Sony embraced what jaw-dropped audiences warmed to in the first film, which was chiefly the undeniable chemistry between Hardy and... himself. Sure, one was bolstered by explosively slick and sick CGI to make the alien come alive. But Hardy, grumbling excitedly as an alien ready to rage (in both the vengeance and party senses), was unabashedly entertaining. Now, in the third entry, Venom: The Last Dance, Hardy's anti-heroes are in an all-out war — not just against a canonical bigger bad but against the franchise requirements that weigh this sequel down. 

It's clear Sony still can't decide what to do with their Spider-verse, and more specifically its flashiest non-Spidey star. (Sorry, not sorry, Madame Web and Morbius!) 

Venom: The Last Dance has way too many plotlines.  Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock/Venom in Columbia Pictures' "Venom: The Last Dance." Credit: Sony Pictures

Following the events of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Eddie/Venom (Hardy) are on the run as they are wanted in the death of Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham). After grabbing drinks at a bar in Mexico (yes, calling back to the post-credit scene with Ted Lasso's Cristo Fernández), the dastardly duo decides to road trip to New York City, where Eddie plans to blackmail a judge to clear his name. It's a perfect plan, obviously, and a great setup for on-the-road hijinks. Excellent! However, then the MCU effect kicks in. 

While Eddie/Venom are making their way out of Mexico, a new cranky villain lurks in a dark otherworld, surrounded by giant insect monsters with many, many teeth. This is Knull (played by Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis), a scary ancient evil thing who wants a never-before-mentioned MacGuffin that Eddie/Venom happen to have. So while they're on the run from the cops, the pair must duck the stalking monster and the US military forces out to imprison them at Area 51.

As if all that weren't enough plot, Venom: The Last Dance also works in a tragic backstory for a traumatized scientist, Dr. Teddy Payne (Ted Lasso's Juno Temple), and a daffy family of van-living hippies who really want a close encounter with an alien. (Good news for them!) All of this combined makes for a rollercoaster of a movie, with heady highs of bonkers Looney-Tunes-like action and comic book spectacle, and frustrating lows made up of cumbersome exposition scenes.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, and Clark Backo in Columbia Pictures' "Venom: The Last Dance." Credit: Laura Radford / Sony Pictures

The screenplay by writer/director Kelly Marcel, who wrote Venom: Let There Be Carnage, has enthrallingly funny moments. But it ties itself into knots setting up Knull and Payne, who will clearly have bigger roles to play as the franchise barrels on. (Last dance, my foot!) Marcel sacrifices the zany exuberance and propulsive spontaneity of Hardy's performance by frequently abandoning him for gratuitous exposition dumps. All of Knull's scenes look the same, playing like a dimly lit teaser for a video game. The gray-haired villain is bound to a throne, grumbling threats with his head hung, over and over with no build in tension or information. And if you can't piece together what he's up to from his muttering, don't worry because Venom will explain it, as will another symbiote and several other human characters. As if "creepy alien aims for world-shattering conquest" is a new concept in superhero movies. 

When Venom: The Last Dance embraces Tom Hardy's vision, it is glorious.  Credit: Lacey Terrell / Sony Pictures

While the Venom of the comics and the video games can be a gnarly horror, Hardy's spin on the character is far more charismatic. As we saw in the rave sequence of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the lobster tank in Venom, and various scenes in Last Dance, this Venom is like a pesky little brother, fueled by chocolate, blood lust, and roaring impulses. Venom: The Last Dance is at its very best in these moments of chaotic inner conflict. 

SEE ALSO: Surprise! Venom is the superhero who defines this pandemic moment

For instance, a drunken Eddie can barely stand, but Venom wants one more drink. So not only does he roar "TEQUILA!" with the enthusiasm of a frat boy on his 21st birthday, but his shiny black tentacles explode from Eddie's back to give his own spin on Tom Cruise's Cocktail agility. It's a mess, and it's uproariously hilarious. Other sequences that relish this playful mayhem involve a stolen horse, stowing away on an airplane from the outside, and a joyful dance number with Venom's beloved Mrs. Chen (the divine Peggy Lu) to the music of ABBA. (Of course, Venom is an ABBA fan.) 

