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TL;DR: Watch the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of France for free on ServusTV. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The 2025 MotoGP is shaping up to be pretty special. Marc Márquez, Álex Márquez, and Francesco Bagnaia are battling it out at the top of the standings, with all eyes on Le Mans this weekend.

If you're interested in watching the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of France for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of France?

The MotoGP Grand Prix of France takes place at Le Mans. The 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of France race starts at 8 a.m. ET on May 11.

How to watch the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of France for free

The MotoGP Grand Prix of France is available to live stream for free on ServusTV.

ServusTV is geo-restricted to Austria, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Austria, meaning you can bypass geo-restrictions to access ServusTV from anywhere in the world.

Unblock ServusTV by following this simple process:

1. Sign up for a VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Austria

4. Connect to ServusTV

5. Watch MotoGP for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (2-Year Subscription + 4 Months Free) $139 at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access MotoGP live streams without fully committing with your cash. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it does mean you can watch the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of France before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming sites from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for live streaming is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for MotoGP?

ExpressVPN is the top choice for unblocking ServusTV, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Austria

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is protected

• Fast streaming speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Watch the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of France for free with ExpressVPN.

SAVE $100: As of May 9, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is on sale for $279.99 at Amazon. That's $100 off its list price of $379.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 $279.99 at Amazon
$379.99 Save $100 Get Deal

We made a massive fuss about the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 dropped to its lowest-ever price last month. We shouted from the rooftops, we rang the bells, and we lit the beacons. And now we look like monumental fools.

Shame on us for not seeing into the near future. We jumped on that lowest-ever price like greedy children crowding around birthday cake at the end of a party. We should have stepped back, assessed the scene, and realized that a much bigger, tastier cake was being held back for the adults. Well that cake has been wheeled in, and it's absolutely glorious.

SEE ALSO: The best smartwatch for every wrist

As of May 9, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is on sale for $279.99 at Amazon. That's $100 off its list price of $379.99, and a new record-low price on Amazon according to camelcamelcamel. Congratulations if you remained patient when the last deal dropped and we made all that noise. Your reward is an extra $10 saving. Spend it on something nice, and wipe that smug grin off your face.

The lowest-ever price might provide you with the nudge you needed to buy, but in case you're not convinced, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 speaks for itself. This popular smartwatch offers a variety of health and fitness features to keep you in the know, including a heart rate tracker, sleep tracker, wellness tips, and an Energy Score that lets you know exactly how much you're going to struggle through the day.

Don't miss out on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 at its lowest-ever price at Amazon.

The Justice Department and Google are wrapping up a three-week hearing that could have a major impact on the search giant and how people gather information online.

A federal judge’s recent ruling has made it possible for apps to sell software and subscriptions outside the App Store without having to pay a commission.

Court documents show the company commissioned a sham report and lied on the stand to justify its actions, which will cast a shadow over future lawsuits.

At a landmark antitrust trial, a judge is weighing how to define competition for the social media giant in order to decide whether it broke the law.

Have you received an urgent email from tech support company Geek Squad, charging you an exorbitant amount of money for a subscription renewal?

It's a scam. The email is not really from Geek Squad, which is a legitimate business owned by the electronics retail chain Best Buy. And while scammers love to make it sound like you're minutes away from a massive credit card charge, they can't really charge you. The large amount stated in the email is just there to scare you…that is, unless you respond and give the cybercriminals the information they want.

So, up top, let's be clear: Don't respond to these Geek Squad scam emails. Ignore them. Don't engage with the scammer.

Reddit What is the Geek Squad scam?

Fake subscription or payment scams have been quite popular in recent months. One growing scam in this vein is the E-Z Pass toll road text scam, which tries to trick targets into thinking they owe a payment for a toll road. Victims either pay a phony bill, or they hand over valuable personal information while trying to "correct" the penalty.

The Geek Squad scam is quite similar. The scammer sends a fake bill via email to an unsuspecting target. The bill is ostensibly for a subscription to Geek Squad's technical support services. Sometimes, the bill will be for general support or for a specific yet vague product like a "network shield" or "computer protection."

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However, there is one common strategy that these Geek Squad scammers all use: The price for the service is usually an exorbitant amount. It's not uncommon for these emails to inform users that they will be charged in the range of $300 to $500 for a renewal of this nonexistent subscription service.

The pricing on the fake bill is quite purposeful. A target will see they are about to be charged a large sum of money and immediately reach out to the phone number provided in hopes of stopping the charge. This is both a common technique among scammers and a dead giveaway: Beware all emails and texts that try to create a sense of urgency. Legitimate businesses won't use these kinds of pressure tactics.

Reddit

As with the toll scams, there's another layer here: Some victims will reach out to the scammer to stop the erroneous charge. If they are a Geek Squad customer, they'll contact the number with the belief that they are talking to real Geek Squad representative. If they're not, the scammers will try to trick them into revealing credit card numbers, social security numbers, or some other valuable information.

