Entertainment
Shia LaBeouf’s Rat Tail Seduces Homeless Women In R-Rated Netflix Road Drama
By Robert Scucci
| Published
I hated every single minute of American Honey (2016), and it’s rare for me to find zero redeeming qualities in a film. It’s not that it’s objectively terrible. A quick trip to Rotten Tomatoes, where it holds a 79 percent approval rating, does all the heavy lifting there. It’s 163 minutes of a young woman trying to find herself while selling magazines with a bunch of other wanderers, but something about this one really rubbed me the wrong way.
I think the problem I have with American Honey is that there’s no real goal or dream to latch onto. It’s static, and while that was probably writer-director Andrea Arnold’s intention, it didn’t land for me. I’m just not the right audience for this kind of movie. I like straightforward storytelling, and American Honey is pure slice of life. I don’t hate slice-of-life outings, but I still need some kind of goal, moral, or takeaway, and I never found one here.
This could have been distilled into 90 minutes and been just as effective. Even then, I don’t think I’d feel any differently about American Honey. I had the same reaction to Nomadland, so take that for what it’s worth.
Nearly 3 Hours Of Nothing Much At All
American Honey centers on Star (Sasha Lane). She lives in Oklahoma with her abusive father and acts as the primary caretaker for her younger siblings. She dumpster dives for food and lives a miserable life. You want to root for her because she’s clearly been dealt a bad hand and wants something better. She could take night classes a library, crash with a friend while getting on her feet, find a shelter in another town to escape her abusive family while still keeping tabs on her siblings from a safe but reachable distance. It wouldn’t be easy, but it’s doable.
Instead, Star meets Jake (Shia LaBeouf with a hideous rat tail haircut), who likes causing scenes while dancing at K-Mart. Their eyes lock and she’s instantly smitten. She abandons her siblings because she’s completely sold on becoming a traveling magazine sales person with Jake and his ragtag group of miscreants, led by the super sexy but manipulative Krystal (Riley Keough).
Here’s how the rest of American Honey plays out. Jake trains Star in sales. Star doesn’t like how Jake lies during his door-to-door pitches because it says everything you need to know about his moral compass. Star and Jake fall in love, or at least Star thinks they do. Krystal gets mad that Jake’s numbers are slipping since Star joined the crew. Krystal makes Jake massage her with lotion in a motel room while Star watches, marking her territory in what her mind is the most humiliating way possible.
Day after day, Star gets in the van, wakes up in a new state, and repeats the cycle. She sells a ton of “subscriptions,” but she’s really just running a game on a string of male suitors. She never fully commits to prostitution, but she plays the part just enough to make a disportionate amount cash for her exploits under the guise of working a low-level sales scam job. Shia LaBeouf’s rat tail flaps gently in the breeze when he admits he’s been stealing valuables from every house he enters. Star and Jake roll around in the grass, people get betrayed, more magazines are sold. Yawn.
You Can Trace The Origin Of The First Time Machine To Somebody Trying To Stop This Movie From Being Made
Call me old fashioned, but I like my movies to tell a story. It doesn’t matter if it’s straight-forward, esoteric, non-linear, or fragmented. There still needs to be something holding it all together. At its core, American Honey uses its slice-of-life approach to show Star’s struggles, but we only get fleeting glimpses of where she came from and where she might be going. I understand that this is probably the point, and that I’m just not picking up what it’s throwing down, but it frustrated me because there’s some interesting stuff happening throughout, but we only see it on a surface level. Probably another intentional artistic choice. It’s a subversive way to deliver social commentary on this kind of lifestyle, but this movie screams to be more visceral and cathartic by latching onto something tangible. It doesn’t do that, so it feels like a complete waste of time.
Star is a complex character, shaped by her unstable upbringing. The same could be said for everyone she’s working with as they bounce between motels and sell subscriptions just to scrape together a per diem and party their way through their teens and 20s. Everyone is running from something, and whatever that something is must be bad enough for this life to feel like a better option. Most of these characters are probably trying to be good people, even if their instincts are completely misguided. That’s what’s interesting to me. Watching them all operate in this kind of limbo for a prolonged period of time is a disservice to the kind of resilience that’s being actively celebrated in American Honey.
Except for Jake. He’s in full-on chode mode for the entire movie, and every single scene he’s in makes me wish time moved faster.
My disappointment with American Honey comes from how many compelling stories are sitting right there in front of you, but always just slightly out of reach. Every character has some idiosyncracy worth exploring, but instead we get a long sizzle reel of their antics as a collective. Even as a sizzle reel, it still clocks in at nearly three hours. The whole thing feels like young-adult nomad porn; the kind of fantasy about running away you have when you’re 15, when all you think you need to survive is the prospect of dry humping and occasionally blowing up bottle rockets.
American Honey is streaming on Netflix. Watch it. Or don’t. I don’t care.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 19, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you have a sweet tooth.
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: Lippy
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Green: Gowns
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Blue: Played in Vegas
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Purple: Sweet treats
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Cheeky
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Green: Dress measurements
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Blue: Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em
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Purple: Last words of candy brands in the singular
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 #1043 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Cheeky: ARCH, FRESH, SASSY, WISE
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Dress measurements: BUST, HIPS, LENGTH, WAIST
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Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em: FLOP, HOLE, RIVER, TURN
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Last words of candy brands in the singular: CAP, DUD, KID, MINT
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.
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.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for April 19, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re constantly changing.
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.
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.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Small change
The words are related to changes.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe fine-tuning.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is There I Fixed It.
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NYT Strands word list for April 19
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There I Fixed It
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Adjust
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Modify
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Alter
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Improve
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Tweak
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Refine
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 yesterday’s Strands.
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 19, 2026
Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you can never sit down.
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.
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.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
To rise.
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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
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Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.
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…
STAND
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.
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 yesterday’s Wordle.
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