Entertainment
Extremely R-Rated 80s Supernatural Thriller Forces You Into The Ultimate Sacrifice
By Robert Scucci
| Published
These days, ritualistic human sacrifices for harvest have all but been written off for the exact reasons you’d expect, but 1987’s The Believers suggests that such rituals are still actively carried out in the most unassuming of modern places if the conditions are just right. In this case, a psychologist’s son becomes the primary target of malevolent forces ahead of the summer solstice, and then there’s a lot of supernatural junk science that kind of gives you an idea of what sort of dark magic is being used, but in the most scatterbrained way you could imagine.
While an ambitious film that’s billed as horror but plays more like a procedural crime thriller with a supernatural bent, The Believers is a bit of a mess. But if you’re a genre fan, there are some genuinely great moments to take in, whether you find the film’s buildup, blowout, and resolution satisfying or not. At least for my money, spiders crawling out of a woman’s face rank pretty high on my ick list.
No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk
The Believers has one of those openings that will live rent-free in your mind for the rest of your life. First, we get a sizzle reel of tribal civilizations engaging in supernatural rituals to let us know this will come into play later, because otherwise, why start the movie that way? But that’s not what we’re here for. Instead, we’re introduced to psychologist Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen), his son Chris (Harley Cross), and his soon-to-be-dead wife, Lisa (Janet-Laine Green).
Everything’s fine for about a minute until a freak accident involving spilled milk and an overflowing coffee pot electrocutes Lisa to death, leading Cal and Chris to move from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to New York City, where the recently widowed father takes a job as a police psychologist. They move into a new apartment, where housekeeper and nanny Carmen (Carla Pinza) keeps a watchful eye on Chris, allowing Cal to eventually move on and start dating his silver medal, Jessica (Helen Shaver).
It’s around this time that everything starts going off the rails for Cal and his family. His first significant patient comes in the form of Tom Lopez (Jimmy Smits), who rants and raves about a Hispanic cult he knows about and how their version of brujeria is being carried out by a mysterious leader. Meanwhile, bodies are found all over the city, each seemingly murdered with a similar M.O. involving some sort of malevolent dark magic.
Tom’s revelations and, shortly afterward, his brutal, untimely death make Cal rightfully paranoid, clouding his judgment. Carmen, for example, gets caught performing a protection ritual on Chris, leading Cal to believe she’s part of the cult that’s abducting citizens and brutalizing them before dumping them around makeshift altars where they’re later found by authorities. Working with Tom’s friend, Oscar (Raul Davila), Cal surmises that Chris may be abducted and sacrificed in just a few days when the summer solstice arrives, forcing him to rely on his intuition to find the culprits behind this madness and save his son before it’s too late.
Great Overall Story, But Such A Trainwreck
The Believers is one of those movies where the whole is less than the sum of its parts. At least to me, it feels like writer Mark Frost and director John Schlesinger reached into a hat filled with various occult rituals they wanted to try out and simply ran with whatever they pulled. None of this mysticism or dark magic is ever fully explained, which normally works in a film’s favor. In this case, however, I felt like, in order to sell this grab bag of chants and incantations, there needed to be one central mythology we could latch onto instead of watching the film throw everything at the wall to see what sticks.
Martin Sheen and Harley Cross make a convincing father-and-son duo, and their best moments come from simply living through their grief. There’s a great sequence in the middle of the film involving Cal and Chris getting into it over where Jessica fits into their lives now that Lisa has passed away, and moments like this ground the film in ways that totally pay off by the time you get to the third act, when this whole thing goes completely batsh*t and a bunch of spiders explode out of Jessica’s face as the evil, unknown forces reach their most volatile.
If you’re a genre fan, The Believers is one of those movies you should at least be aware of. There are a lot of genuinely unnerving scenes here, but you also have to work through some not-so-great moments before everybody starts firing on all cylinders. When they do, you’ll wish you were in good company while watching the scenes that land, because the visuals can be genuinely upsetting in the best kind of way.
As of this writing, The Believers is streaming for free on Tubi.
Entertainment
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Language learning usually starts with good intentions. The trick is sticking with it long enough to order dinner confidently, ask for directions without panicking, or actually hold a conversation.
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Babbel keeps lessons short — just 10 to 15 minutes — making it much easier to fit learning into a lunch break, commute, or quiet evening at home. The lessons focus on real-life conversations, covering everything from travel and dining to shopping and business situations, so you’re learning phrases you’re actually likely to use.
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More than 15 million people worldwide have used Babbel, and the app holds an impressive 4.6-star rating on the App Store.
Whether your goal is planning an overseas trip, connecting with family, or simply learning something new, Babbel offers a flexible way to build practical language skills at your own pace.
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Entertainment
Meta avoids another trial over social media harms as teen plaintiff drops lawsuit
Meta has skirted another jury over claims its platforms are facilitating a youth mental health crisis.
The company was set to go to trial in the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles next week, but the 15-year-old plaintiff, referred to as R.K.C, has now dropped the lawsuit.
“In light of the overall successful result of the litigation and his concerns about enduring a grueling weeks-long trial, he has elected to withdraw his claims against Meta. He’s ready to close this chapter and focus on his recovery and engage in therapy as he aspires to have a normal life,” attorneys for R.K.C. said in a statement.
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According to the lawsuit, R.K.C. said he became addicted to social media over the last seven years, and linked his anxiety and depression to extensive time online. Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube were also named in the initial lawsuit, but the companies reached settlement deals with R.K.C prior to going in front of the jury.
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“Days after settling with other social media companies, the plaintiff dropped his case against Meta, the only remaining defendant, without receiving any payment,” a Meta spokesperson said following the news. “The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits.”
Meta’s spokesperson said the facts of the case could not prove that the company’s platforms caused R.K.C.’s mental health struggles. Meta previously called attention to the fact that R.K.C. had not spent significant amounts of time on Meta platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, in a Motion for Summary Judgment. The company also said they could not verify that R.K.C. had a long-standing account history on Meta platforms.
In March, Meta and YouTube were ordered to pay $6 million to another teen plaintiff who accused multiple social media companies of knowingly investing in design features that would hook users, despite knowing of their potential harm. The jury found the two companies liable for mental health-related harms caused by negligent design features and “social media addiction.” It was the first time a jury found social media companies responsible for the psychological effects of their platforms on teens.
At the time, Meta said it was appealing the decision. The company has faced multiple lawsuits brought forth by teens, parents, school districts, and state leaders. “Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app,” a Meta spokesperson said following the March verdict. “We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 23, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you’re a frequent flyer.
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
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Yellow: Rounded
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Green: Nervous Nancy
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Blue: Catch a flight
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Purple: Math words
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Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Spherical things
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Green: In an anxious state
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Blue: Parts of an airport
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Purple: Ending in geometry terms
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 #1138 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Spherical things: BASEBALL, GLOBE,
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In an anxious state: EXCITED, FEBRILE, FRENETIC, INTENSE
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Parts of an airport: PINS, SNAPS, TWEETS, VINES
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Ending in geometry terms: APPOINT, DEPLANE, FELINE, JANGLE
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 yesterday’s Connections.
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The smartest language lessons still start with human experts