The Geek Squad scam has been going around for a few years now, which means it must be rather successful for scam artists because they keep utilizing this strategy. Over the past few months, there's been an uptick in local news reports on the scam, particularly in New York and Wisconsin, so be on your gard.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. How to avoid getting scammed

While scammers have likely been raking in the cash with their Geek Squad scam, thankfully, it's also very easy to avoid getting scammed.

The scammer relies on their target seeing the fake bill and contacting them via a link or phone number included in the email. Once the victim makes contact, the scammer engages in basic social engineering strategies to trick the target into giving them private information. Victims have also reported that the scammer convinced them to install software that allowed them to remotely control the target's computer.

Simply do not engage with an email allegedly from Geek Squad. Do not reply to the email. Do not click a link in the email. Do not call the phone number listed in the email.

If you are a Geek Squad customer and must reach the company, please go to Geek Squad's official website at Best Buy, which provides a real number for legitimate contact.

In conclusion: If you're wondering if that Geek Squad email is real, assume that it isn't.

The past week or so has been a real whirlwind for anyone lookin forward to Grand Theft Auto VI.

Last Friday, Rockstar told us the game was delayed to the middle of 2026. Then, on Tuesday, we got a surprise second trailer for the game, full of story bits and some looks at the very realistic and lively looking version of Vice City that acts as its setting. Finally, on Wednesday, Rockstar revealed one more very interesting detail about the trailer itself: It was captured entirely on a base PlayStation 5 console, and apparently features "equal parts" gameplay and cutscenes.

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The first part of that announcement is a very pleasant surprise. There's been a vibe online for a while now that Rockstar is creating a game world so large, fully-featured, and vibrant that it will struggle to run on current hardware. Hearing that Rockstar was able to capture all of the footage in this trailer, which does indeed look incredible on a technical level, on a regular PS5, is heartening for folks who thought they'd be left behind without upgrading to at least a PS5 Pro.

SEE ALSO: ‘Grand Theft Hamlet’ review: 'Grand Theft Auto' meets Shakespeare in hilarious, moving doc

It's tougher to suss out which parts of the trailer are cutscenes and which are gameplay. A large majority of it, to me, looks like cutscenes, but there are a few shots of the protagonists driving cars, airboats, and jet-skis that look like they could conceivably be gameplay footage. None of it is shown from a third-person gameplay camera angle, though, so it's really hard to tell what is and isn't running in real-time.

Beyond all of that, Rockstar posted an absolute bounty of 70 screenshots from the game on its website to go alongside the trailer. There are obviously way too many to share in this one article, but I picked out my favorites.

See the Grand Theft Auto VI screenshots Vice City at sunset. Credit: Rockstar Games Decidedly not Vice City. Credit: Rockstar Games The Miami party vibes are out of control in 'GTA 6.' Credit: Rockstar Games Lucia Caminos gets locked up. Credit: Rockstar Games Find your happy place, Cal Hampton. Credit: Rockstar Games A character named DreQuan Priest. Credit: Rockstar Games A character billed as Raul Bautista. Credit: Rockstar Games The character Leonida Keys, who has real Florida Woman vibes. Credit: Rockstar Games

There are more than 60 more to sift through beyond that, so have yourself some fun during downtime at work by looking at them and wishing the game was out this month instead of next year.

My wife and I ran a half-marathon in Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago. If you're a runner, it was us, along with probably half your timeline.

Carl Radke from Bravo's Summer House? Check. Sen. Chuck Schumer, for whatever reason? Check. White House stenographer and running influencer Kate Mackz? Check (and more on her later). This isn't entirely surprising, considering some 25,000 people showed up to jog 13.1 miles that Sunday. But it's a symptom of a bigger, more annoying problem.

Run clubs, running influencers, #RunTok, and the concept of running as a trend have gone too far. It's making running less enjoyable.

Am I an old man yelling at a cloud? No! I am an old man yelling at a group of 40 jabronis, dressed in sleek, moisture-wicking, wildly expensive gear. I'm yelling at that very same group, rumbling down the narrow Williamsburg bridge path, three-wide, impossibly jolly, barreling through the solitary walkers and joggers.

If you think I'm exaggerating, I'm not. These were the exact conditions of the training runs my wife and I took. No fewer than a half-dozen times were we entirely overwhelmed — like a picnic inundated with fit, person-sized gnats — by oversized run clubs. And if you think I'm airing a local, personal grievance in a national publication, well, you're only half correct. Because it is a personal grievance that ultimately gets at a wider trend.

First of all, I'm not the only one complaining about the overbearing NYC run clubs. A thread blew up on Reddit eight months ago debating the subject. And it's not just NYC. It's a hotly debated issue on runner forums, all over social media, in Australia, and pretty much everywhere, to some degree.

SEE ALSO: I ran a half-marathon in my backyard like that viral tweet. I don't recommend it.

