Remember Car Thing, Spotify’s hardware player for cars that the company launched in April, though only for select users in the U.S.?

Well, on Thursday the company made it a little easier for a wider range of users to purchase the Car Thing. Now, all Spotify users in the U.S., both in the Free and Premium tiers, can sign up for the waitlist for the Car Thing – though you’ll still need a Premium plan to actually use it.

Also, while the Car Thing was originally launched as a free device, it will now cost users $79.99.

As for why you might want to purchase Car Thing, that’s a little harder to explain. Car Thing does not work without a smartphone — it depends on it (both iPhones and Androids work) for an internet connection. It has voice control (say “Hey Spotify” to invoke it); it’s got a dial that lets you browse, select, and play music, as well as four preset buttons on top of the device to get to your favorite songs faster; and it has a color touchscreen display so you can see what’s playing.

It’s a little bit like having an always-ready Spotify app in hardware form, in your car.

The dial is pretty cool.
Credit: spotify

Given that there’s not much Car Thing can do that the Spotify app on your phone cannot, the biggest appeal is probably having your phone free to do other things, and the added convenience of having preset buttons and the dial for accessing your music while driving.

You can join the waitlist for Car Thing here.

TL;DR: The Digital Daze App and eLearning Bundle is on sale for £50.86 as of Oct. 15, saving you 96% on list price.

If you find yourself scrolling aimlessly in a digital daze regularly, maybe it’s time to make a change.

Give all that scrolling some purpose with this app and e-learning bundle, which is on sale for a limited time as of Oct. 15. Play games, learn something new, or stream something you’ve never seen before — all with one purchase. Here’s what you’ll get when you sign up for the Digital Daze app and e-learning bundle.

PlayStation Plus: One-Year Subscription

PlayStation Plus, the paid subscription service from PlayStation, gives members free games every month and includes access to online multiplayer gaming as well as exclusive discounts in the PlayStation store (among other perks). You’ll be able to connect with an online community of gamers and compete against them in some of your favourite PlayStation classics, like Star Wars: Battlefront, Uncharted, and many more.

StackSkills Unlimited: Lifetime Subscription

StackSkills is a premier library of more than 1,000 online courses taught by more than 350 award-winning instructors and experts in their fields. This on-demand learning platform curates courses that cover the latest trends and topics, like cryptocurrency mining, copywriting, Photoshop, Amazon Web Services, and iOS development. The unlimited plan adds courses to the catalog every month, so you can commit to continuous learning for life. There’s even a progress tracker to see how far you’ve come, course certifications, and quarterly instructor Q&A webinars.

KeepSolid VPN Unlimited: Lifetime Subscription (Five Devices)

To ensure you can play your games, take courses, and stream your favourite shows without limitations, you’ll also get a lifetime subscription to KeepSolid’s VPN Unlimited. With protection for five different devices, you can block trackers, hackers, and other sketchy stuff from happening on your devices. You’ll get access to more than 500 VPN servers in more than 80 locations globally, including the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, and others.

This three-part app and e-learning bundle will keep you entertained, educated, and protected. The bundle, which includes a one-year subscription to PlayStation Plus and lifetime subscriptions to StackSkills Unlimited and KeepSolid VPN Unlimited, is on sale for £50.86 for a limited time.

Do you want to watch something scary? Well, horror fan, Hulu is a great place to start looking.

Right now, the streaming service has a solid lineup of new and old frights, ranging from recent Hulu originals like False Positive starring Ilana Glazer, to cross-genre international hits like The Host. Of course, not all horror experiences freak us out in the same way — or to the same degree — so you’ll want to know what you’re getting yourself into before pressing play.

To help you out, we’ve combed through Hulu’s catalogue, selected the 13 all-around best horror movies available, and given you a rundown on what about these titles will really get you sweating. (FYI, this list assumes you don’t have any premium add-ons or Hulu + LiveTV, but there are more options if you do so definitely do a little searching on the platform if none of these sound good.)

Good luck out there, and remember: Never go alone!

13. Wounds (2019)

Dakota Johnson goes through hell in this one.
Credit: Hulu

Wounds really isn’t as good as you’d like it to be. That said, writer-director Babak Anvari — known for the exquisite Under the Shadow (2016) — delivers an inventive enough premise through a compelling enough cast that watching this graphic, psychological thriller about a man being stalked by a sinister force never feels like a waste. Dakota Johnson shines in this stomach-churning descent into cockroach-infested hell. Seriously, brace yourself if you hate bugs.

How to watch: Wounds is now streaming on Hulu.

12. My Bloody Valentine (1981)

In this spectacularly splattered slasher, director George Mihalka places a terrifying killer — hardened by a cannibalistic mining accident(?) years before — in a small town ripe for terrorizing at the time of the Valentine’s Day dance. Awesome practical effects, like a dude getting his face boiled off and human hearts showing up in seasonally themed chocolate boxes, make for tons of classic scenes. It’s all tied together by a fun cast, high energy, and pure ’80s nostalgia.

