Entertainment
Overlooked, Unrated Thriller Bends Time And Laughs At Fate
By Robert Scucci
| Published
The concept of free will is a fickle one if you can see your own future and realize that no matter what choice you make in the present, you’ll wind up at the same outcome. 2019’s Volition toys with this deterministic notion when its hero can’t escape his fate no matter how many times he tries to course correct. He’s not living in a choose your own adventure timeline, but in an adventure with a grisly end that always seems to choose him.
Through this framework, Volition succeeds as a time traveling sci-fi thriller where free will and determinism are locked in constant opposition, with no clear way to break the cycle of betrayal, deception, and violence that traps our protagonist Jimmy (Adrian Glyn McMorran). As more variables enter the equation, Jimmy tries to make sense of his surroundings and correct the predetermined path he’s convinced he has to follow, hoping to reach a conclusion he can actually live with.
Clairvoyance, Diamonds, New Relationships, And Death
When we’re first introduced to Jimmy in Volition, we already know he’s blessed or cursed with clairvoyance. He uses his inexplicable ability for sports betting, while also experiencing fleeting flashes of deja vu that hit without warning. Having lived this way without too many complications, Jimmy’s life takes a turn when a woman named Angela (Magda Apanowicz) is mugged by a group of low level criminals. After catching a flash of a future moment suggesting they become friends, or maybe more than friends, he decides to pursue her.
Around the same time, Jimmy’s old friend Sal (Frank Cassini) introduces him to Ray (John Cassini), who offers him the chance to fence a bag of diamonds worth millions. Jimmy only accepts because his visions imply that this is how events are supposed to unfold. In his mind, the future isn’t something to avoid, it’s something he has to fulfill. Up until this point, he’s believed he has no real influence over the outcomes of his visions, so he might as well go with the flow.
As expected, Jimmy and Angela grow closer while Sal and his accomplice Terry (Aleks Paunovic) plan to betray Ray by stealing the diamonds from Jimmy and keeping the profits for themselves. The double cross sets off a chain reaction that forces Jimmy and Angela to flee to Jimmy’s estranged foster dad, Elliot (Bill Marchant), who happens to be a quantum physicist. As fate would suggest, at least in Jimmy’s mind, these events build toward what was always destined to happen. There will be a scuffle at Elliot’s house, and Angela will be shot dead.
Refusing to accept that this is how the scenario must play out, Jimmy consults Elliot, who reveals he created a time travel serum administered intravenously, and that Jimmy’s clairvoyance isn’t mystical at all. It’s the result of being subjected to the serum during childhood. Jimmy is understandably furious that his foster dad used him as a lab rat, but he’s relieved to learn that his visions are actually memories from previous time hops. If that’s the case, he may be able to change the future if he can map it out correctly.
A Time Loop Worth Getting Lost In
Volition becomes especially enthralling once it leans fully into Jimmy’s time loop, which fragments at increasingly absurd levels as he tries to save Angela from the encounter that claims her life. He experiences memories, past, future, and present in rapid bursts, making split second decisions based on limited information. He uses the wall of his apartment as a reference point to track overlapping timelines, watching himself from afar and interfering when necessary, yet still failing to crack the code.
No matter what he does, Angela dies, and he refuses to accept that outcome. If saving her life while sacrificing his own is his purpose, so be it. Having never cared about anyone as deeply as he cares about her convinces him that the ultimate tradeoff might be the only way to find peace.
There aren’t any flashy special effects in Volition outside of Jimmy’s visions, which is exactly what I appreciate in a time travel story. The film benefits from that restraint because the experience isn’t driven by laser beams or futuristic gadgetry. Everything unfolds inside Jimmy’s fractured perception as he buries himself deeper in similar yet slightly different timelines that all appear to lead to the same destination.
To experience the deja vu, the confusion, and one man laughing in the face of fate because he refuses to let a deterministic timeline call the shots, you can stream Volition for free on Tubi as of this writing.
Entertainment
In case you forgot, AMC movie tickets are 50% off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays — its a year-round thing
HALF OFF MOVIE TICKETS: AMC Stubs members get 50% off adult evening movie tickets every Tuesday and Wednesday.
All Stubs tiers are eligible for the promo
It’s been over a year since AMC announced that evening movie tickets would be 50% off every Tuesday and Wednesday. That officially bumps the promo into “year-round” territory.
It only feels right to re-remind you of how easy it is to get cheap movie tickets, given the nonstop bangers that summer 2026 is blessing us with. The Odyssey and Evil Dead Burn are the two must-see-in-theaters picks that come to mind as I write this post on July 21, but there’s bound to be a wicked box office lineup regardless of when you’re reading this. Heavy hitters like Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Resident Evil, Other Mommy, Verity, Avengers: Doomsday, Werwulf, and Dune: Part III are all making their theater debut in the last quarter of the year.