Now, to be clear, I love that people are running. I have been a runner my entire life. Not to brag (but to brag), I've done three marathons and ran a backyard half for Mashable during the COVID lockdown. My day doesn't feel complete without a jog, and it's cool that more people agree nowadays. What started for lots of people as a COVID-friendly hobby has become a wildly popular means for socializing. RunSignUp had 7.4 million race registrations in 2019. By 2024, that figure was 10.8 million. RunTok has racked up more than a billion views and attracted major brands like Nike and Brooks.

Run clubs themselves are not even the problem, not really. Neither is #RunTok nor running influencers. It's the confluence of those things that's turning running into a trend rather than a fun activity. It's the internet's obsession with too much of a good thing. It's the same disease that turns every Internet Thing into something with a massive, mobbed-out line. A 40-minute wait for a viral croissant is equivalent to the 40-person blob of runners swallowing the sidewalk.

It's great that people are turning to running, so much so that it's been called the "new group chat." It's awesome to see people hang out IRL while getting in a nice sweat. But a group chat with 40-some people is just as overbearing as a run club that size. We, as runners, have to practice etiquette.

SEE ALSO: The internet will have you wait in lines. Don't do it.

My proposal? Ten people. A group of runners has no reason to be more than 10 people. That gives you plenty of runners to chat with and enough bodies to claim some space from cars and cyclists (don’t even get me started on car culture). But it limits your group so it's not hogging the street, sidewalk, or bike path. If your run club has more than 10 people show up that day? Sick! I'm so glad you're building a community. Split that community up into groups of 10, each running a different route. You can all end at the same park and chat after your respective jogs.

While I complain, it's also important to note that run clubs have become, in a good way, about much more than running. Some have morphed into matchmaking groups. Lots of run clubs, like Philly's Slow Girl Run Club, have made it a point to welcome in all kinds of folks and make the hobby more approachable. It's genuinely wonderful that you could meet your partner, find friends, get acclimated to a city, or build community via running.

SEE ALSO: The Fitbit Inspire 3 is the budget-friendly fitness tracker of our dreams

But we should also be wary of anyone commoditizing running, which can include run clubs or the bandleaders therein. One of the things that makes running so beautiful is that anyone can do it. Sure, you can spend thousands of dollars on the latest shoes, gear, and gadgets. And you can also throw on a pair of sweats and hit the pavement. There is no entry fee for running. You don't need anyone to tell you how to do it; it's already coded within your DNA. And you certainly don't need an influencer like Mackz, a Brooklynite who'd lean on her audience's morals for views.

But I'd argue Mackz was already a symbol of where running went wrong before, you know, cheerfully selling out to the Trump administration by interviewing its press secretary while pretending to have the critical thinking skills of a goldfish. What started as a harmless schtick — she interviews people while running — quickly became a vehicle for celebrity worship and naked shilling. Her whole brand became using the trend of running to sell you on celebs Being Normal. The fun of RunTok, of runners finding community, is stripped for parts and presented for sale.

Sorry, but that sucks. And no, that doesn't directly relate to the hordes of runners in run clubs. But it's of the same ecosystem. To paraphrase reality TV, it's not running for the right reasons. Run clubs are great until you're doing a run club because doing a run club is what everyone's doing. Because here's a little secret: Jogging in a group of 40-some people cannot be fun for the runners. If you've ever done a race, you know this. The start of any running race is cramped and miserable. You jostle to find open paths and fret about turning an ankle. You're constantly either passing or getting passed. Packing a large group of runners onto the sidewalk, which, mind you, is still occupied by walkers, dogs, kids, and other runners, is basically recreating those circumstances.

Running should be meditative, and fun, and difficult, and hard on your knees, and rewarding, and the last thing you want to do after a long day, and the thing you're glad you did once you've done it. Running has been around since...well...since human beings have been around. We don't need to reinvent jogging — it doesn't need to be a trend or more than it is.

Running is putting one foot in front of the other and repeating for an indeterminate amount of time and distance. That's beautiful. It's between you and the ground and gravity, and it does not require dozens of comrades to bear witness.

TL;DR: Turn your smartphone into a scanner with a lifetime subscription to SwiftScan VIP, now just $41.99 with code TAKE30 through June 1.

Don’t have the space for a desktop scanner? Those bulky gadgets are no longer in high demand, but we still need to be able to scan documents. SwiftScan updates the scanning process for 2025, offering a simple way to digitize documents directly from your device.

Right now, you can turn your smartphone or tablet into an on-demand scanner forever with a lifetime subscription to SwiftScan VIP for only $41.99 (reg. $199.99) with code TAKE30 through June 1.

Turn your smartphone into a scanner

It’s surprising how often we need to scan things nowadays. From saving receipts to snapping a barcode or filling out a form, SwiftScan’s user-friendly interface lets you create high-quality scans with one tap. And this lifetime subscription means you’ll have a scanner at your fingertips every day.

SwiftScan instantly identifies document edges and captures and crops your pages, saving them as premium-quality scans that start at 200 dpi. Color filters, auto-optimization, and blur reduction offer enhancements, allowing you to decide whether to save them as a JPEG or PDF.

