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Move over ChatGPT, there's a new contender to the throne. Chinese startup DeepSeek AI blasted its way to the top of Apple's App Store this week, hammering U.S. tech stocks in the process — and reacting to the news on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart was shocked and appalled.

"I was promised a new era of American prosperity and greatness!" says the host in the clip above. "DeepSeek? DeepSeek? We're getting our asses kicked by DeepSeek? Who names an AI company after the thing it actually does? Where are your random letters? Where's your GPT, your Grok? DeepSeek sounds like what you might use it for — China's even beating us at naming shit."

Luckily, Stewart is able to find some light at the end of the tunnel. "I do know this is bad news financially, but is anyone else somewhat excited that AI had its job replaced by AI?"

If you're interested in why DeepSeek is getting so much attention, here's what it does better than OpenAI's ChatGPT.

SAVE $1,000: As of Jan. 28, Samsung's 83-inch S85D OLED 4K Smart TV is on sale for $2,499.99 at Best Buy. This is $1,000 off its list price of $3,499.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung 83-Inch Class S85D Series OLED 4K Smart Tizen TV (2024) $2,499.99 at Best Buy
$3,499.99 Save $1,000.00 Get Deal

If you've been on the hunt for a bigger TV, Best Buy's a great place to look right now. The retailer has some excellent deals on a wide range of TVs, including some gigantic options. The 83-inch Samsung S85D OLED 4K Smart Tizen TV is one of these picks on sale right now with a massive discount of $1,000 on list price.

This has dropped the price tag of this TV from $3,499.99 to $2,499.99, which is a deal that's well worth taking advantage of. Not to mention, it also comes with a one month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership, so gamers can jump into the Game Pass library right after getting the TV set up.

SEE ALSO: Rate your favorite smart home gear for a chance to win a $250 Amazon gift card

Alongside its massive size, which makes this TV an excellent pick for movie nights, its 4K OLED display offers a crisp, vibrant picture that brings every detail to life no matter what you're watching. It also has built-in Dolby Atmos that's a treat for your ears, immersing you in the sounds of your favorite shows and films. And speaking of shows and films, it's also a smart TV, so your favorite streaming apps are just a click away.

Don't miss out on $1,000 off the 83-inch Samsung S85D OLED 4K Smart Tizen TV at Best Buy.

If you want to see some more TVs on sale right now, Best Buy's also offering discounts on the similarly huge 100-inch Hisense U76 Series 4K QLED TV and the 75-inch Samsung DU6950 4K Smart TV. Outside of Best Buy, Amazon also has a very nice deal on the Hisense U8 Series 85-inch 4K Smart TV that's worth checking out.

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has captured the tech world's attention in a way we haven't seen since ChatGPT and now, Donald Trump's got something to say about it, too.

"The release of DeepSeek, AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win," said the president, addressing House Republicans in Miami on Monday.

The comments come after a red day in the U.S. stock market, in which Nvidia shed more than $500 billion in market cap on fears that DeepSeek's optimized approach to AI will reduced demand for Nvidia hardware.

DeepSeek R1 is the latest LLM from Chinese AI company DeepSeek. It wins over competitors, including OpenAI's most powerful models, in benchmarks, while requiring less computing power for training. It's cheaper to use than OpenAI's models, and it's open-source, making it easy for any tech company to use, repurpose, and modify as they see feet. Read our detailed overview of DeepSeek R1 on Mashable.

SEE ALSO: DeepSeek could dethrone OpenAI's ChatGPT. Here's why

While there are still a lot of unknowns about DeepSeek R1 and the company that built it, numerous U.S. tech leaders praised its efficiency and the fact that it's open-source. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Microsoft's Satya Nadella called DeepSeek R1 "super impressive," while investor Marc Andreessen called DeepSeek "one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs" he'd ever seen.

UPDATE: Jan. 28, 2025, 3:02 p.m. CET OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also chimed in with his opinion on DeepSeek early on Tuesday. "deepseek's r1 is an impressive model, particularly around what they're able to deliver for the price. we will obviously deliver much better models and also it's legit invigorating to have a new competitor! we will pull up some releases," he wrote on X.

The impact that DeepSeek had on the U.S. stock market immediately raised question on how the Trump administration will handle the news, including the possibility of outright banning it in the U.S.

Tweet may have been deleted

So far, however, it appears that Trump is seeing it as healthy competition rather than a threat to U.S. companies.

The Super Bowl LIX matchup is set and it's one that should feel familiar: The Kansas City Chiefs will face-off with the Philadelphia Eagles. It's a rematch of the Super Bowl from two years ago.

The Chiefs won that first matchup, 38-35, and this go-round they'll be looking to win their third Super Bowl in a row — a feat accomplished by no other NFL team. The Eagles, of course, will be looking for redemption.

We've got all the details ahead of the big game.

When to watch

Sure, you might be excited for the game — but you're going to have to wait a while to watch it. The Super Bowl is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 9 in New Orleans. It's set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET. Once it gets going, a typical broadcast of the big game lasts somewhere around four hours.

What about the halftime show?

It is a very highly anticipated halftime show this year, to say the last. Kendrick Lamar is slated to perform, fresh off a yearlong beef with Drake. It's already confirmed that SZA will perform alongside Lamar and it has been rumored that others could show up as well.

Tweet may have been deleted

Typically speaking, the halftime show will begin about 90 minutes after kickoff — but that is far from guaranteed. Football games don't last a uniform amount of time.

Do we know the best Super Bowl commercials yet?

We don't know every commercial that'll air during the big game, but a number of commercials have debuted or been teased already.

Budweiser has dropped its usual clydesdale commercial.

Uber Eats has teased an ad with Martha Stewart and Charli XCX.

Stella Artois has teased an ad with David Beckham.

Adam Brody has been part of a teaser for Pringles.

And a couple of personal favorites, Detroiters Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson, are slated to appear in a Totino's ad.

There will obviously be developments and news to come — but for now all we can do is wait for the game.

In If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You, Rose Byrne’s face becomes the close-up canvas for a wildly unsettling comedy-drama. Written and directed by Mary Bronstein — her first feature in 17 years following Yeast— the film follows Byrne as Linda, a mother hanging on by a thread during what appears to be a prolonged nervous spiral. Mirroring her experience, it’s a deeply anxiety-inducing work, whose high-strung energy is owed to a daring audio-visual approach that ought not to be sustainable, but ends up hair-raising and hilarious in the long run. The result, in a word, is excellent.

Through their deft command of drama, Byrne and Bronstein make a formidable pair, as they present the slow demolition of one the most alluringly unpleasant protagonists in modern cinema (alongside Marianne Jean-Baptiste's Pansy in Mike Leigh’s recent Hard Truths).

SEE ALSO: 2025 movie preview: All the films you'll want to know about

The film is as illuminating as it is upsetting, presenting new cinematic dimensions to facets of motherhood rarely touched upon in Hollywood (prior to Nightbitch last year, the most prominent example was arguably Tully back in 2018). At a glance, If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You is Uncut Gems for postpartum depression (it was notably produced by Josh Safdie and longtime Safdie brothers writer/editor Ronald Bronstein). However, its narrative and aesthetic language is entirely its own, from its occasional hypnotic flourishes, to its distressing psychological portrait of a mother on the verge of a nervous breakdown, told almost entirely in close up.

What is If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You about?

You can trace the film’s fantastic dramatic setup across its first four scenes — three of which are therapy sessions of different kinds. Normally, it isn’t worth breaking down a festival release so numerically, but If I Had Legs is so dramatically fine-tuned that each moment feels like an escalation. It begins on a tight close-up of Byrne’s Linda, and stays there for longer than is comfortable. In fact, it gets increasingly claustrophobic, as an off-screen doctor (Bronstein herself) discusses Linda’s care options for her preschool-aged daughter (Delaney Quinn), who eats partially through a feeding tube in her stomach, which Linda insists is unnecessary.

