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Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you know your canines.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Leisure activities

• Green: Info

• Blue: Gently struck

• Purple: Pup categories

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Bar games

• Green: Ways to catch up on the game

• Blue: Descriptors for a softly hit baseball

• Purple: Dog show groups

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #445 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Bar games - DARTS, POOL, POP-A-SHORT, SHUFFLEBOARD

• Ways to catch up on the game - BOX SCORE, HIGHLIGHTS, REPLAY, STORY

• Descriptors for a softly hit baseball - BLOOPER, DRIBBLER, DUCK SNORT, TEXAS LEAGUER

• Dog show groups - SPORTING, TERRIER, TOY, WORKING

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love big cars.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for December 12, 2025 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for December 12, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A large vehicle.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter S appears twice.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter T.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

TRUCK

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for December 12, 2025

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Wordle.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you love old poetry.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for December 12, 2025 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for December 12, 2025 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Shakespearean titles

The words are related to writing.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe classic written works.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is The Bard.

NYT Strands word list for December 12

• Midsummer

• Tempest

• Shrew

• The Bard

• Merchant

• Merry

• Twelfth

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Strands.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you're a gardener.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for December 12, 2025 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: To comprise

• Green: To rock

• Blue: Food measurements

• Purple: A dozen

Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Contain

• Green: Move in the wind

• Blue: Vegetable units

• Purple: Things that are divided into twelve segments

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #915 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Contain: HOLD, HOUSE, KEEP, STORE

• Move in the wind: BLOW, FLAP, SWAY, WAVE

• Vegetable units: BULB, EAR, HEAD, SPEAR

• Things that are divided into twelve segments: CLOCK, FOOT, YEAR, ZODIAC

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for December 12, 2025

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: How to play Pips, the newest NYT game

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Friday, Dec. 12, 2025:

AcrossBullet ___ (insect known for its painful sting)

• The answer is Ant.

Setting for the children's book "Good Night, Gorilla"

• The answer is Zoo.

Mixed-breed dogs

• The answer is Mutts.

Language that gave us the words "democracy" and "philosophy"

• The answer is Greek.

Untidy

• The answer is Messy.

DownBrilliant shade of blue

• The answer is Azure

Classroom jottings

• The answer is Notes.

"100%," in slang

• The answer is Totes.

Longtime movie studio now owned by Amazon

• The answer is MGM.

Chicago W.N.B.A. team

• The answer is Sky.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Mini Crossword.

"You know what's weird. I swear to God, this is how I grieve."

That's Conan O'Brien explaining the hilariously dark message chain he had with Will Arnett and Jason Bateman in the days after the deaths of his parents, which the two break down in the Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast clip above.

In a nutshell, what started as a jokey rivalry with Bateman over a party invite escalated to O'Brien blaming Bateman for the death of his father immediately after his dad had passed away.

"I'm a sick person," says O'Brien. "But I remembered very much wanting to connect, and it was so comforting to me to screw around with you guys at that moment. It just was. And if that makes me a madman, so be it."

SAVE $30: As of Dec. 12, the Fitbit Inspire 3 has dropped back to its lowest-ever price of $69.95 at Amazon. This is $30 off its list price of $99.95.

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$99.95 Save $30   Get Deal

2026 is almost here, and if you're setting some fitness goals for the new year, a fitness tracker can help you stay on course. Our favorite budget pick, the Fitbit Inspire 3, is one option worth checking out, especially since it has returned to its lowest price of $69.95 at Amazon for a limited time.

The Fitbit Inspire 3 usually retails for $99.95, so this deal saves you $30 overall. It's also the same discount price we saw over Cyber Monday, so now is a great time to make a move on it before the price goes back up.

SEE ALSO: From AirPods to espresso machines, everything the Mashable shopping team bought during Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025

As mentioned before, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is our favorite budget fitness tracker, though not just for its more affordable price tag. It also boasts a "comprehensive suite of health and fitness tracking features, a slim, low-profile design, and a straightforward user interface that makes it a great pick for most people." Some of these features include all-day activity tracking, 24/7 heart rate tracking, automatic exercise tracking, always-on wellness tracking, and much more.

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Amazon has the Fitbit Inspire 3 listed as a limited-time deal, so this discount price may not stay for long. Act fast to grab it while it's still at its lowest-ever price.

If you're picking this up as a gift for the holidays and looking for even more ideas while shopping around, have a look at our breakdown of the 60+ best Christmas gifts for 2025 to see some suggestions worth grabbing right now.

Whatever the occasion that has you looking for dad gifts (Father's Day, Christmas, Hanukkah), stay far away from clichés like whiskey stones and pocket knives. Unless your dad is an avid tie collector and seriously *lives* for ties, then avoid this played-out gift too. Instead, the best gifts for dads say, “I see your hobbies and I respect them." We've even got some unique ideas you may not have seen before. (We have two words for you: Fire. Harpoon.) From the latest gadgets from Apple, Sony, and Vizio to hip menswear finds, we think you'll find something your old man will love.

SAVE $10.99: As of Dec. 12, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus is on sale for $29 at Amazon. That's a 27% saving on the list price.

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The Roku Streaming Stick Plus is back on sale at Amazon, and it's the perfect timing for the festive season. It's one of the most popular streaming devices on the market, and for good reason. Enjoy easy access to movies, TV shows, gaming apps, and even more for less. As of Dec. 12, this TV stick is down to $29, a saving of $10.99 on list price.

It couldn't be easier to set up, either. Plug the TV stick into your TV's HDMI port (if you have a laptop with an HDMI port, you can even use it on the go). Another bonus of the Roku Stick Plus is it doesn't need to be powered by a wall outlet, as it's powered by the TV. And that's all you need to do. When you turn your TV on, it will now run on the Roku OS, meaning all of your favorite shows and apps are accessible right on the home screen.