Need to scan multiple pages? That’s no problem — SwiftScan can even save them as a single document with Multi-Page scans. It can also scan QR codes and barcodes to save contacts, open websites, view product information, and more.

Once you’ve scanned, you can easily send files to where they need to go via email, fax, or upload them to your preferred cloud storage service.

In addition to scanning, SwiftScan also serves as a PDF editor. You can draw, highlight, or erase text in your scans. There’s also the option to add signatures and notes, redact content, or add, remove, or reorder multiple pages, if needed. It also saves and organizes your scans in folders so you can easily find them later.

Make the scanning process seamless with a lifetime subscription to SwiftScan VIP for just $41.99 (reg. $199.99) with code TAKE30 now through June 1.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Maple Media SwiftScan VIP: Lifetime Subscription $41.99
$199.99 Save $158 Get Deal

TL;DR: Keep track of your wallet once and for all with the KeySmart® SmartCard, now available in a three-pack for just $79.97 (reg. $119.97) through May 11.

Tired of hunting down your wallet every time you leave the house? Or searching for your passport at the last minute before a big trip? The KeySmart SmartCard makes finding your items as easy as opening the Apple Find My app. And right now, a three-pack of these sleek trackers can be yours for just $79.99 for the next two days.

Stop losing things with this sleek smart tracker

The KeySmart SmartCard is less than 2mm thick — about the size of two credit cards — making it an ultra-slim option that’s great for places AirTags just can’t fit, like wallets or passports. There’s also a lanyard slot available so that you can keep an extra eye on your ID cards or security badges.

Once you place your KeySmart® SmartCard, add it to the Find My app on your Apple device for easy tracking. It plays a sound when you need to locate it, and even notifies your Apple devices if you’ve left it behind.

If you lose an item, the KeySmart SmartCard can help you get it back by showing the last known location and displaying a message and contact information to anyone who finds your card.

Got an item that might be braving the elements? You can rest easy knowing it has an IPX8 rating, one of the highest possible waterproof ratings, so that it can survive up to an hour in 3.3 feet of water.

The rechargeable battery on the KeySmart SmartCard lasts up to five months on a single charge. And when you do need to recharge it, you can power it up with any Qi-enabled wireless charger, so you don’t need a special cable.

Act fast to score a three-pack of KeySmart® SmartCards for just $79.97 (reg. $119.97) now through May 11.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: KeySmart KeySmart® SmartCard - Works with Apple Find My (3-Pack) $79.97
$119.97 Save $40 Get Deal

At this point, just the sight of Tim Robinson's face is a comedic weapon.

Case in point: the opening scene of Friendship, which begins with a tight shot on cancer survivor Tami (Kate Mara) sharing with her support group. As the camera zooms out, her husband Craig (Robinson) comes into view beside her, and his look of too-intense concentration is enough to send anyone into orbit. It's not long before he opens his mouth to glibly interrupt Tami's worries about her cancer returning, just the first of many social faux pas Craig will commit across the course of Friendship.

SEE ALSO: Summer Movie Preview: What's coming to theaters and streaming?

If you're both cringing and cackling at the thought of this interaction, that's the Robinson effect. The I Think You Should Leave creator is a master at wringing comedy from social anxiety, as well as crafting oddball characters whose quirks are only outweighed by their earnestness (and their propensity for shouting). All these qualities are on display in Friendship, a film that tests the limits of how much Robinson-style cringe comedy you can stand.

Hardcore Robinson fans will likely enjoy, but even as a Robinson appreciator, I felt that the I Think You Should Leave-style bits that make the film's early scenes such an uncomfortable blast quickly lose their sheen. They work well in sketches, but can they hold up the weight of an entire feature film? Friendship, written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, suggests not.

What's Friendship about? Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in "Friendship." Credit: A24

At its core, Friendship is all about the trials of male friendship and male loneliness. Robinson's Craig has little to no social life — as Tami points out, he always spends his evenings sitting in their living room. ("You don't know my schedule!" Craig spits, one of many great Robinson line readings.)

So when neighbor Austin (Paul Rudd) invites Craig over for a drink, it's more than just a friendly get-together. For Craig, it's the start of a brand-new, beautiful future. In fantasy sequences, he sees himself playing drums in Craig's band, then leading Craig and a larger crew through the apocalypse.

SEE ALSO: Why 'I Think You Should Leave' Season 2 is a major meme event

His encounters with Austin are almost as fantastical as his imagined future. Austin brings him through their town's sewer system to the top of city hall. He takes Craig mushroom foraging. He encourages Craig to ditch his phone, to buy a drum set, to try new things.

But their beautiful friendship collapses after a nightmare hang with Austin's other friends. One shattered glass door, several bruised noses, and one a capella cover of Ghost Town DJs' "My Boo" later, Craig is ousted from Austin's inner circle and left to spiral.