Right from the word go, Linda’s judgement as a mother is in question. However, it’s hard to keep casting aspersions on the character (or at least, to keep them at the forefront of one’s mind) when Byrne delivers such a captivatingly troubled, melancholy, exhausted performance — and from which Bronstein refuses to avert the camera's gaze. However, when Linda leaves the appointment — a moment that might usually portend a calming interlude — the camera remains fixed on her at an uncomfortable proximity, as her daughter remains beyond the frame, asking repetitive questions, as children do. When they arrive home, there's still no peace for Linda, with her ongoing domestic cacophony crowned with the chaotic collapse of her bedroom ceiling, forcing her to relocate everyone to a cheap motel.

Featured Video For You Amy Adams on how she transformed into a dog in 'Nightbitch'

Linda's second session, held with her amusingly stone-faced therapist (Conan O’Brien) the next day, clues us into some of her self-destructive tendencies. However, her third and most surprising session is the most revealing. She walks right out of her therapist's office and down the hall to her own; she's also a therapist, setting up cycles of advice and therapy-speak that she either gives, or is given, but never adheres to herself. She has the right language, and the right emotional tools in theory, to thrive, but between a traveling husband who berates her over the phone, a doctor who thinks she’s a bad mother, and a daughter who she loves but who needs constant care, she doesn’t have a moment to implement these changes or methods for self-care. 

This desperation is something Bronstein deftly aestheticizes, in ways that feel both prolonged and hyper-active, making Linda’s anguish downright difficult to watch. The movie confronts a woman’s unspoken uncertainties of motherhood in ways that are sometimes repulsive, but deftly-navigated, with tremendous empathy for the movie’s irascible subject.

If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You is an audio-visual gut punch

In a strange but considered flourish, we almost never see Linda’s daughter throughout the film, even though she exists off-screen. Anyone who enters Linda’s orbit onscreen becomes the immediate object of her ire and fed-up tirades: her doctor, her therapist, a nagging hospital parking attendant, and even the motel's kindly superintendent James (a rare screen role for A$AP Rocky). Some of Linda's rants are even laced with subtle racial animus; this is hardly an angel to whom Bronstein is trying to endear us.

By not seeing her young daughter quite as completely as these other characters (even the ones she despises), and by speaking to her dismissively, Linda creates a coping mechanism of sorts — a disconnected, passive façade that prevents her from placing her vulnerable child in the same category as these other irritants. She enacts motherhood — as the fulfilment of a social contract — on autopilot, conversing with her kid with the same repetitiveness with which she changes her mechanical feeding bag overnight (a process accompanied by drone-like beeping that weighs Linda down).

It's hard to shake the sense that not fully engaging with motherhood might not just be a need for Linda, or a survival mechanism, but a secret want she represses. In society’s eyes, the worst thing a mother can do is fail at the Sisyphean trials of parenthood. Perhaps this is something Linda has internalized. It certainly goes hand-in-hand with the guilt she does fully express, over her child’s physical condition and sickness, which only adds to her reasons for not meeting her daughter’s gaze.

SEE ALSO: How 6 generations of iPhone captured 20 years of motherhood in 'Motherboard'

However, actually observing other people around her doesn’t mean Linda fully connects with them either. At one point, when she picks up a baby that isn’t hers, the infant’s close up is accompanied by shrill and piercing sound design (by Filipe Messeder) that lasts an eternity. Everyone is, to some degree, an annoying abstraction to her, whether by intent, or by the mere happenstance of her state of mind. This also applies to one of her unstable patients, Caroline (Danielle Macdonald), a new mother who seems on the verge of psychosis, and yet lucidly expresses the same feelings of postpartum doubt with which Linda has been living for so long — but refuses to see (or accept).

As Linda visits her apartment each night to check on the hole in her ceiling, it takes on unexpected physical properties that yield strange visions. This turns the literal and symbolic chasm into something practically metaphysical. Maybe it’s caused by Linda’s lack of sleep, or maybe it’s something deep within her subconscious lashing against the walls of her mind. Either way, the resultant drama is thrilling, hilarious, and upsetting all at once, and it’s largely owed to Byrne’s fearless, fully-embodied commitment to the part.

Rose Byrne delivers a monumental performance

Bronstein knows exactly how to capture Byrne’s nervous energy. The constant close ups keep the character on-edge, as though her motherhood (and her womanhood) were being interrogated, à la Carl Theodor Dreyer’s close up-heavy silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc.

Just when the camera starts to pull back from Linda’s close ups, promising the briefest of respite, it becomes just as stressful in other ways, with Byrne’s fidgety body language conveying a burgeoning unease. Before long, relentless tight shots become a more desirable alternative, as if the best that we — and that Linda — could hope for is a moment of familiar discomfort, rather than a novel one with unexpected results. 

Where Byrne begins her journey is the kind of fragile emotional place most great screen performances have to carefully build toward. But in If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You, the precipice of total breakdown is the character’s baseline. Touch her and she might shatter — while cutting you in the process.

Things never stop getting worse for Linda, and Byrne’s depiction only grows more frayed. The character’s difficulties build in completely absurd ways, resulting in moments that are as jaw-droppingly funny as they are physically cringe-worthy. It’s the kind of film that’ll make you squirm in your seat while laughing till you almost break a rib. But it’ll also make you want to call your mom, owing to the depths of agony Byrne reaches into, playing a woman who speaks over everyone, and yet, wants desperately to be heard. 

Whether or not she deserves this particular hell is the kind of moral judgement the film practically never allows you to consider. The plot leaps forward with reckless abandon, just as mounting absurdities reach fever pitch, but the movie never breaks away from Byrne’s gradual self-immolation. Her conception of Linda — as a person doing her best, driven to short-tempered cruelty and selfishness by her circumstances — is too multidimensional, and too lifelike, to ever truly be disliked. 

Just like Jean-Baptiste in Hard Truths, there isn’t a single moment during which the torment driving Byrne’s character to lash out isn’t visible behind her eyes, begging to be recognized. It’s a plea made all the more urgent by the fact that If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You feels in a constant state of hair-raising climax. And so, it grabs you by the collar and pulls you along for its harrowing plunge, forcing you to witness — and to understand — the worst yet most deeply human impulses a mother can have.

If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You was reviewed out of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

FREE BOOKS: The latest Stuff Your Kindle Day takes place on Jan. 28. Hosted by Romance Book Lovers, this Romance Book Blast features 1,000 books for free.

It felt like a really long wait for the first Stuff Your Kindle Day of 2025, but we've only had a few days between that drop and the latest event hosted by Romance Book Lovers. We're not complaining. The more free book events, the better.

Stuff Your Kindle Day provides an incredible opportunity to stock up on hundreds (or even thousands) of books for free. We get that this sounds too good to be true, but this author-organized event really does drop the price of e-books to absolutely nothing. And the books that you download are yours to keep. We know you're looking for the catch, but there isn't one.

SEE ALSO: The Kindle Paperwhite made me enjoy reading books again

This latest Stuff Your Kindle Day is focused on romance books. Hosted by Romance Book Lovers, this Romance Book Blast features 1,000 books that are available to download for free. And on the hub page, everything is organized into helpful subgenres so you can find exactly what you're looking for without hassle. Subgenres include Steamy Romance, Sports Romance, Romantic Comedy, Science Fiction, and Fantasy Romance.

Want to make the most of the latest Stuff Your Kindle Day? We've lined up everything you need to know about this popular event.

When is Stuff Your Kindle Day?

The Stuff Your Kindle Day calendar is busy. The most recent events took place in December (Indie Author Winter Wonderland Event and Dark Mode Books Giveaway) and earlier in January (Cozy Mystery Book Club).

And on Jan. 28, Romance Book Lovers are running a Romance Book Blast with 1,000 books available to download for free.