It's not just that Venom gets to be the chaos demon we love to live through vicariously. It's that Hardy playing Eddie is his perfectly matched straight man. Whether facing the indignity of losing a shoe, getting peed on by a drunk stranger, or making things awkward while warning off a could-be foe, Hardy grimaces, grins, and huffs with supreme comedic timing. As Eddie and Venom, Hardy is both Abbott and Costello, Lemmon and Matthau, Martin and Lewis. And as outrageous as everything around him is, he's even able to ground more heartfelt moments of bonding because it's impossible not to root for them, the oddest couple. 

Venom: The Last Dance delivers plenty of action, graphic and goofy.  Who says Venom can't fly? Credit: Sony Pictures

Though rated PG-13, this Venom movie is pretty wildly violent. It starts off strong, giving Venom the chance to chow down on the heads of bad guys. Later, several humans will be put into the organic extraterrestrial version of a woodchipper, resulting in mists of blood. And as other symbiotes and alien beasties come out to play, all bets are off as the violence gets more comic, full of explosions, slithering limbs, and variously colored viscera. 

Fans of Venom's lore will likely thrill over a climax that has all kinds of symbiote variants joining the fray. (Think Deadpool and Wolverine's climax with much more slime and less swearing.) And yet the most thrilling action moments are during a chase scene that's far less about violence than it is Venom leaping from one river-living critter to another to escape the clutches of the military. Venom as a fish! Venom as a frog! Venom making Eddie — ever so briefly — into a merman! These seem like Marcel pitches that could have been killed off by studio notes, and yet here they are — madly entertaining, absolutely ridiculous, and all the more miraculous because of it. 

In the end, this makes for a movie that, like its predecessors, is a mess. Where Eddie and Venom have largely come to terms with being two very different personalities sharing the same vessel, Venom: The Last Dance feels at war with itself. On one hand, it is a silly road trip comedy enhanced by the shapeshifting silliness of its eponymous alien goofball. On the other hand, it's a straight-faced sci-fi drama about alien invasion. The former is kinetic, surprising, and uniquely thrilling as it collides genre expectations with a no-fucks-given energy. The latter — despite noble efforts from Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor as a military leader, and Clark Backo as a spirited symbiote ally — is a slog, dragged down by cumbersome drama, stern speeches, and an aching lack of Venom. 

Venom: The Last Dance is therefore one-half of a wonderful movie. Still, it's worth sticking through the rest for a totally gonzo finale that's somehow equally absurd and moving. 

Venom: The Last Dance opens exclusively in theaters Oct. 25.

There are a thousand ways you can ruminate on grief and loss on-screen. You can weave it through a topical HBO drama. You can hide it in a Netflix comedy. You can make a mollusk convey it. Or you can choose to gently handle such dark and surreal subject matter through the most tactile and whimsical of forms: stop-motion animation.

This is the dismal, strange, and wondrous path trodden by director, writer, and production designer Adam Elliot in his brilliant film Memoir of a Snail. Having long dwelled in narratives that honor the absurdity of loneliness and misfortune, the Mary and Max director's latest work leans into the nature of loss and adversity through unforgettable characters and exquisite design.

SEE ALSO: Director Henry Selick talks 'Wendell and Wild' and the 'charm' of stop-motion animation

Despite appearances, this is not is a kids' movie. A funny, strangely sweet, and macabre tale, Memoir of a Snail embraces the surrealism of life's darker side in a bleak but fascinating world. Amid a dismal Australian landscape, we meet Grace Pudel (voiced with gentle charm and surrender by Succession's Sarah Snook) and her twin brother Gilbert (The Power of the Dog's Kodi Smit-McPhee), whose lives take some seriously awful turns, both together and apart.

And as the title suggests, snails play a major role in this film. Pay attention to the snails.

Memoir of a Snail confronts death with frankness. Credit: BFI London Film Festival

The very first scene of Memoir of a Snail sees the death of Pinky, who issues such a horrifying death rattle that it will be hard to watch (or hear) for anyone who's been present for a similar moment. Voiced by Australian screen legend Jacki Weaver, it's probably one of the most unsettling starts of a film I've seen in an age. We think she's gone, but Pinky suddenly awakens and screams the word "POTATOES!" before leaving us forever. It's at once deeply upsetting and extremely funny, embodying the dual tone of the entire film.