Friendship starts strong, then unravels. Tim Robinson in "Friendship." Credit: A24

These opening sequences of Craig and Austin's early meets are Friendship's strongest, with Robinson nailing the awkward catch-up of hanging out with someone you definitely want to be friends with. Rudd, meanwhile, excels as a character who has his own struggles and ambitions — like wanting to be the morning weatherman instead of the evening — but who also exists for Craig to project his fantasies of friendship onto. Their odd-couple dynamic is rife with opportunities for anxiety-inducing laughs, which comes to a fever pitch in the aforementioned group hang.

But once Craig and Austin have their friendship breakup, Friendship finds itself as adrift as Craig. The film meanders from one bit to the next — like a disastrous meeting with the town mayor, or an unsuccessful return to the sewers — with each acting like its own sketch that's been awkwardly strung together. Perhaps this unmoored feeling is DeYoung's goal, to place us in Craig's shoes as he navigates life without a friend who meant so much to him. Yet with so many sections feeling so underwhelming — only a toad-induced drug trip truly delivers on Friendship's comedic strangeness — you may find yourself feeling more disengaged than unmoored.

Something similar happens with Craig, who often reads as a collection of gags as opposed to a full-fledged character. He's both obsessed with wanting to see "the new Marvel" but deathly afraid of having it spoiled. He eats soap in order to repent for being a "bad boy." His biggest goal in life is finishing a local bar's novelty meal themed around the SEALs who killed Osama Bin Laden. These are all hilarious both in and out of context in Friendship, helped along by Robinson's reliably panicked — often screaming — delivery. But are we laughing because Craig is a character we've grown to know over the course of the film, or because we're projecting our prior experiences of watching Robinson in similar roles onto Craig?

Friendship still elicits plenty of laughs and discomfort from its look at a collapsed friendship. Ultimately, though, it overstays its welcome, much like Craig at a group hang.

Friendship is now in theaters.

When Mimi*, 22, was in college, she created a fake profile on the dating app Hinge to report another phony account. Someone was impersonating her then-boyfriend on the app, and the couple wanted to report this account together. "I didn't think much of it at the time," she says. But two years later, single and living in New York City, Mimi turned back to Hinge, this time in a real attempt to try online dating and meet someone new. She quickly discovered she had been banned.

Trying to reverse the situation, Mimi wrote a complaint to Hinge, outlining her circumstances in a few brief sentences. She wanted to use the app to restart her dating journey, preferring it over Tinder, Bumble, Raya, and the other seemingly countless options out there. Her appeal didn't help, though. Mimi says Hinge sent back a "somewhat automated response," telling her she had been permanently banned from using the app. She gained no further clarity from the email, with Hinge providing no other details. 

SEE ALSO: Sick of dating apps? Try a dungeon sound bath instead.

Mimi isn't alone in experiencing seemingly arbitrary and unfair bans from Hinge. Over the last three years, over 15,000 users have filed complaints about Hinge with the consumer advocacy group Better Business Bureau, many claiming to have been unfairly exiled from the app. Most of these users said the bans were irreversible. In the last year alone, Hinge received over 7,000 reports on the same platform. "I was unjustly banned from Hinge," reads one complaint. "I have not acted in any unlawful or inappropriate manner while using Hinge on or off the app," complains another. 

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Karma, 23, is based in New Delhi and tells Mashable she found most of her dates in the city via Hinge — that is, until she was banned from the app earlier this year. She isn't entirely sure why it happened. "I wasn't provided with any clear-cut reason," she says. She has a hunch, though. At some point, she asked a few matches to participate in a survey she was conducting, sending out a link in direct messages. People may have reported her "out of annoyance," she says.

"When it comes to bans, a lot of people report accounts out of sheer spite, and Hinge should really look thoroughly into the matter before banning a person straight away," she says. "I think using the app for non-dating purposes isn't a bad thing. Or, at least for petty reasons as such, [they] should start with a warning."

Hinge is "committed to keeping daters safe by using protocols that protect the integrity of [the] community," Tamika Young, Hinge's VP of global communications, tells Mashable. 

"If someone believes they were incorrectly removed from the platform, they are encouraged to submit an appeal directly in the app or via email. Every appeal is reviewed by a human moderator," continues Young. She pointed towards Hinge's Help Center and Terms of Service. Within the help center, the company explains that users get explanations for some appeal decisions, but not for others. 

Tinder takes "appropriate actions on accounts" that have violated the app's Terms of Use, Community Guidelines, or Policies, Philip Price Fry, VP of communications at the platform, tells Mashable. "Tinder uses a combination of AI and human moderation to detect these violations, and we work hard to reduce any wrongful removals from our platform," Fry tells Mashable. "If a member believes their account was banned in error, they can appeal from the Appeal Center within the app."