How to watch: My Bloody Valentine is now streaming on Hulu.

11. False Positive (2021)

Congratulations to Pierce Brosnan and his “You’ll be a dentist” moment.
Credit: HULU

From Mother! to Rosemary’s Baby, reproduction has been explored by enough horror titles to qualify pregnancy-terror as its own subgenre. In director John Lee’s False Positive, co-written with star Ilana Glazer, the gross-out body stuff you’ve seen done countless times before gets fresh framing with a snappy script that addresses modern mothering imperfectly but thoughtfully. Plus, Pierce Brosnan plays a campy, creepy OB-GYN villain you’ve just gotta see.

How to watch: False Positive is now streaming on Hulu.

10. The Devil’s Doorway (2018)

Northern Irish director Aislinn Clarke’s The Devil’s Doorway is in no way the first horror film to indict the Catholic church for its history of abuse allegations. Still, Clarke’s found-footage approach paired with the historic subject matter — Magdalene Asylums of the 1960s — proves to be a particularly impactful combination. Some startling jump scares and a brief runtime qualify it as a hidden gem.

How to watch: The Devil’s Doorway is now streaming on Hulu.

9. Villains (2019)

Venerable horror icons Bill Skarsgård and Maika Monroe lead Villains, a Bonnie and Clyde-meets-Don’t Breathe mashup with a sprinkling of ’50s style you’ll love. When criminal lovebirds Jules and Mickey decide to rob a house, they encounter a mystery within and must contend with the home’s residents, played by Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Donovan, to solve it.

How to watch: Villains is now streaming on Hulu.

8. Crawl (2019)

Thinks ‘Jaws’ but multiplied in every sense.
Credit: paramount pictures

Director Alexandre Aja combines action-packed disaster horror with some particularly spiteful alligators in this gloriously intense thrill-ride. Kaya Scodelario stars as a young woman who, along with her father and family dog, becomes trapped in a Florida house by a devastating hurricane. As the house begins to flood in a race against the clock, our heroine fights the large reptilians attempting to eat her family in a journey that’s surprisingly captivating and full of teeth.

How to watch: Crawl is now streaming on Hulu.

7. The Lodge (2019)

The Lodge is the bleakest title on Mashable’s 2020 holiday horror list, bar none. If you’re looking for a fun holiday horror flick, this is not it. That said, this psychological nightmare is a great choice if you’re looking for an unnerving horror experience that combines The Shining with occultism. Intrigued? Starring Riley Keough as an unwelcome girlfriend on Christmas vacation with her boyfriend’s kids, played by Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh, The Lodge foregoes traditional scares for slow-burn tension and shocking implications. *

How to watch: The Lodge is now streaming on Hulu.

6. Lights Out (2016)

Maybe use the bathroom *before* watching this one. If you, uh, know what I mean.
Credit: warner bros.

Based on director David F. Sandberg’s short film of the same name, Lights Out is a supernatural fright fest with jump-scares to spare. This descent into darkness follows siblings Rebecca and Martin, played by Teresa Palmer and Gabriel Bateman, as they fight to solve the mystery behind a clawed creature hunting them and others as prey only when the lights are out. This is a real sphincter-clincher so maybe save it for when you need an adrenaline boost.

How to watch: Lights Out is now streaming on Hulu.

5. The Host (2006)

Parasite‘s Song Kang-ho plays Park Gang-du, viewed as a lost cause by his family, even young daughter Hyun-seo. When toxic waste from a lab up the Han River creates a twisted monster that starts attacking humans, it takes Hyun-seo. The family is broken — director Bong’s eclectic humors rears its head in scenes like when the Parks weep for Hyun-seo — and entirely dubious of trusting Gang-du to rescue his daughter. 

Bong Joon-Ho’s 2006 creature feature was only his third full-length production as director, and went on to be the highest-grossing South Korean movie at that point in time. As the creature affects everyone from gangsters to government and the Park family in particular, it’s highly reminiscent of Bong’s Okja, made 11 years later with five times the budget. For fans of Bong’s storytelling and sensibility, it’s unmissable. — Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter *

How to watch: The Host is now streaming on Hulu.

4. Hellbound: Hellrasier II (1988)

Treat yourself to an evening of unhinged sadomasochism with the Cenobites in director Tony Randel’s surprisingly great sequel to Clive Barker’s 1987 film. This chapter in the Hellraiser franchise gives us our first look at Hell, some seriously upped gore, and an origin story for all-time monster superstar Pinhead. The original is still better, but it’s a tight race.

How to watch: Hellbound: Hellraiser II is now streaming on Hulu.

