Entertainment
Terrifying Viral Web Series Makes Its Big Screen Debut
By Jennifer Asencio
| Updated
The wait is over. After years of anticipation, Backrooms is finally here. The first trailer was dropped on March 31, 2026, and the surreal dimension audiences were introduced to in the amateur web series is finally coming into its own. The A24 production was directed by none other than Kane Pixels himself, Kane Parsons.
When Parsons filmed his masterpiece web series, he was a 17-year-old high school student with an experimental eye behind the camera. The Backrooms (Found Footage) follows a young filmmaker as he wanders into another dimension consisting of a labyrinth of rooms in a yellow-walled institutional setting. His work was noticed by Atomic Monster, the studio of horror great James Wan, director of The Conjuring movies and the Insidious franchise. Parsons still isn’t old enough to pop champagne at his movie’s premiere, but his maturity as a director is sure to excite fans of the web series.
Lost In Labyrinth
In the trailer for Backrooms, Chiwetel Ejiofor, known for playing Baron Mondo in the Doctor Strange movies, stars as Clark, an employee in a furniture showroom who one night finds a strange opening in the store’s basement. He passes through the opening and finds the very same dimension that is Parsons’s trademark, yellow walls and all. As he wanders around a little, strange events happen.
This makes him determined to study this strange alternate universe. He recruits some friends and gathers some camera gear, and the group begins its exploration. However, there is a young lady he speaks to that seems to be either a friend or a therapist, and when she stumbles upon the rooms without Clark’s knowledge, she may never come back.
At least, this is what I have gathered from watching the trailer. The script, written by Parsons and Will Soodik, has been kept under wraps since the movie was first announced. It appears to take place in the past (prior rumors said the 1990s), and IMDb doesn’t have a lot of information beyond the name of Ejiofor’s character and some production credits.
What we have been shown is exciting because it draws upon almost everything fans loved about the web series. It will feature found footage in the form of the explorations of Clark and his friends. The vast office complex that makes up the setting is adorned with surreal imagery like strangely stacked furniture and objects sunken into walls. Some of the characters show up in radiation gear. Somehow, between the yellow walls and the varying sizes of the rooms, passages, and hallways, the titular setting is both massive and claustrophobic at once, making it very unsettling.
A Deeply Unsettling Exploration
The whole movie seems to echo the trajectory of Parsons’s career so far: an eagerness to explore combined with an optimism for what Clark might find, while presenting a frightening and solitary menace for anyone who dares enter alone. Parsons began with that eagerness and is now getting to explore the world of cinema that he entered when he posted the original anthology on YouTube, with all the optimism of a kid who got his first directing contract before he even graduated high school.
If Backrooms maintains the tone set by Kane Pixels, it could draw new fans. If it manages to use the resources offered to Parsons by support from a professional studio, it could turn a teenager’s vision into the hottest new horror franchise. The trailer hints that it at least accomplishes the tone. Now to see if it can exceed expectations.
Get lost in Backrooms, in theaters on May 29, 2026.
Entertainment
Nicole Kidman's R-Rated Netflix Thriller Is 50 First Dates Meets Memento
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Have you ever watched Memento and thought to yourself, “I wish there was a crappier version of this film that makes no sense?” Well, your search is over, because 2014’s Before I Go to Sleep is streaming on Netflix. It’s billed as a psychological thriller, and technically it is, but it completely falls apart under scrutiny if you watch it for more than five seconds and have an IQ higher than the average goldfish.
It’s not the talent involved either. Before I Go to Sleep is adequately acted, and it looks fine. There are even some pretty neat flashback sequences. There’s nothing wrong with the cinematography, but the cast and crew alone can’t save a screenplay like this. You can’t act your way out of a premise so profoundly stupid that it requires four ibuprofen and a cool, dark room to recover from. The movie’s about amnesia, but unfortunately, I remember watching it, so I might as well talk about it.