Of course, there are valid reasons for bans, from predatory behaviors to catfishing. Match Group, which owns Hinge, Tinder, and other dating apps, has recently come under fire for reportedly concealing assault cases and failing to ban users accused of sexual assault, even after reports were made directly to the company. Three in four dating app users have experienced abuse on these platforms, according to a 2022 study by the Australian Institute of Criminology. Staying safe on dating apps is imperative. Apps have introduced a selection of safety features over the years, such as Tinder's contentious background check option and Hinge's "Hidden Words" feature, which lets users filter out unwanted content. 

At times, seemingly random bans may be a widespread consequence of efforts to combat abusive behaviors, affecting those who are simply trying to meet someone. "Platforms are really trying to push back against bots and a lot of bad and inappropriate behaviors that come up," says Liesel Sharabi, an associate professor at Arizona State University specializing in the intersection of technology and relationships. "So I think that they're getting seemingly stricter about the bans."

Why are bans on Tinder and Hinge becoming so common? 

Across X and TikTok, dating app users allege these bans have been imposed on them, and they are left to speculate why. 

Most say whatever got them banned is unclear. Some think it's because of revenge reporting: ex-partners or unhappy matches report accounts out of malice. Some report being banned after ghosting matches (a repercussion Bumble formally introduced in 2023). Others say their accounts appeared too bot-like, even when they were real. In Mimi's case, creating a new account could have been a problem; according to The Tab, this is one of the many "innocent" actions that can get you exiled from the land of digital dating. There have also been discriminatory reasons for bans: in 2019, trans people were getting banned from Tinder as a result of people reporting them unfairly. Tinder acknowledged the issues trans people face on the app, releasing a statement declaring their commitment to inclusivity. 

On the Reddit forum SwipeHelper, a group dedicated to dating app qualms and queries, several users express confusion and even helplessness thanks to what they consider to be arbitrary bans. People complain the most on the subreddit about Tinder and Hinge and say that appeals are essentially useless, as cases like Mimi's show. Some said that once they were banned on Hinge, the same happened on Tinder, rendering both unusable. 

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These bans are becoming increasingly common, says Sharabi. She posits that many users don't read the terms of service on apps and end up getting inadvertently exiled. (Hinge was unable to provide how many users it bans year over year.)

"I think what's missing for a lot of people is the explanation," says Sharabi. "And for some people, that's going to be obvious, like they were misrepresenting themselves or something really blatant. But for other people, I think it's a lot more ambiguous, and they don't necessarily know how they can challenge that decision, or who they can talk to to have it reconsidered. They want to know what they did." She adds that people don't necessarily know how a decision can be challenged or reconsidered, leading to "a frustrating experience."

Mimi says she appreciates the security measures being taken by apps, but thinks that both the banning and appeal processes need reform. "It really does seem like their responses [to appeals] are completely automated, and I haven't heard of a single case in which someone who wrote an appeal had their ban removed," she says. "If they're putting in so much effort to get rid of bots, then they should stop acting like bots themselves." As with most large tech companies with vast user bases, this is unlikely to change: most will turn to automated solutions to sift through such reports. 

"If they're putting in so much effort to get rid of bots, then they should stop acting like bots themselves." - Banned Hinge user Mimi

In response to this dilemma, people have come up with some solutions to surpass bans themselves. On TikTok and Reddit, people suggest getting a new phone or number and using a fresh email address, although these fixes can easily lead to bad actors — who have been justifiably banned — managing to get back on these apps after getting removed. Some also say DatingZest, a platform created for the sole purpose of getting banned users back on the apps, has worked for them (others have pointed out that the service hasn't always done the trick). In a statement to Mashable, DatingZest says it has helped "countless users" make comebacks on apps, especially when it comes to Hinge. The platform was created after its team realized "how many innocent users get banned due to dating apps' automated systems, sometimes from a single false or revenge report." 

"The lack of transparency and inconsistent moderation is a major frustration for many daters," says DatingZest.

While some quick fixes are available to users, the problem goes deeper. In recent years, despite the ubiquity of online dating, people have faced serious swipe fatigue and felt a lack of trust in these apps. When it comes to the digital platforms that have become fundamental tools for matchmaking, frequent bans are just another cause for concern.

Getting in the way of love — and matches 

Today, it almost goes without saying that dating apps are central to dating culture. Heterosexual couples are more likely to meet online than in person, as researchers at Stanford University found in 2019. 53 percent of Americans under 30 report using such platforms at some point in their lives, according to 2023 data from the Pew Research Center. 

So when someone is banned from a prominent dating app, the effects — both perceived and in practice — are real. "Dating apps have become the single most common way that people meet in the U.S.," says Sharabi. "And so if somebody is getting banned from a dating app, that can seem like a minor thing, but it's actually quite a big deal. It's the equivalent of getting kicked out of the most popular club in town where everyone's meeting and you're now no longer allowed to enter."

Karma says getting banned from Hinge left her feeling uneasy. She says her experience with meeting people on Hinge, compared to other apps in India, was a positive one. "We can always meet new people at social events but Hinge was a very convenient way to do that," she says. 