Who can take part in Stuff Your Kindle Day?

The beauty of Stuff Your Kindle Day is that anyone can participate. You don't even need to own a Kindle to get involved.

Kindle, Kobo, and Nook readers can download these free e-books. You can even download these books on your preferred app and read them straight from your phone, as you can also find these free titles on the Google Play and Apple Books apps.

Which e-books are free?

Finding all these free romance e-books is straightforward thanks to Romance Book Lovers. There's a helpful hub page with 12 subgenres listed out. By following those links, you are directed lists of romance titles with shopping links to Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Nook, Smashwords, Google, and other popular retailers.

Is Stuff Your Kindle Day the same as Amazon Kindle Unlimited?

Everything you download on Stuff Your Kindle Day is yours to keep, and there's no limit on the number of books you can download. Stuff Your Kindle Day downloads don't count towards the 20 books per month that Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscribers can borrow, so don't hold back.

Shop Stuff Your Kindle Day deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Kindle (16GB) + 3 Months of Kindle Unlimited $109.99 at Amazon
$145.96 Save $35.97 Get Deal Why we like it

These super popular e-readers help you take your entire library on the go. With weeks of battery life and an anti-glare display, you can read anywhere and anytime with the Kindle. They start at $109.99, a great price for those on a budget, but if you want to save even more, you can get three months of Kindle Unlimited absolutely free during Stuff Your Kindle Day.

Kindle Unlimited costs $11.99 per month and allows you to borrow up to 20 months per month. For a limited time, you can get three months of Kindle Unlimited for free, saving you $35.97.

Featured Video For You Kindle Paperwhite vs. Kobo Clara Colour: Which one is better?

Planes that fly faster than the speed of sound create thunderous supersonic booms.

But with NASA's X-59 plane, that could change.

The space agency plans for the aircraft's first flight in 2025, an endeavor that seeks to turn the booms to "barely audible" thumps and make supersonic flight possible over land. Over a half-century ago, the U.S. banned commercial planes from flying at supersonic speeds over the nation, but NASA's Quiet SuperSonic Technology mission, or QueSST, seeks to change that.

"Kudos to NASA for working on this. For trying to find a real solution," Bob van der Linden, an aviation expert and supervisory curator at the Aeronautics Department of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, told Mashable when NASA revealed the sleek plane last year.

SEE ALSO: How Oppenheimer built an atomic bomb before the Nazis

Though the economic case and demand for future supersonic flights remains uncertain — flying at such high speeds burns bounties of fuel and drives higher ticket prices — it would revolutionize flight. A passenger could speed from Los Angeles to New York City in just two and a half hours. (Seats on the 1,300 mph Concorde plane, retired in 2003, were too expensive for most passengers, at some five times the cost of flying on a 747, which is largely why the plane commercially failed. It also couldn't legally fly over land, which limited the Concorde's routes.)

NASA awarded the aerospace company Lockheed Martin, which also makes U.S. fighter jets, a $247.5 million contract to build the X-59 craft, and as the images below show, the plane is in its final testing stages before taking flight over the California desert. Lockheed posted the image below on Jan. 24, showing burning gases shooting out the back of the engine. NASA noted in December that it was now running afterburner engine tests, which gives an aircraft the thrust it needs to reach supersonic speeds of over some 767 mph.

The X-59 aircraft will zoom at 925 mph some 55,000 feet above several U.S. communities to gauge the 100-foot-long experimental craft's ability to quell the unsettling supersonic booms.

Tweet may have been deleted Afterburner tests on the X-59 plane performed at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. Credit: Lockheed Martin Corporation / Garry Tice How to tame a sonic boom

To quell the booms an aircraft makes when breaking the sound barrier, engineers employed a number of design innovations on the X-59:

• Overall Shape: The X-59's sleek, elongated structure, with a particularly long nose, is designed to "spread out" the shockwaves made when the craft collides with atmospheric molecules. If it works, the plane won't send out violent shockwaves. "Instead, all people will hear is a quiet 'sonic thump' — if they hear anything at all," NASA explained.

• Engine: The plane's single, powerful engine is on top of the craft, where the rumble won't be directed toward Earth's surface.

• Cockpit / Windscreen: The X-59 is extremely skinny, so narrow that the cockpit, located over halfway back on the plane, has a constricted view of what lies ahead. There's not a forward-facing window. Fortunately, there's a solution: NASA's eXternal Vision System (XVS) provides a high-definition display of the world beyond. "A 4K-monitor serves as the central 'window' allowing the pilot to safely see traffic in their flight path," NASA said.

• Wings: Engineers built the aircraft with "swept back" wings, a design meant to reduce drag.

After the first test flights in 2025, Lockheed Martin will transfer the plane to NASA. Then, after acoustic testing over California's Edwards Air Force Base and Armstrong Flight Research Center, NASA will fly the X-plane over select U.S. cities in 2026 and 2027.

Stay tuned. The X-59 might fly above you.

TL;DR: The Ninja Dragon Phantom dual-camera smart drone is only $90 while supplies last (55% off) — less than 50 are left in stock.

Forget the stress of work, tax season, and other adult things for a minute. What does your inner child want today? We have a guess since you’re here: a drone that can take pictures. 

Now that you have adult money, your parents can’t stop you. Except you’ll hardly need to set aside much cash when this affordable drone is only $90 (reg. $199.99). Why are they 55% off? Because we want you to pick up a new hobby this year that excites you. But we’re selling out of these quick, so order yours ASAP.

The drone’s best features

This is a beginner-friendly drone, not one of those thousand-dollar models with a steep learning curve. Control it using the remote, pair it with your smartphone to draw flight paths with your finger, or get in front of one of the cameras to make gesture controls.

As you get used to flying, you’ll appreciate that the remote control has automatic takeoff and landing, so you don’t need to take Tom Cruise’s Top Gun flight classes. The drone also has obstacle avoidance, so you can worry less about hitting trees, walls, people, and other things that get in your way.

Ready to take some pictures? Good — the drone has two cameras, one on the front and one on the bottom. Capture aerial drone shots of nature, sporting events, or an artsy overview of your home.

Your drone’s pictures and videos won’t even look shaky with a built-in image stabilization system that enhances clarity and stability in flight. You’ll want to share everything on Facebook or TikTok (while you still can, anyway).

Order your dual-camera drone for $90 (reg. $199.99) before we’re sold out. 

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Ninja Dragon Ninja Dragon Phantom 15PRO Dual Camera Smart Drone $89.99
$199.99 Save $110.00 Get Deal

TL;DR: Take $40 off a PDF Expert Premium Plan 1-year subscription for iOS while codes last — inventory is running low.

Think about the last time someone emailed you a PDF to sign or fill out, and all you had on hand was your iPhone. You probably looked into an invisible camera like you were on an episode of The Office since you couldn’t do anything with it. But we live in the digital age where having a PDF editing app is practically essential.

You don’t have to overpay for an app like Adobe Acrobat, though. An equally effective alternative is PDF Expert for iOS. They offer a 1-year subscription for $39.99, compared to Adobe, which costs upwards of $19.99 monthly to unlock premium features. 

Essential tools in your back pocket

Next time someone emails you a PDF, you’ll have a full mobile PDF editor that does basically anything you need:

• Edit text, insert images, and add links

• Fill out forms and sign contracts

• Annotate documents with highlights and comments

• Convert file formats

• Recognize text with OCR capabilities

PDF Expert also has an AI-powered chat feature. Imagine your boss sends you a 50-page document, and they want you to summarize it in the next team meeting. Instead of having to read the whole thing, PDF Expert can give you an AI summary.

Or, maybe you’d prefer a list of main points, keywords, or the ability to have a conversation with the PDF. That’s useful if you don’t understand something included because you can ask questions about the material and get instant answers.