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You'll now be able to control your TV and the Roku itself with one remote (which comes with voice search). You also get over 500 free live TV channels, including news, sports, and weather. And with the Plus model, you'll be watching all of this in brilliant 4K picture and vivid HDR color.

Get this Roku deal from Amazon now.

SAVE $24.02: As of Dec. 12, the Apple AirTag four-pack is on sale for $74.98 at Amazon. That's a 24% discount on the list price.

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$99 Save $24.02   Get Deal

Apple AirTags are back on sale, and just in time for a pre-Christmas stock up. As of Dec. 12, you can get the pack of four for only $74.98, a saving of $24.02. That works out at just over $18 per AirTag.

If you haven't come across AirTags before, prepare to be amazed. These are small tracking devices that make it easy to keep track of your stuff by linking your keys, wallet, luggage, or backpack to the Find My app. All you do is attach one to your item of choice, and start tracking its whereabouts. As you can imagine, this is a lifesaver for people who are forever losing their keys or passport.

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The AirTag can even play a sound through a built-in speaker, so for example, if your keys are down the side of the couch cushions and you can't see it, the noise will help you be able to locate it. And don't worry about it running out of battery while your item is missing, because AirTag batteries last over a year. After this, pop the battery out and replace it with another CR2032 coin cell.

AirTags also support Lost Mode and allow you to share location details with third parties like airlines (for when your luggage doesn't leave the tarmac), while keeping all communication encrypted and anonymous.

Find this AirTag deal at Amazon right now.

TL;DR: A wide range of online courses from Harvard University are available to take for free on edX.

Do you have big plans to do absolutely nothing over the festive period. We get it. It's been a long year, and you deserve some rest.

But believe it or not, there are some people out there who refuse to rest. These people are "built different." They see the holidays as an opportunity to learn, develop, and grow. Does this sound like you? We've got a special opportunity that you should grab with both hands.

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A wide range of online courses from some of the top educational institutions in the world are available for free on edX. You could become a student of somewhere prestigious like Harvard University without actually spending anything (or stepping foot outside). Harvard University is offering free online courses on popular topics like AI, cybersecurity, game development, personal development, law, and so much more.

We have checked out everything on offer and lined up a standout selection of online courses to get you started. These are the best free online courses from Harvard University in December 2025:

• American Government: Constitutional Foundations

• Ancient Masterpieces of World Literature

• Applications of TinyML

• Building Personal Resilience: Managing Anxiety and Mental Health

• Calculus Applied

• Cell Biology: Mitochondria

• Child Protection: Children's Rights in Theory and Practice

• CitiesX: The Past, Present and Future of Urban Life

• Contract Law: From Trust to Promise to Contract

• CS50's Computer Science for Business Professionals

• CS50's Computer Science for Lawyers

• CS50's Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python

• CS50's Introduction to Computer Science

• CS50's Introduction to Cybersecurity

• CS50's Introduction to Game Development

• CS50's Introduction to Programming with Python

• CS50's Introduction to Programming with R

• CS50's Introduction to Programming with Scratch

• CS50's Understanding Technology

• CS50's Web Programming with Python and JavaScript

• Data Science: Capstone

• Data Science: Inference and Modelling

• Data Science: Machine Learning

• Data Science: Probability

• Data Science: Productivity Tools

• Data Science: R Basics

• Data Science: Visualization

• Deploying TinyML

• Early Childhood Development: Global Strategies for Implementation

• Electrochemistry

• Energy and Thermodynamics

• Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies

• Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles

• Fat Chance: Probability from the Ground Up

• Fundamentals of Neuroscience Part 1

• Fundamentals of Neuroscience, Part 2: Neurons and Networks

• Fundamentals of Neuroscience, Part 3: The Brain

• Fundamentals of TinyML

• High-Dimensional Data Analysis

• Human Anatomy: Musculoskeletal Cases

• Humanitarian Response to Conflict and Disaster

• Improving Your Business Through a Culture of Health

• Introduction to Data Science with Python

• Introduction to Digital Humanities

• Introduction to Probability

• Islam Through Its Scriptures

• Justice

• Justice Today: Money, Markets, and Morals

• Leadership: Creating Public Value

• Leaders of Learning

• Machine Learning and AI with Python

• Managing Happiness

• Masterpieces of World Literature

• MLOps for Scaling TinyML

• Modern Masterpieces of World Literature

• PredictionX: Lost Without Longitude

• Principles of Biochemistry

• Pyramids of Giza: Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology

• Remote Work Revolution for Everyone

• Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking

• Shakespeare's Life and Work

• Statistics and R

• Structure and Function of Argument: Introduction to Critical Thinking

• Super-Earths and Life

• Technology Entrepreneurship: Lab to Market

• The Architectural Imagination

• The Path to Happiness: What Chinese Philosophy Teaches us about the Good Life

• Using Python for Research

• U.S. Political Institutions: Congress, Presidency, Courts, and Bureaucracy

• U.S. Public Policy: Social, Economic, and Foreign Policies

It's important to flag that these free courses don't include certificates of completion or graded assignments/exams. But you can still enroll at any time and start learning at your own pace.

Find the best free online courses from Harvard University with edX.

Apple's long-rumored smart home accessory, sometimes dubbed the HomePad, has just become a little more real.

Macworld was able to obtain "leaked internal Apple code," finding several references to the new gadget (no reference to its name, though, but HomePad does have a nice ring to it.)