Beginning with Pinky's final wheezes and moving through distressing subject matter, including abandonment, religious extremism, and attempted suicide, Memoir of a Snail is an unrelentingly grim narrative. One of the most harrowing scenes in the film, a brutal conversion therapy sequence, is hard to watch. But the film's best survival tool through it all is Grace herself, with Snook's reserved but frank character declaring herself a glass-half-full type of person, against all odds. The structure of the film follows Grace as she tells her life story to her freed pet snail Sylvia, whose characteristically slow speed means she's in for the whole odyssey, like it or not.

Death, loss, and mischance follow Grace and Gilbert their entire lives, from the untimely deaths of their parents to their separation by child services to either side of the country. These twins ("two souls, one heart") are failed by most everyone in their lives, whether intentionally or not, and seeing them be wrenched apart is heartbreaking. But it's not the end of their misfortune — especially for Gilbert, who is adopted by a family of extreme religious zealots and forced to work in their "Eden" orchard for basically nothing. 

Here, the film unpacks the power of childhood imagination and twin connection to survive hardships, with Grace and Gilbert finding (or forcing) joy in even the most dismal of circumstances. In fact, Memoir of a Snail channels a shared despair with another brilliantly animated meditation on grief. When watching, I found it near impossible not to think of Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp's Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. Another cozy, stop-motion consideration on grief centred around an adorable, relatable, deeply lost protagonist, it's a film Mashable entertainment editor Kristy Puchko described as "a mindful, willfully silly exploration of loss that had even this hard-shelled critic cracking up and breaking down." This is the exact experience I had with Memoir of a Snail. 

Grace narrates these chapters of deep despair with submissive acceptance and a glimmer of hope, all scored with sublime melancholy by famed Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Cantillation choir, and soprano Jane Sheldon. But of course, we need to talk about that cast.

Memoir of a Snail features a dynamite Australian cast. Credit: BFI London Film Festival

Our introverted protagonist Grace (Snook in a mode as far away from Shiv Roy as you can get) is a sensitive, closed-off, and intensely lonely person who misses her brother and openly declares she shares personality traits with snails. "Snails hibernate when they need to repair themselves," she says, identifying with this tendency. Grace retreats into her shell at any sign of threat, moving ever so slowly through her life. Snails pepper every scene, from Grace's heaving collection of snail paraphernalia to the pattern on her clothing, not to mention physical snails shifting through various moments. And throughout the film, Grace's need to shed such a shell and practice the art of letting go becomes paramount to her journey. 

Meanwhile, Gilbert is a confident, suppressed young man whose defiance could be his downfall. Smit-McPhee lends Gilbert a melancholy romanticism, and makes him someone for Grace (and us) to easily root for. Grace and Gilbert are initially voiced by young actors Charlotte Belsey and Mason Litsos, whose childlike curiosity and fragility put the film on a wonderful footing.

Magda Szubanski is frankly terrifying as Ruth, Gilbert's foster mother. Paul Capsis is outrageous as Grace's foster parents, Ian and Narelle (he does both voices). Dominique Pinon (the one non-Australian in the case, known for his work with Jean-Pierre Jeunet) is briefly wonderful as Grace and Gilbert's father Percy, a French street artist and alcoholic. Aussie fave Eric Bana even makes an appearance as James the Magistrate (a small but pivotal role).

Notably, ABC journalist Tony Armstrong is downright hilarious as Grace's love interest Ken, described by Grace as a "Canberra Adonis — a Cadonis." Plus, if you're listening closely, you'll hear music legend Nick Cave as an ill-fated postman called Bill. 

Memoir of a Snail is a smorgasbord of detail. Credit: BFI London Film Festival

From its opening frames bursting with piles of cigarettes, cocktail frankfurts, boxes of snail poison, and random garden gnomes, Memoir of a Snail is packed with details both macabre and marvelous. Completely free of CGI, this stop-motion animation film features around 7,000 objects and 200 sets, all meticulously shot by cinematographer Gerald Thompson and sharply edited by Bill Murphy. Through snail-hoarding protagonist Grace, Elliot explores the emotional weight we bestow upon objects, and the false sense of safety they can convey — and it gives the production team so much to work with.

But it's not all sunshine and rainbows being animated in Memoir of a Snail; it's blood, shit, broken bones, and snail ejaculation. Sound designer David Williams has quite the task on his hands — and boy, does he deliver. In one scene, Gilbert shoves a lost tooth back up into his bloody gum, shot uncomfortably, hilariously close by Thompson, with all the glorious foley we won't forget. There are tits a-swingin' as the film cuts to Grace's foster parents' nude cruises, and there's also a scene of public masturbation. (As I mentioned before, a kids' film this is not.)