You can get a 1-year subscription to this AI-powered PDF editor for $39.99 (reg. $79.99). You won’t find a better price anywhere else.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Readdle Limited PDF Expert Premium Plan $39.99
$79.99 Save $40.00 Get Deal

TL;DR: Your iPhone or Android can connect wirelessly to your car with the PlayAIBox, on sale now for $89.99 (reg. $129). 

Time to lose the aux cable. If your car can't wirelessly connect to your phone, use PlayAIBox to bridge the gap. These wireless car adapters work with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and they're on sale for $89.99, down from $129. 

How does it work?

These adaptors work for cars that are compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but can't connect wirelessly. You can use it in 98% of car models made from 2016 on, so unless your vehicle is a certified classic, it probably works. 

Installation is simple. Just plug it into your car with either of the USB cables that come in the box, then pair your phone. The first pairing may take around 30 seconds, but that's the case with most Bluetooth devices. Every connection after should be automatic and much faster. 

Once your PlayAIBox is installed, you can use your phone's navigation, play music, or even stream shows for your passenger. Road trips just got a whole lot better. 

Like to take your lunch break in your car? Pull up YouTube or a game on Android Auto and relax hands-free. 

Even if your phone doesn't have a connection, you may be able to watch movies and listen to music. Load your PlayAIBox up with an SD Card full of your favorites. It supports external storage up to 128GB. 

There's still time to get a PlayAIBox on sale for $89.99, but there aren't many left. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

Opens in a new window Credit: RochasDivineMart PlayAIBox Apple CarPlay & Android Auto Wireless Adapter with Streaming Service Support $89.99
$129.99 Save $40.00 Get Deal

TL;DR: This Anti-Theft Bike Tracker looks like a bike bell, works like an AirTag, and is only $19.99 (reg. $29). 

A good lock can help protect your bike, but what happens if it's not enough? AirTags are recognizable and pretty bulky, so there aren't many places to hide them. Instead, hide your tracker in plain sight. 

This Anti-Theft Bike Bell works just like an AirTag that doubles as a functioning bicycle bell. So you can track your ride if it gets lost or tell pedestrians to get out of the bike lane. Bonus: it's actually cheaper than an AirTag if you get it while it's on sale for $19.99 (reg. $29). 

A hidden tracker just for bikes

If you've ever used an AirTag, you know how to use this new tracker. It integrates with Apple’s Find My app, so you can track your bike on a map wherever it goes. And when you get close, just press a button to make your bell ring. 

This tracker may be pretty high-tech, but it's no slouch. The waterproof seal keeps your tracker safe from the elements, so you can ride in the rain without worry. Just make sure to wear a helmet. 

No need to detach your bell after every ride. The battery can last up to a full year on a single charge. And don't worry about someone just taking it off your handlebars. It attaches securely with an Allen wrench. 

Don't let your bike go for a ride without you. 

Get an Anti-Theft Bike Bell Tracker while it's on sale for $19.99. 

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Centralspot Anti-Theft Bike Bell with Tracker - Works with Apple Find My $19.99
$29.99 Save $10.00 Get Deal

Sex in cinema is back, baby. 2024 has been a banging year at the movies thanks to steamy fare like Rose Glass's neo-noir thriller Love Lies Bleeding, Luca Guadagnino's love-triangle drama Challengers, Sean Baker's sex-worker-centered comedy Anora, and last, but certainly not least, Halina Reijn's May-December drama Babygirl.

Written and directed by Bodies Bodies Bodies helmer Reijn, Babygirl has earned dynamic buzz out of its Venice Film Festival premiere, from which Nicole Kidman was awarded the Volpi Cup for her riveting performance as the female lead. As she has in daring productions like Eyes Wide Shut, The Paperboy, and Big Little Lies, Kidman rejects her polished persona as a megawatt star (and AMC advocate), embracing a messy journey of sex and danger.

Featured Video For You SEE ALSO: The 25 best movies of 2024, and where to watch them

Yet Babygirl stands out among these other sexy films and series by keeping the playfulness of fucking fiercely at the center of its willfully problematic romance. In that, even the seediest sequence has a bit of sweetness ground in. 

Babygirl genderswaps a common May-December dynamic.  Director Halina Reijn and Nicole Kidman. Credit: A24

At first blush, Babygirl's premise sounds almost tediously familiar: A high-powered CEO's family and job are threatened, thanks to a torrid affair with a lusty young intern.

Except Reijn genderswaps these roles, so the mighty CEO isn't a snarling Michael Douglas type; she's played by a crisp, cool Kidman. And rather than a curvy nymph swanning into their new workplace in a snug pencil skirt, Triangle of Sadness' Harris Dickinson strolls in with a blazer and a bored expression. And just like that, the expectations of this erotic tale are thrown off-kilter. 

Romy Mathis (Kidman) seems to have it all: a posh Hamptons home; a luxury Manhattan apartment; a handsome, doting husband (Antonio Banderas); two lovely teen daughters, Isabel (Esther McGregor) and Nora (Vaughan Reilly); and a high-power job, where she's not only respected but also a role model for women in male-dominated fields. However, deep down Romy desires to be disrespected, debased, and made to beg. It's a wish so dark she can't even share it with her longtime partner. So when this beautiful and blasé hunk talks to her as casually as he might a barista, she's uncomfortably aroused. And he knows it. 

Samuel (Harris) is a new take on the problematic Lolita trope: a young person (typically a girl, often a minor) who is portrayed as sexually precocious and self-aware way beyond their years. Early on, he can sense that what Romy is missing in her life is a place where she can play at being submissive. Tough but tender, Samuel is ready to be her dominant, expecting her to grovel on a dirty hotel room floor or drink a tall glass of milk just because he said so. Romy's desire is one often associated with male execs, especially in BDSM circles. The genderswapping of this May-December dom-sub relationship (the opposite of, say, Steven Shainberg's office-set BDSM rom-com The Secretary), makes for a thrillingly transgressive narrative.

SEE ALSO: A beginner's guide to understanding Dom/sub dynamics

Romy and Samuel's relationship is undeniably hot, thanks to the intense chemistry between Kidman and Harris. Yet it's an onscreen romance that might well make its audience squirm, because of the power dynamics, the age difference, the non-conforming gender roles, and the kinky sex. This relationship is deeply fucked up even before Romy suggests their safe word be "Jacob" — the name of her husband. And all of this works toward a lusty and liberating message that sex should be about aching emotional honesty and fun discoveries. 

Babygirl revels in sexual experimentation and consent.  Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson in "Babygirl." Credit: A24

BDSM gets a bad rap in the media, often because it's mischaracterized as abusive or bullying. Reijn and her cast embrace a version of Dom/sub sex where consent is not just essential but also exciting. In a husky voice, Samuel tells Romy to do certain things. She might blush or refuse him, and he'll urge her tell him why. It's not pressuring, it's communication. And notably, it's the kind of dialogue — awkward and exhilarating — that she can't manage with her sweet husband. 

Far from the "zipless fucks" dreamed of by Erica Jong or idealized in erotic thrillers of the '90s, Babygirl uses these moments of clumsy conversation and fumbling foreplay not only to ground sexual fantasy in a more realistic setting, but also, because there's a freedom in seeing the process here. We see the pair's chosen cheap hotel room as a sexual sandbox, where both feel liberated as playmates. The power dynamic is in effect, but pleasure is the goal both seek to find together. And perhaps because it's Kidman in the lead, Babygirl urges its audience to take themselves less seriously in the bedroom, and be a bit like Romy and Samuel. 