3. Let the Right One In (2008)

You might cry watching this one, for real.
Credit: sandrew metronome

Swedish director Tomas Alfredson’s heartbreaking vampire tale changed the game for 2000s horror. An expertly executed but surprisingly restrained affair, Let the Right One In follows a young boy, bullied in school, who befriends another kid with a mysterious need to feast on blood. The resulting romance is one of a kind — tonally unique and hauntingly impactful.

How to watch: Let the Right One In is now streaming on Hulu.

2. The House That Jack Built (2018)

Matt Dillon acts as a conduit for serial killer terror and mythology in this bizarre title.
Credit: TrustNordisk

In the ethereal but still bloody The House That Jack Built, Matt Dillon stars as the titular Jack. A quiet architect, he appears at first like your average loner type. But narration recounting decades of vicious killings reveal him to be a monster of mythic proportions. Brush up on your Dante’s Inferno before seeing this one and you’ll have a spectacularly scary film to puzzle over for years to come.

How to watch: The House That Jack Built is now streaming on Hulu.

1. Saint Maud (2021)

The first feature film from writer-director Rose Glass, Saint Maud is a religious horror film set in the world of late-stage hospice care. When a pious nurse named Maud (Morfydd Clark) is assigned to care for the boldly blasphemous Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), a battle to save Amanda’s soul before she dies of cancer ensues. It’s a staggeringly scary reflection on interiority and philosophy, with a searing assessment of the sometimes predatory messiah complex to boot. *

How to watch: Saint Maud is now streaming on Hulu.

Honorable mention: Into the Dark

None of the titles in Hulu’s Into the Dark made this list since it’s technically classified as a television anthology. Still, the feature-length terrors brought to life in that consistently clever Blumhouse-produced series are well worth your time. Want to learn more? We ranked them all, right here.

How to watch: Into the Dark Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Hulu.

Miss the simple pleasure of being a one-earbud-in, one-earbud-out kind of person? Listening to just a little bit of music but still interacting with the world via your free ear…well lucky for you, that experience didn’t die with the advent of the AirPod.

Yes, you can use only one AirPod! Using one AirPod is super easy and it can come in handy when you’re multitasking. Using only one AirPod also allows you to charge the other AirPod so you can optimize charging your AirPods while still listening to your favorite music or podcast.

SEE ALSO: The best headphones for iPhone users

When you use only one AirPod your phone will automatically switch to mono output, so you don’t have to worry about missing anything that you’re listening to.

Follow the steps below to use only one AirPod.

How to use only one AirPod:

1. Open your AirPods case

2. Remove one AirPod

3. Place one AirPod in your ear

It’s as simple as that! Your phone should automatically pair to the singular AirPod in your ear.

You can easily switch which AirPod you’re using and your phone will automatically reconnect.

If you’re using both AirPods and want to switch to just one, simply put the AirPods back in their case and remove to and place it in your ear.

Updated on Oct. 14, 2021 to include info about Best Buy’s Black Friday plans.

The best early Black Friday deals as of Oct. 14:

• BEST ROBOT VACUUM DEAL: eufy RoboVac 15C MAX — $175.99 (save $104)

• BEST TV DEAL: Vizio 50-inch M-Series 4K HDR Smart TV — $899.99 (save $100)

• BEST ECHO DEAL: Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) — $99.99 (save $30)

• BEST KITCHEN DEAL: Le Creuset Sauteuse (3.5 qt) — $179.95 (save $120.05)

• BEST APPLE DEAL: Apple AirPods Max — $449 (save $100)

Did it hurt? When you realized we’ve entered our second pandemic holiday shopping season?

Ready or not, Black Friday is coming

Yes, stores are already cramming your inbox with early Black Friday deals. Yes, it’s only mid-October. It may seem a bit pre-emptive, like those neighbors who insist on putting up their Christmas decorations before the leaves fall, but they actually have a very good reason to get a jump on this year’s sales. (No, it’s not just a good, old-fashioned cash grab in response to some strong holiday spending forecasts.)

Three words: Supply chain chaos.

Under circumstances absolutely no one had on their bingo card, pickles and paper bags have gotten as elusive as Playstation 5s. Blame the Delta variant, which continues to inflame pandemic-related material scarcities, labor shortages, and delivery delays across industries of all kinds. Unsurprisingly, this ordeal has left manufacturers and retailers scrambling; Walmart, Home Depot, and Ikea have actually gone so far as to charter private cargo ships to make sure their shelves are stocked for the holidays.

As such, finding the best deals this Black Friday will be a question of availability more so than price.

“There will always be sales, but they won’t be as deep and as plentiful,” Bain & Company’s Aaron Cheris told CNBC last month. (He’s the head of the consulting firm’s Americas Retail practice.) “As a retailer or a brand, I don’t have the same motivation when I know I’m going to stock out.”

Since planning ahead will be your best defense against backorders and “sold out” notices, we’re rolling out our Black Friday coverage way earlier than usual this year. (The early bird gets the Nintendo Switch bundle, so to speak.) We’ll be updating this post with the best deals as sales start to pop up — in the meantime, here are all the must-know details you’ll need ahead of time.