"It's the equivalent of getting kicked out of the most popular club in town where everyone's meeting and you're now no longer allowed to enter." - Associate professor at Arizona State University, Liesel Sharabi

Mimi, similarly, says that she didn't think the ban would be "that big of a deal" at first. "But when you're out there on weekends, trying to meet people, that's when you realize it's simply not how it's done anymore," she tells Mashable. "The easiest way [to meet someone] is to do it digitally." 

"I think being banned from these apps definitely has social ramifications," Mimi says. 

Sharabi says that these bans can be scary for people, especially those who have been reliant on them in the past. "I think for people that are single and looking to date, there can be this feeling that they have to be on the apps to be successful," she explains. She also says that this dependence on apps begs the question of social utility: "They're providing a pretty essential service to people."

However, she senses a potential shift on the horizon. Sharabi mentions the onset of AI and its effects on dating, with its potential to improve the dating app landscape. She suggests that AI could help apps "reconfigure how they're matching people and re-examine how they're helping people form relationships." For users, AI has been increasingly wielded to help write profiles or craft messages. But she also says young people are leaning toward surrendering apps entirely to meet people face-to-face. But, as the numbers suggest, apps are still not going anywhere — and can't be ruled out. 

Mimi is one example: someone caught between exploring the world of online dating and wanting to forge connections outside of these platforms. She says she would love to meet someone in person now. "That's the dream, isn't it?"

* Names changed for privacy.

TL;DR: The NanoPhone is a credit-card-sized smartphone that barely takes up space while keeping you connected, and right now it’s only $89.97 through June 1.

Opens in a new window Credit: NanoPhone NanoPhone $89.97
$199.99 Save $110.02 A Miniaturized Smartphone Packed with Mega Features Get Deal

Trying to cut down on your screen time? How about your screen size? The NanoPhone is a miniaturized smartphone with all the perks of your device in a credit card-size frame. And right now, one can be yours for just $89.97 (reg. $199.99) through June 1.

This tiny smartphone actually fits in your pocket

Whether you’re trying to minimize your doomscrolling or simply be more present in daily life, smartphones make cutting back on screen time a challenge. Unfortunately, we’re all tethered to these tiny computers, which help us stay connected with loved ones, tackle work tasks, capture memories on camera, and unwind after a long day with our favorite apps.

The NanoPhone aims to let you do all of those things on a smaller scale. This credit-card-sized smartphone is fully functional, offering 4G and WiFi connectivity, the ability to make calls, video chat and take photos with the front and rear cameras, stream videos, use apps, and much more.

There’s no extra data plan needed — you can use your existing SIM card in the NanoPhone. Pop it in and take the NanoPhone along for nights out, gym sessions, or just keep it as an emergency backup phone.

Bluetooth capabilities make it easy to connect to your wireless headphones or a smartwatch. The lengthy battery life ensures you’re not hunting down a charger all day. And despite the compact size, the NanoPhone is a durable device meant to withstand everyday wear and tear.

Secure your own NanoPhone for only $89.97, $110 off the usual price, now through June 1.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Through May 11, Skoove Premium piano lessons are on sale for $119.99 (reg. $299.99). You’ll get a lifetime of piano lessons, ear training, and more.

Opens in a new window Credit: Skoove Skoove Premium Piano Lessons: Lifetime Subscription $119.99
$299.99 Save $180 Get Deal

Always wanted to learn piano, but never found the time — or the right way to start? Private lessons can get expensive fast, and syncing your schedule with an instructor week after week is a whole challenge in itself. Sure, YouTube is free, but it’s also overwhelming and usually lacks the structure needed to stay motivated and make real progress…or the answers you need when you’re confused about a technique.

That’s where Skoove Premium steps in. It offers a smarter way to learn piano, blending personalized guidance with the convenience of learning at home. And right now, you can score lifetime access for just $119.99 (reg. $299.99) — but only through May 11.

Skoove’s interactive platform uses AI to actually listen to your piano-playing and give real-time feedback — you won’t just be following (or flailing) along, either. You could improve your piano skills with every session. You’ll have access to more than 400 step-by-step lessons across all genres, from hits by Adele and The Beatles to classical pieces by Beethoven and Mozart. Plus, you can reach out to real instructors for one-on-one help when you need it.

New songs and lessons drop every month, so the content stays fresh and you’ll always look forward to learning a new tune. Plus, you won’t ever have to pay recurring fees for Skoove. Once you pay the upfront fee, your lessons and instruction are available forever, which might just give you that extra motivation to stick with it and actually follow through on your piano goals.

If you’ve been waiting for the right time and the right method to start learning piano, this is it. You have until May 11 at 11:59 p.m. PT to grab this Skoove Premium lifetime subscription for $119.99 — that’s 60% off the normal price. Act while supplies last.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT are getting a whole lot smarter, a whole lot more natural, and a whole lot more…human-like. It makes sense — humans are the ones creating the large language models that underpin AI chatbots' systems, after all. But as these tools get better at "reasoning" and mimicking human speech, are they smart enough yet to pass the Turing Test?