Nicole Kidman delivers a hot-blooded and vulnerable performance that could make her an Oscars frontrunner.  Antonio Banderas and Nicole Kidman in "Babygirl." Credit: A24

Some will likely balk at or criticize Kidman for taking such a sexually raw role. (She faced similar critiques over The Paperboy.) As Romy, Kidman is given a level of power few women in the world will ever have. And so there’s a knowing discomfort in watching her surrender that power to some reverent dude in a necktie. As the stakes of this drama heighten through the possibility of Romy losing her job or her husband or the respect of her assistant (Talk to Me's Sophie Wilde) and daughters, there are plenty of reasons to judge this relationship. Yet within those scenes, Kidman lets loose a version of this character who is so radiantly human, so beautifully flawed, full of yearning and shame, that she is comprehendible. Even as we know she’s making "bad choices," we might be relieved to watch someone dare to do that. By living vicariously through Babygirl's dizzying highs and gut-churning lows, you might feel inspired to embrace the truth of yourself, as Romy does over the course of this movie. 

Kidman thoughtfully knocks herself off of the high pedestal of glamour girl movie stardom to give us this gift. While the scenes of sexual discovery can feel downright juvenile with their laughter and awkward conversations around consent and kink, Babygirl has a profound maturity in its psychological understanding and empathy for unconventional desires. 

As to the Oscars, Kidman’s win in Venice suggests she’s in good standing this award season. Sexual liberation and unapologetic nudity certainly didn’t hurt Emma Stone last year in the best actress race; she won for Poor Things. However, Kidman's age might prove a challenge. Even as there is a rise in May-December romances featuring an older woman and younger man (including Kidman's summer release A Family Affair), there can be a backlash against older women lusting for a younger man, as we’ve seen in the mixed reception of The Idea of You, a rom-com about a middle-aged single mom hooking up with a 20-something boyband member.

Kidman is helped, however, by being surrounded by strong performances. Harris is finely tuned at the cross-section of lusty fantasy and irksome reality, playing a character who maintains a sultry mystique, justified by his place in Romy’s conflicted perspective. Banderas warmly portrays a loving partner/father, edging the fun of the affair with the pain of his inevitable discovery of it. Wilde withers as a keen assistant. McGregor brings a free-spirited Gen Z sense of sexual liberation as Romy’s queer daughter with a love triangle of her own, while Reilly succinctly captures the sweet innocence of a child that might well be shattered by the cracking of her mother’s all-mighty facade. 

Altogether, the cast makes Babygirl a stunner, landing silly moments as well as sexy ones. Emotionally naked, unapologetically provocative, and defiantly playful, Reijn's film joyfully explores the complicated ties that bind. Amid stiff competition, she delivers one of the sexiest, most thrilling films of the year. 

Babygirl is now on VOD and digital platforms.

UPDATE: Jan. 27, 2025, 4:31 p.m. EST "Babygirl" was reviewed out of its North American premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival in this article, originally published Oct. 1, 2024. It has been updated to include current viewing information.

The German word "schadenfreude" basically means "deriving pleasure from someone else's pain," and that has to be part of the magic behind First We Feast's uber popular YouTube show Hot Ones. Since 2015, host Sean Evans has put celebs in the literal hot seat, challenging them to eat increasingly spicy wings and answer probing questions meticulously crafted by his research team.

SEE ALSO: The 8 best Chicken Shop Date episodes to binge

After more than 300 episodes, 25 seasons, and 1 billion views, guests ranging from Olivia Rodrigo and Matt Damon to Malcolm Gladwell and Joel Embiid have taken on the hot wing gauntlet. And while many have failed (DJ Khaled only made it to three wings, proving that all he does is quit), others have triumphed like champs.

We gathered some of the most memorable episodes to watch back-to-back, notable for their animated reactions, memorable conversations, or legendary performances.

In no particular order, here are the greatest Hot Ones episodes to binge.

1. Pedro Pascal

"I really actually got to the point that I thought that this might not happen." These are the words of a struggling Pedro Pascal as he grapples with Da Bomb. Like the rest of the interview though, the Gladiator II star manages to joke and laugh his way through the pain, making a Hot Ones episode that is easily one of the show's most delightful.

2. Shaq

Shaquille O'Neal brings his own milk, apologizes to the entire state of Kansas, and desperately asks for "ice cube chapstick" to soothe his burning lips. But can he finish all 10 wings without tapping out?

3. Jennifer Lawrence

Lawrence is not just a lovely guest, but an iconic one. Her horrified expression and nonsensical blabbering ("What do you mean? What do you mean?") as Evans picks up and shakes the final bottle of hot sauce became one of the most popular memes of 2023.

4. Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien brings his own doctor along to the Hot Ones studio, declares "I don't think there's a wing on this table that I cannot devour like it's cool whip cream on an August afternoon," and inevitably succumbs to spice-induced delusion.

5. Ariana Grande

There's an almost eerie calm in this one, with Ariana Grande proving herself to be a hall of fame Hot Ones contender by barely even raising an eyebrow at Da Bomb. Impressive.

6. Paul Rudd

Paul Rudd opts for vegan cauliflower wings and utters the words that launched a thousand memes: "Hey, look at us." In an incredible display of mental and physical fortitude, he also completes the 10-wing gauntlet without a single sip of water or milk.

7. Lorde

Watch as Lorde waxes poetic about the virtues of the perfect onion ring and wipes the floor with every single Hot Ones celeb who preceded her by eating all 10 wings without so much as breaking a sweat.

8. Sabrina Carpenter

"I'm a snotty girl, by the way." Sabrina Carpenter lays all her cards on the table as the wings get spicier, and for the most part she takes them in her stride — at least right up until she gets to Da' Bomb, and the suffering starts in earnest. The most memorable question the Short n' Sweet singer asks Sean as she desperately tries to ward off the pain? "Has anyone ever sued you?" Still, she makes it through in the end.

9. Idris Elba

Idris Elba shows up a bit cocky ("I'm pretty confident, I fear no one," he assures Evans), but the wings soon put him in his place. It's all smooth sailing until he tries Da' Bomb and is overcome by a dry cough and confusion.

10. Tom Holland

Bubbly Brit Tom Holland muscles his way through a difficult meal to conquer the wings of death, all while charming Evans with stories from the set and his failed audition for Star Wars.

11. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman

This one featuring the Deadpool & Wolverine co-stars descends into glorious mayhem around the halfway point, when Hugh Jackman suddenly can't stop himself from giggling, sweating and crying at the same time.

12. Millie Bobby Brown

Millie Bobby Brown saunters through seven wings like a champ, but everything breaks down in the fourteenth minute when she flips Da' Bomb the bird and starts talking a mile a minute.

13. Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish gets so heated she shoves handfuls of ice cubes into her mouth.

14. Desus and Mero

Comedy duo Desus and Mero wipe literal nose sweat away as they stare down the wings of death.

15. Lil Yachty

In his first-ever experience with hot wings, the rapper delivers some of the best reactions the show has ever seen. 🔥

16. Gordon Ramsay

Karma is spicy for chef Gordon Ramsay, who pops open a bottle of Pepto-Bismol mid-challenge.

17. Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie truly struggles to take on the wings of death ("I think I might die," she says at one point) but makes it through thanks to special cameos from her Birds of Prey costars.

18. Pete Davidson

Pete Davidson fights his way to an impressive finish while asking Evans through tears, "Am I the worst!?" No worries, Pete, DJ Khaled was definitely the worst.

19. Post Malone

Posty returns to the show and provides cartoon-level reactions, from a Wile E. Coyote scream to a respectable repertoire of dance moves.

UPDATE: Jan. 27, 2025, 3:02 p.m. UTC This story was originally published on April 21, 2024 by Elizabeth de Luna and has been updated by Sam Haysom with more of the best 'Hot Ones' episodes you should binge, ones that were released after the initial publish date.

One day, you’re an all-powerful CEO, star wife, and mother, and the next day you're eating out of your young intern’s hand, quite literally. How is this contradiction possible, if it is a contradiction at all? The answer for both Nicole Kidman’s character in Halina Reijn’s film Babygirl and for many others who identify as BDSM submissives lies in the elusive concept of subspace: a metaphorical space and altered state one submits to during a kink scene, thanks to arousal and exchange of consent.