We’ll find the best deals so you don’t have to.
Credit: Vicky Leta / Mashable

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is a shopping holiday that takes place every year on the day right after Thanksgiving. It used to be synonymous with viral fistfights and stampedes and lines that stretched around city blocks before 3 a.m., but COVID-19 has turned it into a mostly online event.

When is Black Friday?

While Black Friday proper falls on Nov. 26 this year, several stores have already begun trickling out their holiday doorbusters.

Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday — what’s the difference?

The National Retail Federation officially coined the term “Cyber Monday” in 2005 after it noticed that in previous years, the Monday after Thanksgiving saw a massive uptick in online sales. It credited the phenomenon to two factors: Online retailers were starting to vie for a piece of the Black Friday pie, and shoppers were waiting to peruse the deals on their faster work computers come Monday morning. (At the time, office PCs had better broadband than home setups.)

Last year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales effectively bled together since in-person shopping wasn’t really a thing. We’ll almost certainly see that repeat this coming November.

What stores will be open for in-person shopping this Black Friday, if any?

Most major retailers’ Black Friday hours are still TBD, but we already know that Walmart, Best Buy, Target, Kohl’s, and Bed Bath & Beyond will close their doors on Thanksgiving Day. (That’s another big change from pre-pandemic years, when many stayed open on the federal holiday so that eager shoppers could get a jump on their best deals.) If you feel the urgent need to do some post-pie shopping that day, you’ll have to crack open your laptop instead.

Don’t forget to order a little something nice for yourself this year. You earned it.
Credit: Mashable Illustration

Here are the best deals at each retailer

Amazon: Starting Oct. 4, Amazon is dropping “Black Friday-worthy deals” every day in the leadup until the actual holiday. Find out what’s up for grabs by visiting its Epic Daily Deals page, installing its mobile app, or by asking your smart home device, “Alexa, what are my deals?” The last time we checked, its best offers included a $150 discount on an M1-equipped MacBook Pro, a $35 savings on the first-gen Echo Show 5, and $150 off a Shark robot vacuum that can charge and empty itself.

Bed Bath & Beyond: Check back later for deals!

Best Buy: The electronics store has announced that it’s running multiple Black Friday sales this year, beginning with a four-day sale from Oct. 19 to Oct. 22 featuring “hundreds” of discounts on must-have tech. (Its official Black Friday sale will also start a whole week early on Nov. 19, but everything is covered by a new “Black Friday Price Guarantee” no matter when you shop.) If you can’t wait ’til then, you can visit its website to shop some early deals; at the time of writing, you could take $1,000 off the new iPhone 13 with a trade-in and qualified activation, save $800 on a 75-inch Samsung QLED TV, and score a $10 reward by buying a $100 DoorDash gift card.

Dell: Check back later for deals!

Kohl’s: Check back later for deals!

Macy’s: The department store will kick off its Black Friday sale on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Check back later for deals!

Target: The bullseye brand doesn’t have anything on the calendar in the wake of its Deal Days event (which ended Oct. 12), but feel free to keep shopping there anyway: Its holiday price match policy is now in effect through Dec. 24, and you can also take advantage of two new “buy now, pay later” payment options through Sezzle and Affirm. Check back later for deals!

Walmart: The big box store has also nixed layaway in favor of a new “buy now, pay later” program as part of its partnership with Affirm. Check back later for deals!

Best tech deals

Apple’s premium over-ear headphones have never been as cheap as they are right now at Best Buy.
Credit: Apple

Amazon Echo: Save $35 on the first-gen Echo Show 5 and get $30 off the second-gen Echo Show 8.

Amazon Fire tablets: Save 25% when you buy two Fire Kids tablets.

Apple: Take $100 off the AirPods Max, $70 off some AirPods Pro, and up to $150 off MacBooks with the M1 chip. Plus, save up to $1,000 on the all-new iPhone 13 with a trade-in and qualified activation at Best Buy.

Beats: Get a pair of the new Beats Studio Buds for just $124.95 — that’s a 17% savings and their highest discount to date.

Bose: Save up to 29% on select headphones and earbuds.

Fujifilm: Save $10 on the Instax Mini 11.

JBL: Take up to 40% off headphones and earbuds, including up to 25% off its Quantum line of gaming headphones.

Kindle: Save up to 33% on Kindle Paperwhite Essentials Bundles.

Samsung: Get up to 21% off select Galaxy Watches, up to 25% off select QLED TVs, and up to 31% off select soundbars. Plus, save $50 on the Galaxy Buds+.

Sony: Take 25% off the 75-inch Sony X0J 4K HDR TV and up to 31% off the BRAVIA XR X90J series of 4K Google TVs.

Vizio: Save $110 on the new 50-inch M-Series 4K HDR Smart TV.