In a pre-release iOS 26 build, this smart home hub is referenced by the codename J490. It's listed as having Apple's A18 chip inside, as well as a front-facing, ultra-wide camera with Center Stage. The camera will be limited to 1080p video, similar to the cameras on iPads and Macs.

SEE ALSO: The iPhone is on top of the world. Why are Apple execs exiting?

Perhaps more notably, the device will also have Face ID biometrics, which could be used to recognize users and set profiles depending on who's interacting with the device.

Apple Intelligence will also be on board, and this includes a more advanced version of Siri which can keep up a natural conversation with the user.

The device is listed as coming in 2026; previous rumors pointed to a possible launch next spring.

Macworld said they were able to find references to another, "never-before-seen" smart home product, codenamed J229. Details are slim on this one, besides it having multiple sensors, a built-in camera. Notably, it's not identified as a standalone device but an accessory.

A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman wrote that Apple is working on an in-home security camera that's designed to work together with the smart home hub, as well as a smart doorbell with facial recognition. The mysterious new device could be one of these, though it's probably coming later; the end of next year "at the soonest," Gurman wrote.

TL;DR: Unblock porn sites for free with a VPN. The best service for unblocking porn sites is ExpressVPN.

The online world is full of content restrictions and blockades. It might not always seem like that, but look around. More and more restrictions on your movement are coming into force.

Porn naturally comes with a lot of restrictions, but there's really nothing wrong with adults visiting their favorite sites at entirely appropriate moments. When the time is right, you should be able to bypass content restrictions to access sites like XNXX from any network and location. And fortunately, you can do exactly that with a quick and easy hack.

If you want to unblock porn sites like XNXX from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

How to unblock XNXX for free

VPNs are useful tools that can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other locations. This straightforward process can bypass geo-restrictions to access porn sites like XNXX from anywhere in the world.

SEE ALSO: How to unblock Pornhub for free

Unblock porn sites like XNXX by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in a location that supports access to XNXX

4. Visit XNXX

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for bypassing content restrictions are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can unblock porn sites like XNXX without actually spending anything. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does mean you can retain access to porn sites when temporarily away from a secure network.

If you want to retain permanent access to everything the online world has to offer, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for porn is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for porn?

ExpressVPN is the best service for fast and reliable unblocking of porn sites like XNXX, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy

• Fast streaming speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 61% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month subscription for just $12.95 (including money-back guarantee.)

Unblock XNXX for free with ExpressVPN.

Scientists may have missed the mark when they started referring to Uranus and Neptune as the "ice giant" planets of the solar system decades ago. 

Like giving a certain short-armed dinosaur a name that means "terrible lizard king," calling these planets "icy" hasn't aged well. New research from a team at the University of Zurich in Switzerland suggests the nickname was a misnomer, with the two blue worlds in distant space potentially being made of more rock than ice. 

The cold and remote planets originally earned their label of "ice giants" to contrast their interiors from those of Jupiter and Saturn, the so-called "gas giants" rich in hydrogen and helium. Uranus and Neptune are much smaller than their gassy counterparts but also bigger than the terrestrial worlds of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. 

But little is known about these two medium-size outer planets, which are the least-explored category of worlds in our solar system. NASA's Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited them, flying by Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. 

"This name is rather misleading since it implies that the planets are water-dominated in composition," Ravit Helled, an astrophysicist who initiated the study, told Mashable. "The name 'ice giants' also gives the impression that the planets are solid but in fact the materials in the deep interiors can be in liquid state."

SEE ALSO: Scientists may have discovered a wild new type of cosmic explosion

The work has implications for the study of exoplanets — worlds that exist around stars other than the sun — and shows that more observations and theory are needed before jumping to conclusions about internal composition. The team's challenge to the "ice giants" category appears in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. 

To reach their findings, the researchers built a new way to model what could lie deep within Uranus and Neptune without relying on strict assumptions. They started with many random guesses about how dense each layer might be, according to the paper. Then, they used a step-by-step computer process to adjust those guesses until they matched real measurements of each planet’s gravity. Crucially, the guesses had to follow known rules for how materials behave under pressure and heat.

Their results show that both planets could have very different internal makeups. Some models present a water-dominated scenario, while others look rich in rock. There is no single clear answer about what these planets are mostly made of. 

If the planets were more rocky, that might mean they formed closer to the sun, then migrated farther away. Some scientists have suspected this to be the case, Helled said.

"Many studies on dynamics suggest that Uranus and Neptune formed closer to the sun," she said. 

All of the workable composition models include moving, churning layers made of electrically charged water, called "ionized water." These layers could help explain the strange, lopsided magnetic fields seen around both planets, Helled said. The temperatures inside could stay high enough that hydrogen, helium, and water remain mixed rather than separating.

The interior of Uranus could be more icy, left, or more rocky, right. Credit: Keck Institute for Space Studies / Chuck Carter illustration

The outer layers also differ. Uranus appears to have more hydrogen and helium near the surface than Neptune. The region that produces Uranus' magnetic field likely lies deeper inside the planet than the comparable region in Neptune.

But knowing their true nature will require dedicated missions to the planets, the researchers say. A spacecraft could measure their gravitational fields and atmospheric compositions. For now, it's safe to say the interior structures of medium-size planets are more complex than once thought, and it might be time to retire the "ice giant" moniker. 

"We could keep using this name," Helled said, "as long as people understand that this does not necessarily reflect the planetary composition and material state."

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In a few short years, Paul Mescal has gone from rising Irish actor to major movie star with an Academy Award nomination to his credit. His vulnerable turns in Normal People, Aftersun, and All of Us Strangers have secured him a spot in the hallowed halls of Internet Boyfriends. But what sets Mescal apart from Ryan Gosling, Timothée Chalamet, Pedro Pascal, and Jonathan Bailey is his supreme ability to Sad Boy.