SEE ALSO: 'Babygirl' review: Nicole Kidman to 'Challengers': Hold my beer

The notion is very new to Romy Mathis (Kidman, whose performance won her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at this year's Venice Film Festival). She's the sharply dressed big boss with her hair always pinned up, until she meets Samuel (Harris Dickinson): a much younger, cocky, and borderline rude intern wearing a suit twice his size, filling it with ego. Romy finds herself trembling when Samuel controls a stray dog about to jump on her in the street with a mere whistle and a nod. From this seemingly passing interaction, the flows of her desire steer the narrative into the unknown waters of ambivalent wants and surrender, as Romy and Samuel begin an affair based on the exploration of dominance and submission.

"Scene" and its double meaning  Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson in "Babygirl." Credit: A24

According to Lina Dune, kink educator and host of the Ask a Sub podcast, a Dominant/submissive (D/s) relationship affords "a ritual space," where equal, consenting adults negotiate, establish boundaries and safe words, and create "a container where things can transform and alchemize." The set-up is called a "scene" and within the kink scene, the submissive can experience subspace. In theatre, cinema, or kink, we associate the word "scene" with a curated experience and performance. 

Speaking to Mashable, director Halina Reijn champions this dual meaning, adding that for her, Babygirl is about performing. "Of course, in a BDSM setting, there’s a lot of performing," she says, "but sex in general can also be very performative." As a result, this theme informed the script and conversations with Kidman, becoming an instrument to explore the character's authentic self. "Romy thinks she has to perform the perfect mother, lover, wife, leader," says Reijn, "and we are all a little bit like that — what we forget to do is be ourselves and accept whoever we are."

Featured Video For You Halina Reijn explains 'Babygirl’s' trojan horse of sexual tension

But what makes Babygirl stand out is that it shows dominance and submission as a process of negotiation, trial and error, rather than a textbook example or a polished act. Babygirl’s kink scenes feel real and inviting because they lay bare the mechanisms in the inner workings of control exchange. In each scene, Samuel umms and ahhs, trails off, laughs in the middle of his commands, while Romy is shown to resist, back out, and change her mind. For the actors, this means an extra layer of performance that incorporates flippancy and respect for consent; for the viewer it means relatability.

Not every scene is a "scene" but subspace is a space Credit: A24

Subspace is a term used within the D/s and BDSM communities, according to Dune, to talk about "the altered state that comes about through the experience of submission." She insists that it is a wide category that encompasses individual experiences that may differ from one another, like that of intoxication or alcohol intake, for example. Scientifically, the state is a reaction to adrenaline, oxytocin, and endorphins rushing into the brain, but what does subspace feel like? 

Dune explains that for some people it may be "a floaty, dreamy, quiet disconnected feeling," while others might giggle or cry. "I like to refer to it as 'getting high on your own supply,'" she says, "because you're not on anything, but the experience of crossing over a taboo."

Thinking of cinematic representations of liminal states — hallucinations (Enter the Void), drug-induced trips (Queer), or drunkenness (Another Round) — perhaps film is the most suitable medium to portray a subjective, heightened state of mind. The key is in the spatial metaphor: one "goes into" or "inhabits" a space. Unlike other films, Babygirl doesn’t rely on classical point-of-view shots showing a dizzy, spell-binding world seen through the protagonist's eyes. Instead, the handheld work of Reijn’s long-time collaborator, cinematographer Jasper Wolf is more subtle. 

Lights, camera, submission! Credit: A24

Halfway through the film, Romy and Samuel decide to meet at a cheap hotel. No wonder, their affair belongs to clandestine spaces, the four walls of every office, bathroom stall, and hired bedroom swelling with desire. When it’s just the two of them, they can be free from the outside world’s demands. In that sequence, Romy storms out and comes back, Samuel wrestles her to the ground, and their power dynamics become a source of play: a scene begins. The camera sinks down with her, framing her face in a close-up, while Samuel becomes a blur in the background: where he touches her and how is not as important as Romy’s reactions. 

Discussing that part of the film, Wolf tells Mashable that the camera is like a third character in the room with them. Instead of story-boarding the shots, he would film long, single takes to capture the erotic flow of power exchange. The camera often remains still and fixed on Romy, letting the viewer accompany her throughout the cascade of emotions coloring her face with arousal: from surprise through shame to blissful release, we partake in her surrender. 

"It's like an honest and sometimes relentless gaze on what is going to happen between the two," he says. 

Coordinating subspace Credit: A24

Why can’t words accurately describe subspace? "If we lived in a matriarchal utopia, perhaps we would have more words for it," jokes Dune. But in today’s individualistic Western world, she points out that people "are expected to actualize themselves in a way that’s masculine-coded. Submission, in contrast, is understood to be very vulnerable which is more female-coded." 

In cinema, pop culture, or daily life, the derogatory stereotype for men in power who want to be dominated and/or humiliated is often presented as a point of humor. Admitting a submissive desire costs a lot: "I'll receive at least one phone call per week from someone who says they want to be a sub, but stress on the fact that they are not submissive in their day-to-day life," says Dune. 

What’s novel about Babygirl is that not only does it show the characters’ vulnerability, but also how much they are willing to reveal to one another. In cinematographic terms, this exchange of consent is translated by panning movements linking Romy and Samuel's faces as they look at each other. "Put simply," says Wolf, "the camera is often a representation of her inner world: it becomes more free and fearless alongside Romy."

On set, the cast and production team worked with intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbot (No Hard Feelings, Dead Ringers) to ensure there were no surprises. Dickinson, who had previously worked with Talbot on the TV series A Murder at the End of the World, underscored the importance of clear communication. "If you approach [sex] scenes with too much trepidation and sensitivity, it can be anxiety inducing; you need an intimacy coordinator to be very direct and pragmatic about it," he tells Mashable's Anna Iovine. Reijn also brainstormed with Talbot when writing the intimacy scenes, saying that the work with a coordinator "goes much further than just being on set with her."

Facing subspace Credit: A24

Later in the film, there is a second hotel room scene, where Samuel "directs" Romy from across the lavish suite. He commands her to strip, tells her where to put her hands and how to pose. Even when both are naked, the camera doesn’t linger on the nudity of their bodies, but their faces. When sharing subspace, they see each other anew, and their newfound intimacy translates into the visuals. To channel the ebb and flow, Wolf used a mix of camera lenses, shifting between spherical and anamorphic. As for the visible effect, "it’s not in your face and it shouldn’t be," he says, "but a slight change of perspective [makes you] suddenly see them with different eyes." The game of letting your guard down plays out on their faces.

Unlike films like Steven Shainberg's Secretary, which relates submissive kink to trauma, Babygirl succeeds in telegraphing to a wider audience the message that these are real people, and their desires — even when dangerous to their status quo — don’t have to be as destructive or severely punished. "The BDSM community,” says Dune in relation to Secretary, "wants to see more empowered people portrayed as submissive and break that stereotype." 

But she is optimistic: "I think we’re getting closer to better representation of BDSM on screen. Obviously, I would be a lot more excited about films that hire sex workers as consultants, but for example, a film like Sanctuary had less research done into the BDSM community, but what I saw on screen rang true to me." Dune admits that she doesn’t expect education from cinema, or at least not the kind that sex and kink educators like herself offer, adding that "film should be about fantasy."

By setting Babygirl’s subspace explorations against a corporate, hetero-mono-normative backdrop, Reijn also makes a political point. However ephemeral, subspace is a consent-bound altered state that resists categorization. Perhaps a way for some of us to survive the capitalist hell is to surrender — to desires or to films like Babygirl — and take Dune’s advice: "Let the film dominate you."

Babygirl is now on VOD and digital platforms.