Best robot vacuum deals

Robot vacuums: Because no one’s ever sat on their deathbed wishing they’d spent more time cleaning.
Credit: Bissell

Bissell: Save $100 on the SpinWave Wet and Dry Robotic Vacuum.

eufy: Get 37% off the RoboVac 15C MAX.

Roborock: Take $110 off the S5 MAX, a smart robot vacuum and mop.

Shark: Save $60 on the Shark IQ Robot Self-Empty XL.

Best kitchen deals

Nobody’s doing it like Le Creuset.
Credit: Le Creuset

GoWise: Get up to 27% off select air fryers.

Le Creuset: Take 40% off the French brand’s 3.5-quart Sauteuse.

Vitamix: Snag the A3500 Ascent Series Smart Blender on sale for just $524.95 — a 25% savings.

Best house and home deals

Tuft & Needle makes some of Mashable’s favorite beds-in-a-box.
Credit: Tuft & Needle

Amazon: Save up to 30% on select living room furniture and rugs.

Tuft & Needle: Take 10% off select mattresses.

Best toy deals

Let’s settle this.
Credit: Catan Studio

Amazon: Save $10 when you buy $50 worth of select toys and games, including LeapFrog Books, LOL Surprise dolls, Barbies, Kinetic Sand kits, Tamagotchis, card games, board games, and much more.

Best fitness deals

Check back later for deals!

Stock up on tissues and rosé: Adele is back to make your life feel at least 30 percent more dramatic. The lead single from her first studio album in six years, 30, lands with a video that’s in direct conversation with her last mega-hit.

As she did with the video for “Hello,” Adele teamed up with French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan for the “Easy On Me” visuals — and the story speaks directly to the arc of that earlier video, right down to the singer not being able to get phone reception at the beginning. (“Oh for god’s sake,” she says, glaring through giant sunglasses at her iPhone. “There we go again.” At least she’s ditched the flip phone.)

But this time, instead of arriving at a big country house — the kind featured in not only the “Hello” clip but also the iconic earlier video for “Rolling In The Deep” — she’s farewelling it and hitting the road.

As she drives, she locks eyes with a joyous just-married couple sailing past in a convertible (since her last album, 2015’s 25, she divorced the father of her son who turns 9 in a few days), passes chattering young people on a road trip, and pages of sheet music fly out the window of her car. Halfway through, the cinematic black-and-white film bursts into saturated colour, in an unsubtle visual metaphor for whatever you need it to be right now.

It’s (deliberately) not a wind-machine belter like “Hello,” but a forgiving, self-aware, and deceptively fragile anthem for re-emerging into the world after dealing with some real shit. Trust Adele to give us a soundtrack for that, too.

30 is out on Nov. 19.

Why take notes when you can just take photos?

A viral TikTok showing a student using iOS 15’s Live Text to copy, and digitize, a classmate’s notes has renewed interest in the mostly overlooked feature. Live Text allows iPhone users with an iPhone XS or newer (and the latest operating system) to take a photo of text, highlight that text, and then copy and paste it.

While officially unveiled by Apple in June of this year, Live Text was only recently made available as part of iOS 15.

At least one French student clearly wasted no time in taking advantage of it.

Hard at work.

Credit: screenshot: tiktok

Zoom in.

Credit: SCREENSHOT: TIKTOK

The video went viral on Twitter on Thursday, racking up thousands of retweets, after France-based writer Juan Buis tweeted it.

“students are starting to steal each other’s notes with iOS 15 and it’s… kind of genius,” he wrote.

And while we can’t independently verify that the video hasn’t been altered in any way by the original poster, the depiction of Live Text’s capabilities is accurate (we tested it out on a photo of a computer screen taken from a distance and it worked).

Copy, paste.
Credit: screenshot: twitter

Indeed, while we’d recommend asking permission from another student before copying their notes, this use of Live Text appears to fit the definition of “work smart, not hard.”

SEE ALSO: Watch hackers Rickroll their entire high school district at once

With this video going viral, we may soon find out if the student actually taking the notes agrees.

Drama can hit hard and hurt so good.

That gut-punch of tragedy backed by a swelling orchestral score can be a ruthless rush. Sometimes a tearjerker — that’ll let us cry it out along with the characters — feels better than therapy. Other times, watching a protagonist persevere through hellish hardship can give us the hope that we need to carry on. Whatever kind of drama you’re craving, Netflix’s rich library of film and TV awaits you. Whether you want poignant period pieces, bombastic performances, memorable melodramas, unique crime narratives, acclaimed coming-of-age tales, or a curious case of a dismembered hand on a mission, we’ve got you covered.

Here are the best dramas on Netflix streaming now.