Grace details each character's personality and quirks in a rundown worthy of Amélie Poulain herself, with the animation team thriving as they capture each person's signature style. For one, Pinky's wondrous sense of interior design and the depiction of her rambunctious life experiences is a triumph of surrealism. 

The film particularly leans on a sense of Australiana in this detail: toast laden with thick smears of Vegemite, rusty old Arnott's Biscuits tins, crisp copies of Women's Weekly, sticky pots of Clag glue, crunchy old Spalding netballs, and a truckload of steaming Chiko rolls. Australians will delight in the porn shops and fireworks shops of Canberra; you'll want to pause each scene just to take it all in.

That this level of delightful detail exists in the grim landscape of Memoir of a Snail is what gets us and its protagonists through its darker moments, and creates the film's signature blend of surrealism, frank realism, and hilarious fucked-upness. At the end of the film, we've really been through it with Grace, and we're better for it, perhaps armed with the courage to shed our own shells — or just keen to go on a nude cruise. 

Memoir of a Snail was reviewed out of the BFI London Film Festival. The film will open in Australia on Oct. 17, and in U.S. cinemas in limited release on Oct. 25, with a wider release in November.

What has A Quiet Place wrought? The alien-invasion horror hit that used silence to amp up tension in its rural setting was brilliantly executed. Because the movie's ravenous extraterrestrial creatures chase sound, the characters don't speak aloud, and even their audience feels the pressure not to scream. A Quiet Place's success with critics and audiences not only spurred a sequel (A Quiet Place Part II) and a prequel (A Quiet Place: Day One), but also opportunistic imitators, eager to take the muted gimmick to make their unaffiliated movies stand out. 

SEE ALSO: What to watch: Best scary movies

Last fall, writer/director Brian Duffield hit Hulu with a strikingly similar concept in No One Will Save You, in which Kaitlyn Dever stars as a country girl plagued by invading aliens while she doesn't say a word. With Christmas came John Woo's deeply dismal action dud Silent Night, in which Joel Kinnaman plays a vengeance-fueled anti-hero who, because of a scarring act of violence, is unable to vocalize — but for no apparent reason, no one else talks around him either. Now comes Azrael, a horror collaboration from Cheap Thrills director E.L. Katz and You're Next writer Simon Barrett. Despite the noteworthy talent attached, it too leans hard into this scream-free gimmick that can't make up for its flimsy storytelling. 

What's Azrael about? Credit: IFC Films

Written by Barrett and helmed by Katz, Azrael stars Samara Weaving as the titular young woman who is not only named after the Angel of Death but is also part of a post-apocalyptic cult living deep in the woods, under a vow of silence. Blood-red text splashes across the screen to succinctly introduce the big rule of the cult: Don't speak, or else evil will come. 

In a rugged village, the cultists worship the wind that rips through their drafty church bedecked with crucifixes. They communicate with each other through stern glances and huffs of air. It seems a relatively peaceful place, save for their ritual of human sacrifice. Silence or not, something needs to be fed to the vampire-like creatures that shamble through the woods seeking human blood.

Selected by her community to be fed to the Nosferatu-looking ghouls, Azrael is bound to a chair, where she is left like that poor goat in Jurassic Park — a meal to be enjoyed tied up and alive. But this clever girl breaks her way free, not only setting the ghouls upon her traitorous community but also hunting them down so she might live. It's a tale full of graphic violence that's best described as gloppy, but the plot is achingly thin: Survive. 

Azrael feels like a short film stretched beyond its limits.  Credit: IFC Films

Barrett and Katz have histories with horror anthology franchises ABCs of Death and V/H/S, which stitch together a collection of creepy shorts with some tenuous throughline or framing device. Azrael feels like it began as a short pitch that wasn't developed to its full potential before being unleashed on the world. 

Part of the problem is that the plot line is thinner than Weaving's well-groomed brows. Despite plopping in a boyfriend (Candyman's Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) for Azrael to try to rescue, a camp leader who has serious glower power (Katariina Unt), and a hapless passerby bewildered by her predicament, there is nothing substantial to this story. The lore around what happened to the world, what the creatures in the woods are, or how the cult came to be all are largely irrelevant. And frankly, that's fine. Those details don't matter to Azrael as she's just trying to get through the night, so they don't need to matter to her audience. But there's something crucial lacking here: character. 