UPDATE: Jan. 27, 2025, 4:19 p.m. EST This article, originally published on Dec. 29, 2024, has been updated to include the latest viewing information.

A little over an hour into Babygirl, something magical happens.

SEE ALSO: 'Babygirl' review: Nicole Kidman to 'Challengers': Hold my beer

CEO Romy (Nicole Kidman) and intern Samuel (Harris Dickinson) meet in an opulent hotel room to rekindle their BDSM-tinged affair. Right as they reconnect — with Samuel finally calling Romy his "babygirl," no less — you hear them. The telltale snare drums and synths of George Michael's "Father Figure," ushering us into a montage where Romy and Samuel explore their sexual boundaries, complete with a shirtless dance scene from Samuel.

It's a needle drop that is at once sensual and playful, as Romy and Samuel search for the "something special, something sacred" Michael sings about wanting in the song. It's also just one of many reasons Babygirl is a feast for the ears. Immaculate needle drops and the growling wolves and operatic vocals of Cristobal Tapia de Veer's (The White Lotus) score prove to be the perfect accompaniment to Romy and Samuel's exploration. However, Babygirl's soundscape also charts Romy's own journey of self-discovery, following her from her initial repression and shame about her desires to being unafraid to share what she wants.

To learn more, Mashable spoke with music supervisor Meghan Currier (Past Lives) and de Veer about their work on the film, including why "Father Figure" is Babygirl's anthem, and how Nicole Kidman's voice ended up on the soundtrack in an unexpected way.

"Father Figure" by George Michael is Babygirl's musical centerpiece. Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson in "Babygirl." Credit: A24

"Father Figure" was written into the first draft of Babygirl's script that Currier received from writer/director Halina Reijn. "It was always in her mind," Currier told Mashable over Zoom. "She was like, 'As I was writing this script, I played this constantly.'"

(Outside of the song, the word "fatherly" does pop up a few times in the Babygirl screenplay, twice being used to describe Samuel's tone with Romy.)

Because of Reijn's connection to "Father Figure," Currier knew there was no alternative song for the scene and made it a priority to secure it. She also used it to build a musical mood board for Babygirl, which included gabber dance music for the film's rave scene and Christmas songs to match the film's time period as well. While these help flesh out the music of Babygirl's wider world, "Father Figure" remained the guiding sound for Romy and Samuel's relationship. It led Currier to use INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart" in the film as well.

SEE ALSO: The 25 best movies of 2024, and where to watch them

"Almost in a generational context between Romy's character and Samuel's character, [Reijn and I] felt that leaning into some of these timeless songs that were created in the '80s felt really right," Currier said. "INXS also emerged from that same root."

"Never Tear Us Apart" plays during the first montage of Romy and Samuel's affair, speaking to the early days of their relationship. "Even though it's a beautiful love song, there's a darkness that cuts through it as well, and I think that really underscores the naughtiness of what they're engaging in," Currier explained. "At the same time, we see them figuring out the roles of the game, so to speak, so there is this push-and-pull quality sonically that beautifully takes us through that montage of them figuring out their roles."

By the time we get to the "Father Figure" montage, Samuel and Romy's relationship has shifted. Now they have a better sense of their roles in their sexual escapades. But there's also more of a willingness to be vulnerable with one another, highlighted in George Michael's lyrics about wanting to understand and be there for his lover. To paraphrase "Father Figure," Romy and Samuel can finally "be bold and naked" at each other's sides.

"The song has a much more grounded, soft quality to it that really supports what we're seeing in the dynamics of the two in this beautiful hotel room," Currier said. "It feels more cocooned and safe."

Babygirl's score tells a "werewolf" story. Harris Dickinson and Nicole Kidman in "Babygirl." Credit: A24

In the time between the "Never Tear Us Apart" montage and the "Father Figure" montage, Romy has grown to further embrace and understand her own desires, yet she still finds it difficult to verbalize what she wants, something Babygirl mirrors in de Veer's score.

De Veer plays with two main themes throughout. The first, titled "Mommy's Dollhouse," is our gateway into Romy's manicured, polished world. Strings, operatic vocals, and a lilting piano guide us through Romy's seemingly picture-perfect life – yet thumping drums hint at an underlying darkness and stress within. That inner conflict also comes through in the theme's piano line.

"I wrote this with my partner, Kim [Neundorf]. She was playing the right hand, which is this waltz-y melody, and I was playing the left hand. In my head, I was playing a military march," de Veer explained to Mashable over Zoom. "A waltz would be in three time, while what I'm playing is in four time. So there's kind of a fight going on. There's two things going on, which is unusual for a waltz, and I like the fact that there is something militaristic about her professional life."

The "militaristic" nature of "Mommy's Dollhouse" couldn't be farther from de Veer's second theme, "Wolves." Here, distorted vocals, animalistic breathing, and growling wolves blur together. It's part survival instinct, part distilled desire. For de Veer, the emphasis on the wolf sounds is also representative of Romy's personal transformation.

"There's almost a werewolf situation going on in this movie," de Veer said. "The theme transforms throughout until it becomes this kind of atonal music. It's rhythm, it's pulse — that's pretty much it."

Somewhere among the layers of rhythm and pulse that represent Romy's desire lies some of Kidman's own voice. In one iteration of "Wolves," de Veer samples a surprised noise Kidman made when she almost tripped on set during one of the dailies de Veer saw. (This isn't the first time de Veer has sampled Kidman's voice in his work. During his time in Canadian band One Ton, he sampled part of Kidman's argument with Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut.)

"This 'woo' sound [from Kidman] was spontaneous, so I took that," de Veer said. "I pretty much used anything I had."

While "Wolves" and "Mommy's Dollhouse" represent the two very different sides of Romy — her hidden desires and her outward perfectionism — de Veer manages to meld them together in the film's final scene, when Romy's husband, Jacob (Antonio Banderas), helps bring her fantasies to life. The organization and harmony of "Mommy's Dollhouse" mix with the primal, animalistic sounds of "Wolves," until Romy gets exactly what she wants.

As de Veer put it, "It feels like an explosion."

Babygirl is now on VOD and digital platforms.

UPDATE: Jan. 27, 2025, 4:42 p.m. EST This article was originally published on Dec. 26, 2024. It has been updated to include the latest viewing information.

Writer/director Halina Reijn and actor Harris Dickinson discuss the layers of Babygirl, an erotic thriller that subverts genre norms. Reijn delves into the film’s metaphorical death, and how sexuality wraps around deeper narratives. Dickinson shares insights on working with an intimacy coordinator and the importance of clarity in such scenes.

Babygirl is now on VOD and digital platforms.

UPDATE: Jan. 27, 2025, 4:50 p.m. EST This article was originally published on Dec. 24, 2024, and has been updated to include the latest viewing information.

Moana has introduced many of us to the idea of the "never-ending chain." The directors of Moana 2, Dana Ledoux Miller, David G. Derrick Jr., and Jason Hand, break it down for us and explain how that idea is explored in the hit Disney films.

Star Auliʻi Cravalho and songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear also talked to Mashable about the film's music.

Moana 2 is now available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Prime Video, and more.

UPDATE: Jan. 28, 2025, 9:03 a.m. UTC This interview for "Moana 2" was was originally published on Dec. 2, 2024 around the film's cinematic release. It has since been updated to include the most recent viewing options.

Moana is back with brand new songs including hype song "Can I Get a Chee Hoo?" and big ballad "Beyond" — the successor to the Oscar-winning "How Far I'll Go."

UK editor Shannon Connellan talked to star Auliʻi Cravalho and songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear about the making of the film, and how music helped explore Moana's personal growth.

Mashable also spoke to Moana 2 directors Dana Ledoux Miller, David G. Derrick Jr., and Jason Hand about the world of Moana and the meaning of the "never-ending chain."

Moana 2 is now available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Prime Video, and more.