SEE ALSO: 'Hamnet' review: Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley burn in William Shakespeare tragedy

It's not just that he can cry. Mescal's blue eyes can carry an ocean of sadness. His voice can tremble at an octave that makes our hearts drop. His smile, even when wide, can read as a desperate lie. He is so good at playing heartache and grief that he's essentially made "sad boy" a verb. As in, Paul Mescal can Sad Boy like no other.

So, in celebration of the wide release of Hamnet, another film in which Mescal has come to break hearts and spike tissue sales, Mashable's team has surveyed his filmography to rank his movies, TV show appearances, and short films on a scale of zero to five Sad Boys. To be clear, this ranking is not about how sad the title is; it's about how sad Mescal is in it — so, when you plan your own Mescal movie marathon, you know how to hydrate and gear up with tissues appropriately.

Here are our Paul Mescal Sad Boy rankings, in order of release.

Normal People (2020)

The role that introduced the world to Mescal, Normal People's Connell set the bar high for Paul Mescal's future Sad Boys. Yes, he's charming and smart, but he also nurses a deep sadness and struggles to communicate his emotions, be it his affection for Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) or his grief over losing his friend Rob (Éanna Hardwicke).

When Connell's feelings finally do spill over in a monologue to a therapist in episode 10, it's nothing short of extraordinary. Here, Mescal lays bare all of Connell's depression and insecurities. It's riveting and raw, and it's the perfect groundwork for Mescal's future Sad Boy roles. If we were just rating Normal People off that scene, it would earn five Sad Mescals, no questions asked. But since Connell has his fair share of happy moments, especially with Marianne, we'll settle for four Sad Mescals. — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: Normal People is now streaming on Hulu.

Drifting (2020)

Written and directed by Robert Higgins and Patrick McGivney, Drifting is a 14-minute short film about two Irish boys who've been friends their whole lives. However, growing up can mean growing apart. In their small Midlands town, Cian (Mescal) is content to hit the same pub for drinks and trouble, night after night, year after year. But Pat (Dafhyd Flynn) yearns for a new scene.

Mescal drapes Cian in a cocky attitude with a pugnacious edge. But beneath this bad boy surface is a Sad Boy whose laughter hides an ache he can't explain. However, at only 14 minutes, the sadness begins to bloom right before the credits roll. — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: Drifting is now streaming on YouTube.

The Rolling Stones, "Scarlet" (2020)

A music video may not seem like a place for Mescal sadness. And yet this Rolling Stones' video begins with no music, just Mescal — with his Irish accent intact — teary, calling himself "a little bit drunk" and apologizing before saying, "I love you." This too sounds like an apology in his delivery, which is straight to camera, enhancing its impact. Then the song begins.

However, from there, Mescal offers a lot of smiles, jaunty dancing, boyish charm, and a bit of a strip tease. There's brooding and tears too. It's an emotional rollercoaster with more highs than lows. — K.P.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: The Rolling Stones' "Scarlet" can be streamed on YouTube.

Phoebe Bridgers, "Savior Complex" (2020)

The Sally-Rooney-Taylor-Swift-Phoebe-Bridgers-Fleabag cinematic universe went supernova when Paul Mescal starred in the music video for Phoebe Bridgers' "Savior Complex," directed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. (Huge day for all Bridge-adjacent Phoebes out there.) Prior to the video, Mescal and Bridgers had exchanged messages on social media about Normal People and interviewed one another on Instagram Live, making "Savior Complex" a watershed moment for the very online. The pair went on to date, although they are no longer together.

Mescal's role in the actual video is less prototypical Sad Boy and more general Tortured Man. He's a grifter who fakes injuries and steals a car, all while running from the most precious white dog who has nothing but affection for him, even after everything he's done. If anything, the dog is the real Sad Boy here. (Also, just a very Good Boy.) — B.E.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: Phoebe Bridgers' "Savior Complex" is now streaming on YouTube.

The Lost Daughter (2021)

As far as Mescal's role in Maggie Gyllenhaal's psychological thriller The Lost Daughter goes, Will is as far from Sad Boy as you can get, really. A 24-year-old Irish business student working summers on a Greek island, he might be behind in his studies, but he's working a cruisy job in paradise, hanging out with Olivia Colman's Leda and having an affair with Dakota Johnson's Nina. He's complicated, but not deeply sad. Probably the one character in the film who isn't tormented by their past and present, really. But the film does have both Mescal and his Hamnet co-star Jessie Buckley in it, so it's Sad Boy-adjacent by way of casting. — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: The Lost Daughter is now streaming on Netflix.

God's Creatures (2022)

Haunting and downright bleak, God's Creatures is an underrated gem in Mescal's discography. The film focuses on Aileen (a terrific Emily Watson), whose estranged son Brian (Mescal) returns to Ireland after a stint in Australia. When Aileen's coworker Sarah (Aisling Franciosi) accuses Brian of sexual assault, Aileen finds herself torn between her family and doing what's right. As Aileen reckons with her tangle of guilt and maternal love, Mescal turns in a performance that oozes less with sadness than straight-up menace. — B.E.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: God's Creatures is now streaming on Tubi.

Aftersun (2022)

It's fitting that Mescal earned his first Academy Award nomination for one of his saddest roles to date, playing father Calum on vacation with his daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) in Charlotte Wells' Aftersun. 

Seen through young Sophie's eyes and adult Sophie's (Celia Rowlson Hall) memories and VHS tapes, Calum is almost unknowable to her: a loving father burdened with a pain young Sophie couldn't understand. The implication that Calum died by suicide following the the trip adds a further layer of tragedy to the film, and Mescal plays every aspect of it flawlessly. To this day, I can't hear "Under Pressure" without feeling emotionally shattered — that's the power of Mescal and Aftersun. — B.E.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: Aftersun is now streaming on Pluto TV.