1. Mudbound

Jason Mitchell and Garrett Hedlund in “Mudbound.”
Credit: Steve Dietl / Netflix

Based on the Hillary Jordan novel, this period drama charts the relationships and racial conflict between two farming families in the 1939 Mississippi Delta. Taking audiences from the brutal battlefields of World War II to the mud-sucking fields of a community on the brink of eruption, co-writer/director Dee Ree’s explosive drama earned plenty of praise from critics as well as four Oscar nominations. Among these accolades were, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress for Mary J. Blige, who was also nominated for Best Original Song, “Mighty River.” Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Rob Morgan, Jason Mitchell, and Garrett Hedlund were also a part of an ensemble, heralded for their powerful performances.

How to watch: Mudbound is now streaming on Netflix.

2. The Piano

Acclaimed Kiwi writer/director Jane Campion won her first Academy Award for this stirring and steamy drama, which centers on a turbulent love triangle. Holly Hunter stars as a mid-19th century single mother, who’s shipped from her native Scotland to the shores of New Zealand to wed a rich gentleman (Sam Neill) with a cruel streak. She takes comfort in her young daughter (a 10-year-old Anna Paquin), her beloved piano, and in the arms of a burly but sensitive sailor (Harvey Keitel). Bold colors, shocking turns, and passionate performances had critics and the Academy cheering Campion’s unique vision of romance. In 1994, The Piano was nominated for 8 Oscars, and won three: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Screenplay. Despite its prestige and period setting, time hasn’t made the heat of The Piano fade one bit. So, this one may be a great pick for a Netflix and Chill night.

How to watch: The Piano is now streaming on Netflix.

3. Marriage Story

Scarlet Johansson  and Adam Driver cherish a rare happy moment in “Marriage Story”
Credit: Wilson Webb / Netflix

Breaking up is hard to do. Knowing that all too well, writer/director Noah Baumbach tapped into his own experience with divorce in creating Marriage Story. This critically acclaimed 2019 drama thoughtfully splits its focus between a director and actress suffocating in a dying marriage. Adam Driver and Scarlet Johansson deliver performances so raw with ache and rage that the film’s hardest-hitting scenes feel intensely voyeuristic. Both leads earned Oscar nominations for laying themselves bare here. However, it was a scene-stealing Laura Dern in a supporting turn as a fabulous and ferocious divorce attorney, who won the film’s only Oscar. Honestly, fair. Heads up: this one is ill-suited for Netflix and Chill viewing!

How to watch: Marriage Story is now streaming on Netflix.

4. In The Dark

Want a detective drama with some spice and snark? Then check out this CW series from Corinne Kingsbury, which centers on an amateur sleuth seeking justice for her murdered friend. 20-something Murphy Mason (Perry Mattfeld) is a lot like the glowering gumshoes of classic film noir. She’s got a world-weary attitude, a sharp mind, a sarcastic wit, and an insatiable thirst for hard liquor. To her mom and friends, she’s a self-sabotaging screw-up. So, when Murphy claims she’s found a local teen dead in a back alley, few believe her. It doesn’t help her cause that she’s blind and the corpse vanishes before the cops turn up. Thus, it’s up to Murphy to clean up and crack the case, no matter what dark paths she must traverse with her seeing-ey dog, Pretzel. Warning: Between Mattfield’s chaotic charisma and the shows’ non-stop twists, this series is downright addictive.

How to watch: In The Dark is now streaming on Netflix.

5. There Will Be Blood

Dillon Freasier and Daniel Day-Lewis  play son and father in “There Will Be Blood.”
Credit: Paramount/Vantage/Kobal/Shutterstock

Daniel Day-Lewis lays down an epic performance as a merciless prospector in writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s scorching adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel, Oil! Set in the turn of the 19th century, There Will Be Blood follows Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) as he strives to make his fortune and a booming family business for his adored son. However, a vicious rivalry bubbles up crude and deadly when a smug preacher (Paul Dano) stands between Plainview and a sea of underground oil. This fable of greed sparks with violence, bravado, and a catchphrase about milkshakes that’s ridiculous out of context, but chilling in the film. Rich in style and sinister in substance, this drama scored eight Oscars nominations and won two in 2008. One was for Best Cinematography; the other marked Lewis’s second Best Actor victory, following 1989’s My Left Foot.

How to watch: There Will Be Blood is now streaming on Netflix.

6. Wadjda

Writer/director Haifaa Al-Mansour made her narrative feature debut with this charming tale of a spunky 10-year-old Saudi girl, who dreams of a shiny green bicycle. Wadjda (Waad Mohammed) wants to race about like the boys of Riyadh, but this is considered unladylike in her conservative community. Undeterred, she sets out to win a Koran recitation competition, planning to use the cash prize to purchase a bike! While gently exploring themes of double standards, Al-Mansour keeps things light by focusing on the hopeful perspective of her indomitable heroine. This approach not only impressed critics worldwide but also scored Wadjda a BAFTA nomination for Best Film Not In The English Language. On top of that, this 2012 stunner made history as the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and the first feature-length film directed by a Saudi woman.