Because Azrael has no dialogue, her actions become her primary character definition. And that leaves us with very little. She likes to kiss her boyfriend. She made him a bracelet from twigs. And she doesn't want to be eaten alive by forest vampires. It's relatable, but not much to get invested in. Azrael is a gesture toward a Final Girl archetype — sweet and resilient, but with no depth to make her come alive. 

Basically, Barrett and Katz take for granted the audience might want to understand the heroine they follow through a grueling night of mayhem and murder. Or maybe they thought casting Weaving would carry with it enough audience goodwill to paper over the lazily scripted protagonist. After all, genre fans lapped up every wicked smile, snarky rejoinder, and curse-laden rant Weaving delivered in The Babysitter, Guns Akimbo, and Ready or Not. But Azrael isn't like these movies.

This silent premise rob audience's of Weaving's sharp comedic timing and her undeniable charm as a foul-mouthed badass. It's not a frolicking collision of playful plotlines and ultra-violence. It's a grim and grisly religious pilgrimage that's gleeful in gore yet just not fun. 

The silent gimmick suffocates Azrael.  Credit: IFC Films

In A Quiet Place, the family couldn't vocalize safely, but they did talk to each other through sign language. This gave the actors a way not only to express their character's thoughts, but also a grounded world from which to build the supernatural scares. In Azrael, the cult theatrically scowls or smiles or sighs heavily to get their points across. The result is a near-comical pantomime, reading as a crude reenactment of silent film acting. All the performances here rely on stricken faces, stern brows, or silent screaming. It's off-putting and goofy more than impactful or frightening. 

Perhaps Katz was striving for an atmosphere that felt far from grounded in the familiar, vibrating instead with raw emotion, heady atmosphere, and terror. But with no dialogue nor any defined characters to cling to, plus an episodic structure nakedly designed to favor sloppy slays over story, this religious horror flick feels horrid but humdrum. There's not enough for audiences to sink their teeth into. While full of blood and slicked with religious symbols, Azrael plays like an empty parlor trick — not even a cheap thrill. 

Azrael is now streaming on Shudder.

UPDATE: Oct. 24, 2024, 4:30 p.m. EDT Azrael was reviewed on March 13, 2024, out of SXSW 2024. This review has been updated to reflect current streaming options.

Somewhere along the way, M. Night Shyamalan went from a classy, "elevated horror" auteur — "The Next Spielberg," Newsweek called him in 2002 — to a purveyor of cheap thrills. It was the best thing that ever happened to him. Trap follows in the footsteps of the schlockier work he's made in the last decade, beginning with the self-funded found footage thriller The Visit. The film's story is tightly wound around a dopey premise, but it's also buoyed by incredible heart and soul, and seldom slows down while twisting every possible screw. In short, it’s an absolute blast.

Set largely at a pop concert, and featuring narrative zig-zags that stretch incredulity, it's easy to see how Trap might lose viewers eager to nitpick plot holes and logistics. However, that would be missing the forest for the trees. At the movie’s core is a surprisingly layered story of parenthood, which is entirely in service of the kind of thrilling goofiness Shyamalan brought to 2021's Old — a movie whose visual and narrative framing is similarly (and intentionally) off-kilter while remaining utterly committed to sincere melodrama.

SEE ALSO: Josh Hartnett compares his new role in 'Trap' to his character Zeke from 'The Faculty'

Trap is wonderfully good. It might even be great. And if it's not attuned to your sensibilities, chances are, you'll have a hoot of a time regardless.

What is Trap about? Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Man, what isn't Trap about? 

In the broadest possible strokes: it's about a well-to-do Philadelphia firefighter, Cooper (Josh Hartnett), who takes his teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a show by her favorite popstar, only to discover that the concert is also a trap to capture him — as it turns out, he's secretly a notorious serial killer known as The Butcher.

That's all you really need to know going in, though the film is surprisingly spoiler-proof. Long gone are the days when even Shyamalan's most prestigious works hinged on major reveals — such has been his reputation, even though it's only really happened in three or four of his 16 features — because he's proven much more adept at telling stories with numerous, cascading twists and turns. But perhaps the biggest twist in Trap is that it's a thoughtful father-daughter story at its core. 

