Entertainment
The R-Rated Sci-Fi Comedy That's A Perfect, Puffy Alien Invasion
By Robert Scucci
| Published
The nature of my work on this site and elsewhere requires me to be chronically online in order to watch, write, research, and publish content. The idea of throwing my phone into an incinerator crosses my mind at least once a week. I hate the internet, and I hope to one day be brave enough to leave it forever. In the meantime, I live vicariously through people who take the plunge, quit their jobs, move to the country, and live off the fat of the land. That was my exact intention when firing up 2020’s Save Yourselves!, an apocalyptic sci-fi comedy built around that very premise.
Technology rules our lives, and it’s designed to keep us distracted from finding our greatest purpose if we only experience the world through screens. What those who romanticize off-grid living don’t tell you is that sometimes you actually need the occasional news alert to navigate your life, especially when an alien invasion is underway and you slept through it because you were holed up in a remote cabin trying to find yourself.
The Worst Week To Take A Soul-Searching Vacation
Save Yourselves! tells the story of Su (Sunita Mani) and Jack (John Paul Reynolds), who have grown tired of the rat race. They both work disposable tech jobs that will likely be overwritten by AI, and they realize they’re living to work instead of working to live. If they keep maintaining the status quo, they’ll always be halfway happy, never fully satisfied.
Resolving to go off-grid for a week, Su and Jack head to their friend Raph’s (Ben Sinclair) remote cabin. The rules are simple: phones off, no laptops, and total immersion in nature. They’ll kayak, chop wood, build fires, drink under the stars, and make homemade bread. It all sounds wholesome, and for the first night or so, it actually is.
Their plans unravel when they discover a fuzzy object in their den that looks like a sentient Hostess Sno Ball and seems to appear and disappear at will. In a moment of weakness, Su checks her phone and learns that these creatures are everywhere. They feed off ethanol and are systematically overtaking major metropolitan areas. To make matters worse, the creature, dubbed a pouffe by Su, eats Jack’s sourdough starter, drinks all the whiskey, and siphons the gas from what they think is their only getaway vehicle.
The Aliens Are Fun, But Point To A Much Larger Problem
While the cute little pouffes wreak havoc in Save Yourselves!, the bigger issue is how Jack and Su handle themselves. When they find a diesel-fueled vehicle hidden in the barn, Jack breaks down. He wanted to be a modern man, which in his mind meant avoiding learning practical skills like chopping wood, fixing plumbing, or driving a stick shift. He got into tech specifically so he wouldn’t have to learn those things, only to realize he’s not particularly good at tech either.
Su, who once dated someone who drove a stick, steps in and gets the truck moving. But the farther they get from the cabin, the more it dawns on them that the world as they know it is collapsing under the pouffe invasion.
Ironically, their timing couldn’t have been better. The technologies they were trying to escape stopped working anyway, and they get exactly what they wanted at the start of the film, just in the most inconvenient way possible. Save Yourselves! has a lot of fun with the idea that we’re enslaved to our devices, and the literal end of the world kicking off the moment its protagonists unplug is a strong comedic framework that never feels preachy.
John Paul Reynolds and Sunita Mani are instantly likable as a couple who feel unmoored in life. Their willingness to improvise, like lobbing wine bottles from their moving vehicle to distract the pouffes, makes for consistently entertaining chaos. Things escalate further when they rescue a baby they have no idea how to care for, forcing them to figure it out together in the middle of an apocalypse without attending YouTube university for a crash course on parenting.
Equal parts wholesome and horrifying, Save Yourselves! is currently streaming for free on Tubi. If you want to explore a similar premise through a more serious lens, Leave the World Behind is available for streaming on Netflix.
Entertainment
A controversial dating app uses credit scores to create matches
Just when you thought the outcry against dating app culture couldn’t get any louder, an old app returns to remind us that there truly is no floor.
Enter Score, an app that was first launched back in 2024 by a financial services company looking to promote greater openness about personal finances. To qualify for Score membership, users had to prove they had a credit score of 675 or above, and that gimmick somehow garnered them north of 50,000 active users.
According to a recent interview with TechCrunch, Score founder Luke Bailey is eager to relaunch the app. There is already a Score website where you can sign up for the waiting list and discover their new tagline: “Dating For People With Good Credit.”