Carmen (2022)

In Benjamin Millepied's Texas-set reimagining of Bizet's tragic opera, Carmen, Mescal's Sad Boy level is right up there. As Aidan, a Marine with PTSD, Mescal plays a man whose "eyes are sad but produce no tears," as the film describes it. Aidan meets the titular love of his life (Melissa Barrera) as she attempts to cross the Mexican border, and the violence that ensues causes them both deep trauma and puts them on the run together. There's much forlorn gazing across the Texan landscape and nightclub dance floors, Romeo and Juliet-level foreshadowing, and significant brooding. Mescal even sings and plays a melancholy original on acoustic guitar. Mescal's Aidan watching Barrera's Carmen performing "Tú y Yo" with tears in his eyes? SAD. — S.C.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: Carmen is available for rental or purchase on Prime Video.

All of Us Strangers (2023)

In writer/director Andrew Haigh's soul-scorching adaptation of Taichi Yamada's novel Strangers, Paul Mescal stars opposite Andrew Scott as a pair of neighbors in a largely empty apartment building, both of whom are desperate for connection. After a rocky start, the two form a hot and loving relationship. But a horrible secret threatens to ruin things.

SEE ALSO: 'All of Us Strangers' is a gift to queer Gen Xers

One of our favorite movies of 2023, All of Us Strangers offers Mescal as a lost young man yearning for love. His love scenes with Scott have an electrifying chemistry. But there's a volatile vulnerability to Mescal's performance here that makes his first scene unnerving, and his final absolutely heart-wrenching. Even just thinking back on it now, I'm tearing up. As Siddhant Adlakha wrote in his review for Mashable, "Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal lead the hottest, saddest movie this year." It might be that balance that makes his finale all the more devastating. — K.P.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: All of Us Strangers is now streaming on Hulu.

Foe (2023)

The saddest thing about Foe isn't Mescal himself, but rather the fact that a sci-fi movie starring him, Saoirse Ronan, and Aaron Pierre simply fails to take off. Mescal plays Junior, who lives with his wife Hen (Ronan) on a remote farm on a dying Earth. When Junior is chosen to go to space, company OuterMore plans to make an exact AI replica to remain on Earth with Hen. They just need to observe the couple in order to make it perfect. So begins a wave of interrogations in which Junior is at turns bewildered, aggressive, and possessive, but never truly full Sad Boy. — B.E.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: Foe is now streaming on Prime Video.

Gladiator II (2024)

When the casting for Ridley Scott's sequel to Gladiator was announced, Paul Mescal seemed an odd choice. A renowned and talented actor to be sure, but this ingendude doesn't have the macho ferocity of Russell Crowe, who headlined the first film. However, Scott seemed to use Mescal's Sad Boy supremacy to build a non-toxic masculinity thread into the story of another gladiator taking on a viciously oppressive system.

As I wrote in my review for Mashable, "Mescal has packed on added brawn for the role of a warrior, but the boyish vulnerability radiant in his critically heralded performances in the indie dramas Aftersun and All of Us Strangers shines through. He doesn't just put on a scowl and seek bloody vengeance on those who killed his beloved wife (May Calamawy). He also talks about his feelings to his mother (a returning Connie Nielsen). And even as he battles, he carries with him not just a sword but a woeful expression that violence is his only resort. There's a tragedy even in victory, in part because it's been 20 years since Maximus fought for Rome to be freed, and change has not come, a heavy burden that Mescal carries with every step." — K.P.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: Gladiator II is now streaming on Paramount+.

Saturday Night Live, Season 50, Episode 8 (2024)

We don't have a Happy Mescal scale, but if we did, Mescal's SNL hosting gig would be at the tippy-top. Over the course of the show, Mescal poked fun at being labeled "daddy," gamely played up his Irishness, went full pirate, and donned a ridiculous neon suit, complete with a Devo helmet. But the highlight was indisputably Mescal's starring turn in the Gladiator II musical sketch. Not only did Mescal showcase his impressive pipes, he also danced while decapitating fellow gladiators, spat a Lin-Manuel Miranda-style rap, and did his best impression of Elphaba's "Defying Gravity" riff. The smile on his face says it all: That is one joyous Mescal. — B.E.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: Saturday Night Live is now streaming on Peacock.

The History of Sound (2024)

Suppressed longing, deep grief, and lifelong love all fuel Oliver Hermanus' The History of Sound, with Mescal's character a man of few words but intense emotion. The film follows the deep love between the intensely stoic Lionel (Mescal) and the overtly charming David (Josh O'Connor), who meet in 1917 in Boston while singing old songs around the piano, right before Lionel is deployed to fight in World War I. Two music academics, they later travel the American East collecting recordings of folk songs, as their romance deepens behind closed doors. Mescal's Lionel endures loneliness, grief, isolation, oppressed sexuality, and the agony of long-lost love, thus Sad Boy levels in The History of Sound are high. — S.C.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: The History of Sound is now streaming on MUBI.

Hamnet (2025)

Get your tissues ready. Mescal's performance as William Shakespeare, a man engulfed by unimaginable grief, in Chloé Zhao's Hamnet will tear you to pieces. Based on Maggie O'Farrell's novel, the drama sees Mescal alongside Jessie Buckley as history's own star-crossed lovers Will and Agnes, who suffer the devastating loss of their 11-year-old son Hamnet years before the playwright penned his famous tragedy Hamlet. Mescal's raw, unrelenting, and completely human interpretation of Shakespeare's loss as a father and process as a writer comprehending it all will break you, put you back together again, and stay lodged in your throat long after you've watched.

As Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko wrote in her review of Hamnet out of TIFF, "'Where is he?' Will says, and in that simple question, Mescal channels a mix of dread, hope, and fear that could bring down the Globe Theatre. It's not booming. That's not Zhao's way. It's delivered strong but raw, quavering. It is what pain sounds like when stripped of Hollywood shine. It's too human for an Oscar reel. It's too heartbreaking."

Essentially, you'll never look at the famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy the same way. — S.C.

Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable

How to watch: Hamnet is now in theaters.

The central locked room mystery of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery sees writer-director Rian Johnson drawing on a long literary history. The film takes many cues from the likes of authors including Agatha Christie and Edgar Allan Poe, but one particular novel is crucial to the core puzzle: John Dickson Carr's The Hollow Man.

The American author's 1935 mystery novel, which features his recurring investigator protagonist Gideon Fell, functions as a key text in Benoit Blanc's (Daniel Craig) investigation into the murder at Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude. But what exactly is this important book?

SEE ALSO: 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery': What's on the book club list? What is The Hollow Man in Wake Up Dead Man?

Early on in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, new Chimney Rock resident and priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor) is reckoning with the impossible crime that is the murder of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Stabbed in the back in a small room with only one way in or out, in front of an entire congregation? It's "the stuff of detective fiction," as Blanc declares, the famous detective now on the case.

In his clue-gathering, Blanc mentions Carr's novel The Hollow Man and the methods of Gideon Fell, Carr's fictional detective. And according to a list Father Jud finds in the church office, The Hollow Man just so happened to be the Spring Book Club title for Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude — it seems the killer was inspired by the novel.

Featured Video For You Andrew Scott on crafting the iconic 'Ripley' in Netflix's new mystery series The Hollow Man gives "a syllabus of how to commit the perfect crime." Credit: Orion / Mashable

In The Hollow Man, a murderer shoots a professor and vanishes from a locked room, then kills another victim in a public street with witnesses and without leaving footprints in the snow. However, there's one very famous chapter, 17, which has become synonymous with defining the elements of an impossible crime. Here, Carr has Fell giving this famous "locked room lecture" to the reader, describing "the general mechanics" of how a murder (like Wicks') could be committed in impossible circumstances.

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Blanc describes The Hollow Man in Wake Up Dead Man as "a syllabus of how to commit the perfect crime," as Fell maps out a number of scenarios, including the following:

1. It is not murder, but a series of coincidences ending in an accident which looks like murder.

2. It is murder, but the victim is impelled to kill himself or crash into an accidental death.

3. It is murder, by a mechanical device already planted in the room, and hidden undetectably in some innocent-looking piece of furniture.

Carr would deploy the locked room framework in many novels, like The Problem of the Wire Cage (a murder on a tennis court) and The Crooked Hinge and Castle Skull (murders which at first appear supernatural).

Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, Edgar Allan Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue (both also on Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude's book club list), Gaston Leroux's The Mystery of the Yellow Room, Soji Shimada's The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of the Speckled Band and The Adventure of the Crooked Man — all locked room mysteries, impossible crimes that it would take a real Jonathan Creek to solve.

Or, a Benoit Blanc.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will open in select cinemas on Nov. 26, then debut on Netflix on Dec. 12.

If the first five minutes of Scarlet had been the entire movie, I would have been happy.

In these opening moments, director Mamoru Hosoda (Belle) transports viewers to a fantastic realm, one where the past and future intertwine. Here, a red-haired young woman wanders a desert wasteland filled with discarded armor and slow-creeping magma flows. The clouds in the sky above ripple like ocean waves. A gargantuan dragon swims through the air, leaving crackles of lightning in its wake.

SEE ALSO: NYFF 2025 preview: 14 films you'll want to see for yourself (and how)

The scene is disorienting and dazzling in equal measure, especially as Hosoda toggles between the desert and a glowing, liminal space where the young woman wears not the cloaked garb of a hardened wasteland survivor, but the brilliant white gown of a princess. It's while wearing this gown that the young woman remembers who she is and why she's in the desert. At that point, Scarlet goes from fascinating fantasy to an absolutely gonzo epic.

That's because the woman's memories reveal that Scarlet isn't solely a surreal fantasy tale. It's also an adaptation of Hamlet. And while a high-concept, animated adaptation of Hamlet can be great — look no further than The Lion King for proof — Scarlet mostly chafes strangely against its source material. The result is a film that's confounding in its adaptation ambitions, yet still manages to be showstopping.

How does Scarlet tie to Hamlet? Credit: Studio Chizu

The young woman we first meet in the wasteland is Scarlet (voiced by Mana Ashida), the princess of Denmark. As a young child, she witnessed her Uncle Claudius (voiced by Kôji Yakusho) commit a violent coup against her father (voiced by Masachika Ichimura), executing him right in front of her. (A far cry from Hamlet's Claudius stealthily slipping poison in the king's ear.)

That Scarlet's take on Claudius has him so obviously and visibly responsible for her father's murder means that Scarlet doesn't have to pull from Hamlet's bag of tricks to assess her uncle's guilt. No pretending to be mad or putting on calculated plays for her! Instead, she jumps straight into battle training to take Claudius down. Unfortunately for her, Claudius is two steps ahead and simply has her killed.