Trap is a film about 'girl dads.' Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

As much as its plot concerns Cooper discovering the scale of this police operation, and wriggling through whatever cracks he can find, the reason it feels urgent — and why he can't simply go on the run — is that he truly, deeply cares about Riley. She's been having a tough time at school with bullies and seeing the spark in her eye as she sings and dances means the universe to him. As much as Cooper might want to find a way out of the labyrinthine concert venue, he doesn't want to arouse her suspicions, and he needs to make sure she has a good time too.

Which is to say: if the premise didn't seem loopy enough from the trailers, it's also a girl-dad movie in saccharine, sentimental ways. After all, the pop singer at its center, Lady Raven, happens to be played by R&B artist Saleka (Shyamalan's daughter), who features heavily on screen (not to be confused with his other daughter, Ishana, who directed The Watchers this year). Trap is practically an ode to his daughters and their teenage years, though it also wrestles with some of the darker implications of fatherhood. It plays, at times, like a confrontation of what it means for a daughter to challenge a man's view of the world, and of himself.

Featured Video For You Josh Hartnett compares his new role in 'The Trap' to his character Zeke from 'The Faculty'

During Trap, it's fun to see the uncommon sight of a western pop star of South Asian origin (quite fitting for brat summer, the doing of British Asian sensation Charli XCX), but the inclusion of Saleka is more than just a gimmick. Sure, Shyamalan attempts to highlight her musical talents, but the young singer-songwriter proves a surprisingly key (and radiant) presence, a bastion of aspirational goodness who vitally contrasts with Cooper. Shyamalan casts his daughter as a symbol of absolution, who suggests that her fans hold up their phone flashlights in the name of forgiveness and acceptance — traits Cooper doesn't adhere to when the movie occasionally delves into his backstory. It's a moving meta-text, made all the more tragic by the fact that Cooper is constantly trying to escape Lady Raven's orbit, and willing to make innocent bystanders his pawns.

There is perhaps no more fitting a venue in which to wrestle with casual misogyny than a pop concert aimed at teenage girls, and the film incorporates this idea with surprising subtlety. Cooper is quick to put several young women and girls at the concert in harm's way to create distractions, and he doesn't appear to take Lady Raven very seriously (his ultimate folly, Shyamalan, you old softie). Protecting Riley from bullies may be just as important to him as evading the cops, but he also has a casually violent misogynistic streak. One gets the sense that Cooper might trot out a defense like "as the father of a daughter…" as though it were a get-out-of-jail-free card. 

Trap is a cat-and-mouse game where the mouse has a head start. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

However, Trap isn't a film of learning moments. It's far too mischievous for something so didactic. Rather, it uses Cooper's relationship to Riley as a kind of rubber band. He often leaves her to enjoy the show while scouting the venue for exits, like some kind of serial killer 007 — it's hard not to root for him each time he pulls off a small heist to slip past security guards. But his role as a chaperone means he constantly finds himself back with Riley no matter how much progress he makes.

The more Cooper's suspicions are aroused by the increased police presence, the more he tries to sleuth out their strategy. It's a cat-and-mouse game where the mouse has a head start (the police don't know what he looks like). Minor characters are surprisingly forthcoming with what they share — in part because he can turn on the charm, but also for plot convenience — and new opportunities to slip out unnoticed seem to arise as soon as existing ones are thwarted. Some of these exit strategies are ludicrous, from Cooper trying to score a backstage pass, to a featured artist inexplicably appearing through an illogically placed trap door (heh).

But Shyamalan has a secret weapon amid all this: the talents of Josh Harnett. 

Josh Hartnett's fine-tuned, operatic performance keeps Trap on track.

Trap does for Harnett what Shyamalan's Split did for James McAvoy: both films provide their actors with some truly madcap material that allows them to flex their most unexpected thespian muscles. Hartnett and McAvoy ham it up like nobody's business, but they have so much god damn fun with it.