How to watch: Wadjda is now streaming on Netflix.

7. I Lost My Body

A dismembered hand searches for home in “I Lost My Body.”
Credit: netflix

Animated films often fall into categories of kid-friendly comedies, chipper musicals, or rollicking adventures. This extraordinary French film not only breaks from expectation by being a tender drama, but also offers something scintillatingly strange by making its protagonist a dismembered hand in search of his missing body. Adapted from the Guillaume Laurant novel, this Jérémy Clapin-directed cartoon delivers a raucous journey through the suburbs of Paris, from cozy apartments and dangerous subways to glittering rooftops and a jolting realization. With a sophisticated aesthetic and complex emotional narrative, I Lost My Body won praise on the film festival circuit and a slew of critics’ guilds, as well as the César for Best Animated Feature. If you’re not much for subtitles, worry not! Netflix also offers a meticulous English over-dub.

How to watch: I Lost My Body is now streaming on Netflix.

8. My Girl

For a generation who grew up on Home Alone, My Girl was the first movie to break our hearts into a million glittering pieces, like a pair of smashed eyeglasses. (Too soon?) This 1991 coming-of-age drama starred Anna Chlumsky and Macaulay Culkin as 11-year-old best friends, enjoying a 1972 summer of fun, first kisses, and hard life lessons. Director Howard Zieff paints a sunny picture of youth, reckless, fragile, and charmingly nostalgic. The adult supporting cast of Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Griffin Dunne brought a welcoming warmth to more mature moments. But make no mistake, Chlumsky — in her first lead role — is far and away this film’s dazzler, delivering a performance that is playful and poignant. Have your tissues ready, and revisit a summer of love and heartbreak. And if you can’t get enough of Vada Sultenfuss growing up, check out this hit’s sequel, My Girl 2.

How to watch: My Girl is now streaming on Netflix.

9. Alias Grace

Sarah Gadon sits in stir in “Alias Grace.”
Credit: Sabrina Lantos/Netflix

If you love The Handmaid’s Tale, then you’ll relish Alias Grace. Also adapted from a Margaret Atwood novel, this mini-series delves into historical fiction, exploring the motives of 19th-century murderess, Grace Marks. Sarah Gadon stars as the notorious killer, who journeyed from Ireland to Canada and made a humble life for herself as maid to the farmer Thomas Kinnear (Paul Gross). So why did she kill him? Sarah Polley’s sensational script unfolds the lyricism of Atwood’s words with an agile ear for dialogue, while director Mary Harron plumbs the depths of the human soul to craft a tale of murder that’s more melancholic than merciless. The result is a mini-series that is restrained yet absolutely riveting. Anna Paquin, David Cronenberg, and Zachary Levi co-star.

How to watch: Alias Grace is now streaming on Netflix.

10. Bad Genius

In high school, challenges like envy and SAT exams can feel like life-or-death drama. Director Nattawut Poonpiriya pays tribute to that intensity with an unusual — and uniquely thrilling — crime narrative. Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying stars as a brilliant but broke student, who uses her smarts not only to get good grades but also to create a cheating scheme to help out her classmates, who are rich in cash but poor in brains. A crackerjack ensemble cast brings plenty of verve to a familiar premise, which is punctuated with suspenseful scenes of narrows escapes and clever cons. Yet amid the thrall of it all, Poonpiriya offers a thought-provoking theme about the class conflict and how being a genius isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

How to watch: Bad Genius is now streaming on Netflix.

Related Video: What to binge on the best 30-day free trials

This story was originally published in Jan. 2021 and was updated in Oct. 2021.

Gov. Mike Parson is sick and tired of all these sophisticated, no-good hackers and he’s not going to take it any more. It’s too bad the Missouri Republican has no idea what he’s talking about.

During a Thursday press conference, the confused elected official lashed out at a journalist who reported a vulnerability in an official Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. The reporter, notably, waited until officials fixed the error before publishing the story. The flaw? The website apparently included teachers’ Social Security numbers in the HTML. 

“Though no private information was clearly visible nor searchable on any of the web pages, the newspaper found that teachers’ Social Security numbers were contained in the HTML source code of the pages involved,” reported the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Parson, who apparently has never heard of “view source,” obliquely threatened the Post reporter with prosecution.

“The state is committing to bring to justice anyone who hacked our system and anyone who aided or encouraged them to do so — in accordance with what Missouri law allows AND requires,” wrote Parson.

Tweet may have been deleted

Again, to be clear, there was no hacking involved here — a fact seemingly lost on Parson, but not on the scores of cybersecurity experts, reporters, and privacy advocates who actually understand the issue at hand.