UPDATE: Jan. 28, 2025, 9:02 a.m. UTC This interview for "Moana 2" was was originally published on Nov. 26, 2024 for the film's cinematic release. It has since been updated to include the most recent viewing options.

When Disney first announced Moana 2 in February 2024, I was apprehensive. Here was a surprise announcement, mere months out from a November release, that a Moana TV show had been reworked into a feature film. Did that mean Moana 2 was a rush job for Disney to recover from some of its 2023 box office disappointments, like The Marvels and Wish? And if so, would that mean sacrificing quality for a swift turnaround?

SEE ALSO: Disney's 'Moana 2' trailer expands on the lore of the original

Thankfully, Moana 2 soothed my worries and then some, thanks to its blend of epic adventure and its deeply felt story about family ties. Yes, there are elements that don't hit as hard, including a cookie cutter villain and some songs that just don't pass muster when compared to Moana's. But most of Moana 2 measures up to (and occasionally even surpasses) what came before — and that's due in no small part to the growth of its incredible heroine.

Moana 2 reminds you that Moana is a certified star Credit: Disney

Even if you haven't rewatched Moana since 2016, Moana 2 wastes no time in reminding you that Moana (voiced by Auliʻi Cravalho, Mean Girls) is a total badass. In the film's opening sequence, she runs through a dense rainforest, leaps across a ravine, and climbs a steep rock face with her trusty pig Pua on her back. Seconds later, we get a classic hero shot: Moana, hair streaming in the wind, atop an island mountain, surveying the vast ocean around her. She takes a deep breath, blows a welcoming call into her conch... and no one answers. Turns out, despite Moana's expert wayfinding skills, she hasn't been able to find any other humans who live in the ocean.

Moana's island home of Motunui is thriving, though — and Moana is nothing less than a "living legend" there. Young girls dress and do their hair like her, going as far as to find their own version of Pua. (The film dubs them "Moanabes.") Everyone calls her "the future of Motunui." Her father Tui (Temuera Morrison, The Book of Boba Fett), Motunui's chief, even wishes to bestow the title of Tautai upon her, an honor for a skilled navigator and leader that hasn't been held for many, many years.

Featured Video For You The music of ‘Moana 2’: Auliʻi Cravalho goes ‘Beyond’

But when Moana gets a desolate vision of Motunui's future should they not reconnect with other humans, she faces a difficult choice. She could strike out for the legendary island of Motufetu, which used to connect all the ocean's pathways and peoples. Yet it's farther than Moana or any of her ancestors have ever gotten (not to mention cursed by the human-hating god Nalo). If she goes, she risks not coming back to her family or her beloved island.

Here's where Moana 2 really shows us how far Moana has grown. With age and greater status in Motunui, she's become far more aware of the stakes of her potential failure. Plus, she's terrified to lose her family — especially her scene-stealing little sister Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda). With the weight of the world on her shoulders, Moana sets a course for Motufetu, along with an upgraded canoe and a new crew.

Moana 2's new characters make an exciting adventure even better. Credit: Disney

Moana may be used to wayfinding by herself, but in Moana 2, she's got to share a canoe with three newbies. Keen-eyed inventor Loto (Starstruck's Rose Matafeo) brings an endearing enthusiasm to the squad, even if her tendency to take apart the canoe in her efforts to improve it is concerning. As the oldest member of the crew, you might expect farmer Kele (David Fane, Our Flag Means Death) to bring elder wisdom to the journey, but he's more the crotchety complainer type. Rounding things out is Motunui legend expert Moni (Hualālai Chung), who doubles as the canoe's resident Maui (Dwayne Johnson) fanboy. (Yes, he paints "fanfic" of him and Maui being best friends.)

So imagine Moni's sadness when he realizes Maui isn't along for the ride. While Moana could desperately use his help, Maui's actually in a pickle of his own. He's trapped by Nalo's accomplice, the goddess Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), whom I can only describe as a "bat diva." Constantly surrounded by a cloud of the winged creatures, and even sporting bat fangs herself, Matangi exudes vampiric aura. She almost gives Moana's shiny crab Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement) a run for his money.

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But Matangi isn't the only foe Moana and co. will have to conquer. The coconut pirates known as the Kakamora are back to wreak havoc, while a giant, island-sized clam risks swallowing our heroes whole. With so many colorful creatures to face, it's a shame that Moana 2's Big Bad Nalo is basically a nonentity, reducing the (otherwise very cool) final set piece to a faceless confrontation with inclement weather. Contrast Moana 2's magical waterspouts with Moana's expressive lava monster Te Kā to get a sense of how detached the sequel is from its villain. (Except for a mid-credit scene that somehow implies he's Moana Thanos.)

Luckily, Moana 2 finds plenty of connection elsewhere, from Moana's friendships with Maui and her crewmates to her continued relationship with her ancestors. Gramma Tala (Thor: Ragnarok's Rachel House) is back to pass along some wisdom — and give us a good hard cry along the way. Elsewhere, Moana's steadfast belief in bringing the people of the ocean back together makes for a necessary counterpoint to Nalo's hopes to sow discord and isolation. (At least, what little we learn of it through exposition.) Moana's optimism and determination proves there's power in connection, which we get to see firsthand as her crew begins to gel at sea.

Moana 2's songs are fine, but they're no match for Moana's. Credit: Disney

With its beautiful, textured animation and its propulsive adventure to the far ends of the ocean, Moana 2 is another win for Disney animation. The only major letdown? The film's songs, which are totally OK, but certainly nothing special compared to Moana's greatest hits.

Moana composers and songwriters Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa'i have returned for Moana 2, but one key member of the first film's team is missing: songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda. Taking his place are Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, the Grammy-winning team behind The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical. Even so, Miranda's presence is greatly missed, with songs often feeling like lackluster rehashes of the first film's songs.

Take "Beyond," essentially a toned-down evolution of "How Far I'll Go," where Moana readies herself to go back out into the ocean. Cravalho's delivery is gorgeous, and I could listen to her sing for hours, but do I remember a single line of that song beyond "I'll go beyond"? Then there's Maui's "Can I Get A Chee Hoo?," a patter song that will make you miss the fast-paced wordplay of "You're Welcome." (A flaming conch solo does lend it some extra flair.) The patter extends to travel song "What Could Be Better Than This?" While I adore Matafeo's lightning-fast delivery of Loto's science-themed rap, it all feels like imitation Miranda. Awkward rhythmic moments and some obvious rhymes further highlight how much of an asset he was on Moana.

Even the funky "Get Lost," my beloved bat diva Matangi's big number, is a letdown. Based on her character introduction, you might expect something in the vein of a dark Bond theme. Instead, you get a pop tune that, despite Fraser's serious pipes, feels fairly generic. (The slowed-down piano beginning also can't help but remind me of The Princess and the Frog's "Almost There," although I'm sure other similarities abound.) All I'm saying is, if the previous film's villain song featured a giant coconut crab doing a David Bowie tribute, you've got to aim higher.

At least Moana 2's less-than inspired songs get a boost from their accompanying animated sequences. "Can I Get A Chee Hoo?" drops us into a god-tier obstacle course, while "Get Lost" features some pretty rad bat choreography. "What Could Be Better Than This?" also scores laughs from Kele's annoyance at Moana, Moni, and Loto's increasingly excited dances, which low-key read like they're trying to get him to join their ocean-loving cult. That's the magic of Moana 2: Even when the songs aren't hitting, something else will elevate them, turning a decent number into a great experience.

Moana 2 is now available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Prime Video, and more.

UPDATE: Jan. 28, 2025, 8:58 a.m. UTC "Moana 2" was reviewed with its cinematic release. This review was originally published on Nov. 26, 2024. It has since been updated to include the most recent viewing options.

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Opens in a new window Credit: iRobot iRobot Roomba j7+ $359.00 at Best Buy
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