As long as you’re an AMC Stubs member, you can catch all of them for around $9 per person (ticket prices may vary slightly depending on your location). All tiers of the AMC Stubs membership have access to the promo, and Stubs members can buy up to 10 tickets at 50% off per showing. The discount applies to the base price of a standard adult evening ticket only — no IMAX.
Mashable Deals
To elevate the in-theater experience even more, Stubs members can also get 50% off small combos on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, like the heavenly pairing of popcorn and that good movie theater Coke. AMC’s snacks are apparently so elite that people are paying to order them at home through Uber Eats — and here you are, getting ’em for cheap.
Entertainment
Light Flip is a minimalistic, cheap flip phone that wont distract you
Remember Light, the New York-based company that builds super-simple, distraction-free, cheap smartphones?
It’s back with a new device; its first-ever flip phone called the Light Flip.
Once again, this is a cheap phone designed to free you from endless scrolling and social media addiction, while still offering the basic tools you need for everyday life. To do this, the company has built an Android-based, minimalistic operating system called LightOS that’s mostly textual and displays everything in just two colors. You do get access to music, messages, alarms, and other basic apps, but you don’t get to scroll the flashy new TIkTok video; that’s what your other phone is for.
The Light Flip is available in six colors: Black, Navy, Red, Pink, Yellow, and Light Gray.
Credit: Light Phone
The Light Flip doesn’t stray far from the formula, but approaches it with the body of a flip phone. In many ways, it’s far more simple than the company’s previous phone, the Light Phone III, which has an OLED touchscreen. The Light Flip is basically your flip phone of old, with a plastic body, a numeric, T9 keypad, some function buttons, and a 2.8-inch, non-touch display.
Mashable Light Speed
Numeric keypad? That’s right, but at least it supports T9 predictive input.
Credit: Light Phone
Inside, it’s powered by a MediaTek MT8873 chip, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and has a 50-megapixel camera and a (replaceable) 1,800mAh battery. Other amenities include a headphone jack (nice!), a USB-C port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 5G connectivity.
The camera on the back has a 50-megapixel sensor but takes 12-megapixel images.
Credit: Light Phone
The numeric keypad might be a tough sell to folks that are used to touchscreens or at least QWERTY keyboards. Fortunately, the Light Flip does support voice-to-text and audio messaging, too.
The phone is available in six colors: Black, Navy, Red, Pink, Yellow, and Light Gray.
The Light Flip retails for $299 or $39 per month with the Light Service plan. It starts shipping in April 2027.
Entertainment
The Ecovacs Goat 01000 RTK robot lawn mower is on sale for under $700 at Amazon
SAVE $301: The Ecovacs Goat 01000 RTK robot lawn mower is on sale for $698.99 at Amazon, down from the standard price of $999.99. That’s a 30% discount.
$698.99
at Amazon
$999.99
Save $301
Not many people consider the chore of mowing the lawn to be enjoyable. It’s a task we often hand off to the neighborhood kids or a professional landscaping crew. But if you’d rather take matters into your own hands, we have a great solution these days. Plus, an affordable model is on sale.
As of July 21, the Ecovacs Goat 01000 RTK robot lawn mower is on sale for $698.99 at Amazon, marked down from the list price of $999.99. That winds up being a savings of $301 from a 30% discount.
By now you’ve probably seen a robot lawn mower rolling around someone’s yard, but it’s still an abnormal sight. Just like the rollout of robot vacuums, we’ll slowly start to see more and more robots take over mowing the lawn. As someone with allergies, I’m totally cool with never touching a lawn mower ever again.
The Ecovacs Goat 01000 is designed to maintain lawns that span up to 0.25 acres in size. You don’t need to worry about a wire perimeter because it maps your yard and stays on course thanks to LiDAR RTK navigation that even works in the shade or under trees. It can even avoid obstacles when mowing in dark conditions.
Mashable Deals
The small mower body that measures 2.3 feet means it can mow in tight areas like between raised vegetable beds or small walkways. Plus, it has an IPX6 waterproof design. You get to decide on your ideal cutting length between 1.2 and 3.2 inches.
Today’s Amazon deal on the Ecovacs Goat 01000 applies to the robot mower with a care kit which includes 36 blades and an RTK AC adapter. Since the mower and the care kit are on sale for under $700, today is a great day to wave goodbye to the heavy and loud push mower and make the upgrade. Spend the rest of summer perfecting homemade slushies instead of doing yardwork.
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