SEE ALSO: 'Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere' review: Jeremy Allen White can't escape 'The Bear' in Bruce Springsteen biopic

But death is not the end for Scarlet like it is for Hamlet. She awakens in the Otherworld, the strange afterlife on display in Scarlet's first scenes. Since the past and future are one in the Otherworld, every dead soul winds up here — including Claudius'. Now, Scarlet has one more chance at vengeance, but even the afterlife comes with peril. Die here, and you vanish into nothingness. And with armies of dead soldiers and Claudius' henchmen standing between her and her goal, Scarlet will have to accomplish the impossible if she is to see her goal through to the end.

Why is Scarlet even an adaptation of Hamlet in the first place? Credit: Studio Chizu

From here, Scarlet essentially becomes several different movies. It's partly a fantasy adventure in which Scarlet must fight hordes of soldiers from various time periods. The action sequences are riveting: just the right amount of brutal, while pushing Scarlet's considerable prowess to its limits.

Scarlet is also partly an anti-war treatise, with heaps of pro-immigration and pro-refugee messaging. The former manifests itself in the arrival of Hijiri (voiced by Masaki Okada), a present-day nurse who wants nothing more than to heal the suffering citizens of the Otherworld. He's staunchly anti-conflict, a counterpoint to Scarlet's bloodthirsty nature.

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Scarlet's nature is echoed in the rest of the war-torn Otherworld, which runs rampant with bandits preying on caravans of innocent souls simply trying to make it to Eternity. That promised heaven lies at the top of a mountain range, but Claudius has set up shop in a nearby fortress and walled off the path to Eternity from the Otherworld's masses. The wall imagery draws a clear parallel to current anti-immigration and anti-refugee policies, echoing Trumpian philosophies of exclusion. Subtlety, thy name isn't Hosoda.

SEE ALSO: 'A House of Dynamite' review: Idris Elba leads an all-star ensemble nuclear-war thriller

The pairing of these big, if simplistic, ideas with Scarlet's Otherworld odyssey is already a lot to take in, and that's without the Hamlet adaptation element. Following Scarlet's death, the story ceases to become the Hamlet you know. Yet Hosoda still puts twists on familiar Hamlet elements. Scarlet must face down minor Hamlet characters like Cornelius (voiced by Yutaka Matsushige) and Voltemand (voiced by Kôtarô Yoshida), with Hosoda turning these bit parts into video game mini-bosses. (Shakespeare's major female characters get far less to do: Ophelia is entirely absent, and Queen Gertrude steals the show in one scene only to disappear otherwise.) Characters regularly speak in lines from the play, prompting me to jolt up and gasp at the screen like a Marvel fan spotting a key Easter egg in an MCU movie.

Then of course, there's the death of it all. As a character, Hamlet is fascinated by death, hence his classic query of "to be, or not to be." Scarlet strands its Hamlet stand-in in death, causing her to fight past the bounds of her own mortality. It's an interesting juxtaposition, yet one Scarlet rarely ponders. Instead, it focuses on Scarlet's choice between vengeance or breaking the cycle of violence. At that point, all the Hamlet references begin to feel more like window dressing than story elements with deeper thematic resonance, and Scarlet's cohesion suffers wildly as a result.

Scarlet is still a gorgeous, unforgettable ride. Credit: Studio Chizu

With all these moving pieces, there's no doubt that Scarlet is as maximalist as can be. And that level of boldness, of throwing everything at the wall and hoping it sticks, makes even Scarlet's most bizarre moments exciting. Sure, "Hamlet, but make it warrior princess" doesn't completely hold together over the course of Scarlet's two-hour runtime, but it is undeniably thrilling to watch something so unexpected play out.

Where Scarlet excels the most is the world-building of the Otherworld, which Hosoda renders in an intriguing blend of 3D and 2D animation. At times, the mixture of 2D facial expressions against a more photorealistic 3D landscape can be jarring, yet the effect only adds to the strangeness of the Otherworld.

The Otherworld offers up a rich background where Scarlet and Hijiri's quest can unfold. Its inhabitants come from a blend of cultures and time periods, creating a wonderful aesthetic clash. Elsewhere, small details in the landscape, like a quarry full of cairns, speak to the many, many dead souls who've passed through.

However, the true standout of the Otherworld is its dragon, a massive beast whose hide is peppered with the weapons of those who have tried to slay it. It roars into view during scenes of carnage, bringing earth-shattering lightning and thunder along with it. The dragon's fearsome appearance, combined with composer Taisei Iwasaki's thrumming score, makes for an unforgettable theatrical viewing experience. Truly, I felt like I was levitating out of my seat.

Now, does Scarlet ever dive deeper into the lore around the dragon, or its role in the Otherworld? Not really. But did I care? Not that much!

That mentality sums up the best way to approach Scarlet as a whole. There's no doubting it's messy, but there's also no doubting its capacity to astonish.

Scarlet opens in limited IMAX theaters Dec. 12.

UPDATE: Dec. 10, 2025, 3:24 p.m. This review was first published on Oct. 7, 2025, out of film's U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival. It has been updated to reflect viewing options.

Ever wandered through an established art gallery and thought about prying those valuable masterpieces from the wall and running out the door, all in broad daylight? That's what Josh O'Connor's character cooks up in The Mastermind. But it's not the entire story of Kelly Reichardt's latest, with the writer/director leaning on the art heist genre to take a deeper look into the reasons behind such a decision — and follow a family man on the run during social and political upheaval in America.

Set in '70s Massachusetts and loosely based on the high-profile Worcester Art Museum robbery, The Mastermind plays out such a scenario with charming realism, wholesome comedy, and a rich, seductive score. But its most valuable asset is O'Connor, whose magnetic performance is as hilariously deadpan as it is moving.

The Mastermind plans a highly cosy crime. Josh O'Connor in "The Mastermind." Credit: Mastermind Movie Inc. All Rights Reserved

With a clear pivot in the film's centre, The Mastermind is essentially a story in two acts: the first involving a farcical art heist frankly best left to professional thieves, the second a rambling road trip through American towns, all tainted by the inescapable but subtle presence of the Vietnam War.