In Harnett's case, the first layer of this fun takes the form of well-meaning dad jokes and stilted delivery that hints at a kind of pretense. Shyamalan's dialogue has never felt polished or naturalistic, but its floweriness here beats with distinct purpose. It feels robust during fleeting moments of exposition, allowing Cooper to create a detailed roadmap to his origins through implication, and paint pictures of his daily life using words alone. It also creates a sandbox for Hartnett, in which he plays with polite pleasantries and laces them with devious implications, accentuating the character's white, suburban, middle-class façade. The actor wields Cooper’s friendly front with precision, luring other characters in with his charm while winking to the audience. 

Trap is effectively about an all-American father trying, and slowly failing, to maintain a work-life balance, while keeping an addiction to bloodshed under wraps. The film isn't particularly interested in any realistic serial killer psychology, and it's also not concerned with his actual methodology, or any of the salacious tenets one might expect from Dexter or Criminal Minds — trauma, motive, trophies, what have you. However, the film is deeply invested in the mask of normalcy Cooper wears.  

The film circles the question of what fatherhood means for someone who has such horrific, secret impulses, a theme that may as well reflect the desire to create horror movies, as though Shyamalan were turning the camera on himself. However, this self-reflexivity is more of an echo than a linear conclusion. Harnett is far from an avatar for Shyamalan. Rather, he seems to represent Shyamalan's movies — his cinematic essence — which tend to wrestle with beliefs about the world, and about oneself.

Cooper, in the process, embodies the kind of spiritual war Shyamalan's movies have come to fight in the latter half of his career, with works like After Earth, Old, and Knock at the Cabin. These films ask what it would take for parents to protect their children from the world, and from themselves, and Trap is no different. But as thoughtful as it may be, the reason it works like a charm is because it's unrelenting in its use of themes of family and fatherhood as fuel for a genuinely raucous thriller.

Trap is a propulsive visual romp. 

As much as Shyamalan is responsible for Trap as its writer-director, an equal degree of credit must be given to cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, the Thai maestro behind Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Uncle Boonmee and Luca Guadagnino's Challengers. Shyamalan's thriller wouldn't be nearly as impactful without Mukdeeprom's visual trickery and his evolving use of space.

When the movie begins, it features a sense of vast, open possibility while framing Lady Raven's performance as a distant feature. Her show is always seen through Cooper's point of view, literally and metaphorically, as something far away, and something he doesn't understand (or really care to). But the film takes surprisingly intimate turns, and contorts geography until it feels like every wall is closing in on Cooper, à la non-stop concert thrillers like Grand Piano and the opera scene in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. Mukdeeprom employs techniques like split diopters to compress space when it feels like authorities are close, and in immediate response, awkward framing with an excess of emptiness whenever Cooper finds some kind of escape hatch. The film practically controls your breathing through its aesthetics, alternating between claustrophobia and a bizarre form of relief, where you find yourself rooting for a guy to get back to his hobby of dismembering innocent people.

Trap is also impeccable in its use of close-ups, which become tighter and more discomforting as the film progresses. Each time Harnett is in frame, Mukdeeprom lights him in ever-so-slightly eerie ways. Nothing feels overtly "wrong" with Cooper, but his eyes feel just a little too obscured by shadow. He feels a little too duplicitous, or a little too asymmetrical, in ways that your brain may only register subconsciously.

Something just feels off, much in the same way cinematographer Michael Gioulakis made each camera movement feel off in Shyamalan's Old. In this case, what's most puzzling is an inescapable stillness that's as alluring as it is uncanny. You can't look away, but you also don't want to. Trap is filled with these opposing dichotomies. At the end of the day, it's about following a serial killer as he finds his way out of a corner like a wounded animal, if only for his daughter's love — until a sly switch in POV turns it tense, tragic, and downright terrifying, both thanks to Hartnett's performance, and thanks to Shyamalan's fable-like approach to perpetuating cycles of bad parenthood.

His masterstroke, however, is that all throughout every thematic and tonal turn, and each gonzo narrative escalation, Trap  remains wildly and consistently entertaining, with laugh-out-loud dramatic ironies that collide headfirst with a sincere father-daughter story in the most fucked up packaging.

Trap is now streaming on Max.

UPDATE: Oct. 24, 2024, 12:48 p.m. EDT This review was originally published on Aug. 2, 2024, when "Trap" opened in theaters. It has since been updated to reflect streaming options.

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Opens in a new window Credit: Waterpik Waterpik Pearl Water Flosser $48.95 at Amazon
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Opens in a new window Credit: YLL YLL Mini Karaoke Machine $24.99 at Amazon
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