Like Memento But Without The Drama, Mystery, Tension, Or Smart Hooks
Here’s the story that Before I Go to Sleep tries to tell. Christine Lucas (Nicole Kidman) has amnesia. Every day, her husband Ben (Colin Firth) gives her a 50 First Dates crash course on her identity, their relationship, her injury, and her memory loss. Meanwhile, another man named Mike Nasch (Mark Strong), who claims to be her psychologist, calls her daily to remind her that she’s keeping a record of her thoughts on a camera hidden in a shoebox in her closet. Every day, Christine wakes up, forgets what happened the day before, and repeats the cycle.
Christine has been living like this for 14 years. It’s only when the movie begins that all of this suddenly becomes a problem. She starts remembering her old friend Claire (Ann-Marie Duff), who gives her a crash course on what her life has been like since the accident. Through these increasingly preposterous encounters, Christine learns that she had a son with Ben. She also learns that Ben divorced her at some point, yet she’s still living with him. On top of that, Mike may not be entirely truthful, even though he’s the one who encouraged her to document everything in the first place. Smells like red herring to me.
Falls Apart During The First Act
What’s most perplexing about Before I Go to Sleep is how long Christine has been living like this without any meaningful intervention. She has no recollection of anything before her accident each time she wakes up. She should never be left alone to her own devices because she has a severe cognitive disability. The friends she reconnects with are way too casual about everything, as if hearing from someone out of the blue years after their traumatic brain injury is totally normal.
I understand that someone like Claire may have had repeated encounters with Christine and is playing along to avoid upsetting her, but that’s not what’s being implied here. Everything is far too convenient, with all signs pointing to the fact that somebody is up to something, which we learn through Christine’s flashbacks. The problem is that these flashbacks aren’t reliable, and they’re clearly being influenced by manipulative sources.
If you’re wondering who the manipulative source is, try the one living with her who has clearly been controlling the narrative from the opening scene onward. I’d say spoiler alert, but if you’ve seen even a couple psychological thrillers, you’ll know exactly how this ends before the opening credits finish rolling.
Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong do about as well as they can with what they’re given. But if I’m being honest, you’re better off huffing paint, watching 50 First Dates and Memento on two separate screens, and trying to piece them together every time you regain consciousness. It’s basically the same experience.
As of this writing, Before I Go to Sleep is streaming on Netflix.
Entertainment
Here’s a budget-friendly way to own a MacBook Pro that saves you over $1,500
TL;DR: Enjoy all the bells and whistles from Apple at a fraction of the price with this Macbook Pro, on sale now for $429.97 (reg. $1,999) through April 19.
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You need a laptop that can keep up with your life, and the MacBook Pro is up for the challenge. This model is powered by a 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor that has a 2GHz base speed and a Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz, so it’s ready to multitask. It also offers 16GB of RAM so it can handle video editing, coding, and other demanding tasks.
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If you’re tired of lugging around clunky external hard drives, you’ll be delighted by this MacBook Pro’s 1TB of SSD storage. Save important files locally, while still enjoying enough space for your favorite apps. It’s also equipped with a Magic Keyboard with a Touch Bar, so you can type comfortably and enjoy easy access to shortcuts.
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Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 5, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you love old-school detectives.
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:
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Atomic structure terms
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Green: Parts of a Sherlock Holmes costume
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Blue: Things to flip
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Purple: Starting with synonyms for “Slush”
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 #1029 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Atomic structure terms: ELECTRON, NUCLEUS, ORBIT, SHELL
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Parts of a Sherlock Holmes costume: DEERSTALKER, MAGNIFYING GLASS, PIPE, VIOLIN
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Things to flip: COIN, LIGHT SWITCH, PANCAKE, THE BIRD
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Starting with synonyms for “Slush”: GOOGOL, MUSHROOM, PASTEURIZE, PULPIT
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.
Nicole Kidman's R-Rated Netflix Thriller Is 50 First Dates Meets Memento
William Sawalich gets breakthrough victory at Rockingham