Tweet may have been deleted

Tweet may have been deleted

Tweet may have been deleted

Tweet may have been deleted

Tweet may have been deleted

Tweet may have been deleted

“We stand by our reporting and our reporter who did everything right,” Ian Caso, the St. Louis Post Dispatch‘s president and publisher, told Mashable in a statement. “It’s regrettable the governor has chosen to deflect blame onto the journalists who uncovered the website’s problem and brought it to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s attention.”

We reached out to the office of the governor in an attempt to understand how it could have bungled this so badly. We received no immediate response.

However, his rambling at Thursday’s press conference, as reported by NBC News, speaks for itself.

SEE ALSO: Watch hackers Rickroll their entire high school district at once

“This individual is not a victim,” Parson reportedly said. “They were acting against a state agency to compromise teachers’ personal information in an attempt to embarrass the state and sell headlines for their news outlet. We will not let this crime against Missouri teachers go unpunished, and we refuse to let them be a pawn in the news outlet’s political vendetta.”

Parson, in other words, has no idea what he’s talking about.

If you thought the documentary horror genre was done, you need to see The Medium.

Streaming on Shudder, it’s the latest from Thai director Banjong Pisanthanakun, who helmed 2004’s Shutter. He has co-written The Medium with South Korean producer Na Hong-jin, writer/director of Cannes Film Festival favorite The Wailing. In their collaboration, the pair play the atmospheric long game, building a sense of dread slowly but surely, then locking audiences in after it’s too late to bail.

Framed as a (thankfully fictional) documentary, The Medium follows a film crew to a small town in the Isan area of northeastern Thailand, where they meet a shaman named Nim (Sawanee Utoomma). She claims to be possessed by a goddess called Ba Yan, who helps locals with blessings and spiritual ailments. For the Isan people, Nim explains, there are good spirits that protect and evil spirits that haunt and cause sickness. When the documentarians ask Nim if she changes her voice or body when possessed by such a spirit, she replies, “You might have watched too much TV. It doesn’t have to be like that.”

If only.

Nim, her sister Noi (Sirani Yankittikan), and their brother Manit (Yasaka Chaisorn) become concerned when Noi’s daughter Mink (Narilya Gulmongkolpech) begins behaving erratically. Once these actions move to a disturbing, withdrawn, and violent level, Nim and her family suspect they’re dealing with something sinister and supernatural. All the while, the documentary team rolls camera.

Noi (Sirani Yankittikan) tries to communicate with her daughter Mink (Narilya Gulmongkolpech).
Credit: CHRISTINE RAMAGE

The film’s first two acts move at a subtle, simmering pace, but the finale is sheer frightening chaos. It’s a diabolical move from director Pisanthanakun, who lulls audiences into a sense of security before swiftly pulling the rug out from under us. Sitting at over two hours, the film spends ample time with the characters but keeps the momentum through a sense of foreboding — thanks in part to Chatchai Ponhprapaphan’s haunting score. As events escalate, the documentarians’ distance to their subjects becomes compromised while they wonder whether they should try to help Mink. This shift is reflected in a mix of their footage and security camera coverage. And in the well-worn tradition of found footage/documentary horror films like Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project, The Medium saves the most disturbing moments for last. There’s a scene featuring a Hereditary-level reveal that had me sleepless for days.

To convincingly sell the documentary element, the performances in The Medium need to be exceptional, and they are. In particular, the three female leads, Gulmongkolpech, Utoomma, and Yankittikan, truly shine. As Mink, Gulmongkolpech undergoes a significant physical transformation, taking on the notoriously tough role of a character undergoing possession. (Just ask The Exorcist’s Linda Blair how fun it can absolutely not be.) As the film rolls on, Gulmongkolpech’s physicality becomes simply terrifying, bringing all the vibes of Billie Eilish’s famously creepy When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? album cover.

For her part, Utoomma is quietly powerful as Nim, who follows methodical spiritual instincts while beginning to question her beliefs. She’s given one particular moment when her usual composure is shattered in pure emotional pain. Yankittikan balances her onscreen sister with stubbornness and fierce maternal determination as Noi, not letting anyone tell her what to do in this wildly tempestuous situation.

Nim (Sawanee Utoomma) turns to ritual amid Mink’s symptoms.
Credit: CHRISTINE RAMAGE

Ritual and ceremony play a huge part in The Medium. Pisanthanakun places serious importance on both throughout the narrative, as well as the value of spiritual inheritance, with Nim and Noi piecing together a string of mysterious and tragic circumstances connected to their family. Fair warning, The Medium features some disturbing content. In the same vein as The Exorcist and other possession movies, this film touches on sexual taboos.

If you’re looking for something different from Hollywood’s version of found footage/documentary horror that nonetheless plays within the parameters, check out The Medium. It’s truly frightening in parts, but also delves into family dynamics and the complexities of belief and ritual — and what happens when we question it all.

The Medium is now streaming on Shudder.

While you’re there, we’ve rounded up the best Shudder originals, horror comedies, and the scariest films on Shudder.