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As for the heist, Reichardt keeps things characteristically minimalist and as far away from Ocean's 11 flamboyance as possible. We're talking no surveillance tech, limited security staff, and small-town cops on their lunch break. There are no nail-biter safe-cracking scenes, no lasers to avoid, no bait and switch. Instead of a motley crew of specialists pulling "one last job," it's a trio of regular guys led by middle-class family man and unemployed carpenter JB (O'Connor). With his chic and cool-headed wife Terri (Alana Haim) and adorable young sons (Jasper and Sterling Thompson) in tow, he cases the fictitious Framingham Art Museum in order to steal four works by American modernist Arthur Dove. 

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Everything about this relatively cosy crime feels soft and overtly autumnal, from Rob Mazurek's mellow jazz score to costume designer Amy Roth's array of plush sweaters and cardigans, to the homemade pillowcases Terri sews to transport the stolen works. JB uses paper maps to brief his co-conspirators and hands out beautifully hand-drawn flashcards of the works they need to steal. Cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt captures each scene with a nostalgic, low-contrast glow akin to the classic '70s movie aesthetic of The Holdovers, and Anthony Gasparro's production design is a crunchy-leafed suburban landscape of American modernist architecture — and all the wood panelling that goes with it.

Those flash cards. Credit: Mastermind Movie Inc. All Rights Reserved

That being said, there are some sharp edges here once reality hits. Quietly confident he can pull off such a daring crime with ample preparation, JB unwisely puts his faith in his skittish collaborators (Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, and Javion Allen), leading to a bungled execution that is both stressful and comical to watch. Reichardt deploys slapstick comedy sparingly but effectively. At times, The Mastermind even veers into Buster Keaton territory, especially in one of the film's best scenes involving O'Connor's dalliance with a barn ladder and the valiant aim of loft storage. Reader, I cackled. In fact, O'Connor's ability to channel a Keaton-worthy deadpan stare continues throughout the film, one of the many subtle skills the History of Sound actor wields.

Josh O'Connor is a master of deadpan comedy in The Mastermind. Eli Gelb, Javion Allen, and Josh O'Connor in "The Mastermind." Credit: Mastermind Movie Inc. All Rights Reserved

Though The Mastermind precedes the technology by a few decades, O'Connor's JB feels like personification of the deluded shrug guy emoticon, assuring the people around him (especially his exasperated parents, played by Hope Davis and Bill Camp) that everything's going to work out. Despite the title of the film, JB is far from a criminal mastermind, despite one or two Frank Abagnale Jr. moments. However, Reichardt is less interested in following the flashy finesse of a master thief, more in the string of life decisions JB makes to try and provide financial stability for his family (and yes, a sense of personal accomplishment for himself). 

As much as The Mastermind gives O'Connor to play with, it sadly does not bestow the same opportunity on his co-star, Alana Haim, whose role as JB's wife seems bizarrely restricted. Aside from a brief spell of camaraderie during the planning of the heist, Terri is given little to do but glare and seethe at her bumbling husband, though Haim miraculously finds nuance and expression within her allotted silence. JB quite literally pleads with his wife to "say something" and express her feelings. And while women onscreen shouldn't always be required to flip tables to speak their minds, Terri deserves more characterisation than an alarm clock thrown offscreen.

Alana Haim in "The Mastermind." Credit: Mastermind Movie Inc. All Rights Reserved

Where The Mastermind does extrapolate a truly marvellous character is in JB's old friend Fred, an absolute highlight of the film played by John Magaro who is jubilant at having his "mind blown" by his friend's extraordinary actions. The Past Lives actor brings a brilliant sense of levity and warmth to the film (and JB himself) when it's needed, offset by the bristling disdain exuded by Fred's partner Maude (Gaby Hoffmann). We're not privy to every detail of the relationship between these three, with Reichardt leaving the audience to fill in more than a few gaps for themselves. And that's half the magic of The Mastermind.

Featured Video For You 'Challengers' Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist on the significance of the 'I Told Ya' shirt Kelly Reichardt leaves the audience to piece together The Mastermind. Vietnam War-era America is omnipresent. Credit: Mastermind Movie Inc. All Rights Reserved

Showing no intention of tying The Mastermind up in a neat bow, Reichardt doesn't overexplain in her film. Relationships between characters emerge slowly through dialogue; historical context isn't shoved down our throats. But the omnipresence of the Vietnam War is impossible to miss.

The advent of television broadcasting sees JB's father glued to the nightly news while our protagonist sweats about the details of his hometown heist. Anti-war protests and demonstrations pepper the media and the streets on differing scales. This crucial moment of political turbulence in America comes into sharper focus once JB hits the road, where he notices a naval officer on the Greyhound bus shipping out and sees young student activists lambasted by older nationalists. The social and cultural shifts of the '70s seep into the central narrative through offhand comments; a conversation between JB and Fred mentions Canadian communes full of "draft dodgers, radical feminists, dope fiends — nice people."

It's Reichardt's ability to thread such tempestuous historical context through comedy and the heist genre that makes The Mastermind such a unique and endearing film. And it's O'Connor's magnetic performance that makes the film a masterpiece of subtlety and deadpan humour. There are no heist movie archetypes here, only crunchy leaves, modernist art, and bumbling realism. It's a combination worth the steal.

The Mastermind debuts on MUBI Dec. 12.

UPDATE: Dec. 10, 2025, 3:34 p.m. This review was first published Sept. 28, 2025, out of the film's UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. It has been updated to reflect streaming options.