In the new-and-improved Score, inclusivity is the focus. The app will offer two membership tiers: a general-access membership for everyone and a higher tier for members who are willing to verify their credit scores. Doing so unlocks more quality-of-life features, including the ability to send video introductions or message people who haven’t already swiped to talk to you.
Mashable Light Speed
Score is teaming up with Equifax to handle both credit and ID verification, prompting tech-savvy critics to raise privacy concerns. But according to a press release, Bailey doesn’t believe there’s anything inherently superficial about using a credit score as a proxy for dating value.
“We look at credit not as a measure of wealth, but as a reflection of consistency and reliability. Most dating platforms measure attrition,” says Bailey in the press release. “We measure reliability alongside compatibility.” The general idea being that someone who doesn’t shirk their regular credit card payments is also less likely to ghost their dating app matches.
The timing of the Score launch is also inauspicious, as younger Americans are simultaneously experiencing a credit crunch and a weakening job market comparable to the 2008 financial crisis, with average credit scores falling at a faster rate than at any time since 2009. The bet that Score is making is that, in a search for financial stability, users might re-prioritize the credit-worthiness of their potential partners, but it’s just as likely that young people will view this move as yet another crass attempt to harvest user data under the guise of offering a worthwhile service.
Finally, the app’s underlying thesis deserves some scrutiny. Are credit-worthy people also inherently more reliable in dating? Does a missed credit card payment suggest a flaky personality, or someone likely to forget to return a phone call or remember a birthday? We suspect the market will supply the answer to those questions.
Topics
Apps & Software
Money
Entertainment
This 57” Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Gaming Monitor is 35% off for President’s Day weekend
SAVE $800: As of February 14th, Amazon has this 57” Samsung Odyssey gaming monitor on sale for $1,499, which 35% off down from its list price of $2,299.
This weekend, you could upgrade your significant other’s Valentine’s Day (or year) by picking up this massive gaming monitor from Samsung. This 57” Samsung Odyssey gaming monitor has a slight curve for true immersion into your virtual world of choice. Samsung claims that it’s the world’s first dual UHD monitor, meaning it’s the first monitor to be as big as two side-by-side 27″ UHD monitors.
With this colossally wide field of view, you also get a 240Hz refresh rate (which reduces lag) and a 1ms response time, both of which contribute to a seamless, crisp visual experience. The monitor comes with DisplayPort, HDMI, and a USB hub for hooking up your devices with ease.
Reviewers of this monitor praise its picture and resolution quality. One reviewer who upgraded from two side-by-side monitors said it was super worth it. Other reviewers praised the convenience of a screen this wide for multitasking and gaming.
Mashable Deals
One five-star reviewer mentioned that the monitor is quite heavy and might not be compatible with an arm attachment. If you’ve been wanting to upgrade your workstation, this could be a monumental addition to the mix.
Entertainment
This weekend you can get the DJI 4K drone for $60 off
SAVE $60: As of February 14th, Amazon has the DJI mini 4k drone on sale for $239, down from its list price of $299.
$239
at Amazon
$299
Save $60
This weekend is seeing an excellent sale on the DJI Mini 4K drone for a limited time. Save 20% on this drone with a 3-axis gimbal and the ability to capture UHD footage in up to 23 mph winds. Brushless motors can reach altitudes of up to 4,000 meters.
The DJI mini is also beginner-friendly with features like one-touch takeoff and landing (which saves you from many common manual arrival and departure accidents). The mini also comes replete with the GPS return-to-home feature, which works like a boomerang, returning to you from up to 10km. The 10km figure was measured in a completely unobstructed environment with no buildings, trees, or inclement weather obstructing the signal. This is the absolute maximum distance your drone could travel before losing connection, transmission, and the ability to return to you. To be safe, DJI says the connection range is more like 1.5-3km in high-obstruction urban areas and 3-6 km in medium-obstruction areas like suburbs.
Mashable Deals
The DJI mini 4K is light enough that it doesn’t require registration with the FAA. The device also features “Intelligent Quickshots” that perform more advanced shots, such as Helix and Circle shots, on their own. This gives you the chance to capture professional-looking footage without a ton of experience.
A controversial dating app uses credit scores to create matches
This 57” Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Gaming Monitor is 35% off for President’s Day weekend