For decades, the Turing Test has been held up as a key benchmark in machine intelligence. Now, researchers are actually putting LLMs like ChatGPT to the test. If ChatGPT can pass, the accomplishment would be a major milestone in AI development.

So, can ChatGPT pass the Turing Test? According to some researchers, yes. However, the results aren't entirely definitive. The Turing Test isn't a simple pass/fail, which means the results aren't really black and white. Besides, even if ChatGPT could pass the Turing Test, that may not really tell us how “human” an LLM really is.

Let's break it down.

What is the Turing Test?

The concept of the Turing Test is actually pretty simple.

The test was originally proposed by British mathematician Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science and a hero to nerds around the world. In 1949 or 1950, he proposed the Imitation Game — a test for machine intelligence that has since been named for him. The Turing Test involves a human judge having a conversation with both a human and a machine without knowing which one is which (or who is who, if you believe in AGI). If the judge can't tell which one is the machine and which one is the human, the machine passes the Turing Test. In a research context, the test is performed many times with multiple judges.

Of course, the test can't necessarily determine if a large language model is actually as smart as a human (or smarter) — just if it’s able to pass for a human.

Do LLMs really think like us? 

Large language models, of course, do not have a brain, consciousness, or world model. They're not aware of their own existence. They also lack true opinions or beliefs.

Instead, large language models are trained on massive datasets of information — books, internet articles, documents, transcripts. When text is inputted by a user, the AI model uses its "reasoning" to determine the most likely meaning and intent of the input. Then, the model generates a response.

At the most basic level, LLMs are word prediction engines. Using their vast training data, they calculate probabilities for the first “token” (usually a single word) of the response using their vocabulary. They repeat this process until a complete response is generated. That's an oversimplification, of course, but let's keep it simple: LLMs generate responses to input based on probability and statistics. So, the response of an LLM is based on mathematics, not an actual understanding of the world.

So, no, LLMs don't actually think in any sense of the word.

What do the studies say about ChatGPT and the Turing Test? Joseph Maldonado / Mashable Composite by Rene Ramos Credit: Mashable

There have been quite a few studies to determine if ChatGPT has passed the Turing test, and many of them have had positive findings. That's why some computer scientists argue that, yes, large language models like GPT-4 and GPT-4.5 can now pass the famous Turing Test. 

Most tests focus on OpenAI's GPT-4 model, the one that's used by most ChatGPT users. Using that model, a study from UC San Diego found that in many cases, human judges were unable to distinguish GPT-4 from a human. In the study, GPT-4 was judged to be a human 54% of the time. However, this still lagged behind actual humans, who were judged to be human 67% of the time.

Then, GPT-4.5 was released, and the UC San Diego researchers performed the study again. This time, the large language model was identified as human 73% of the time, outperforming actual humans. The test also found that Meta’s LLaMa-3.1-405B was able to pass the test.

Other studies outside of UC San Diego have also given GPT passing grades, too. A 2024 University of Reading study of GPT-4 had the model create answers for take-home assessments for undergraduate courses. The test graders weren't told about the experiment, and they only flagged one of 33 entries. ChatGPT received above-average grades with the other 32 entries. 

So, are these studies definitive? Not quite. Some critics (and there are a lot of them) say these research studies aren't as impressive as they seem. That's why we aren't ready to definitively say that ChatGPT passes the Turing Test.

We can say that while previous-gen LLMs like GPT-4 sometimes passed the Turing test, passing grades are becoming more common as LLMs get more advanced. And as cutting-edge models like GPT-4.5 come out, we’re fast headed toward models that can easily pass the Turing Test every time.

OpenAI itself certainly envisions a world in which it's impossible to tell human from AI. That's why OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has invested in a human verification project with an eyeball-scanning machine called The Orb.

What does ChatGPT itself say?

We decided to ask ChatGPT if it could pass the Turing Test, and it told us yes, with the same caveats we've already discussed. When we posed the question, "Can ChatGPT pass the Turing Test?" to the AI chatbot (using the 4o model), it told us, "ChatGPT can pass the Turing Test in some scenarios, but not reliably or universally." The chatbot concluded, "It might pass the Turing Test with an average user under casual conditions, but a determined and thoughtful interrogator could almost always unmask it."

AI-generated image. Credit: OpenAI The limitations of the Turing Test

Some computer scientists now believe the Turing test is outdated, and that it's not all that helpful in judging large language models. Gary Marcus, an American psychologist, cognitive scientist, author, and popular AI prognosticator, summed it up best in a recent blog post, where he wrote, “as I (and many others) have said for years, the Turing Test is a test of human gullibility, not a test of intelligence."

It's also worth keeping in mind that the Turing Test is more about the perception of intelligence rather than actual intelligence. That's an important distinction. A model like ChatGPT 4o might be able to pass simply by mimicking human speech. Not only that, but whether or not a large language model passes the test will vary depending on the topic and the tester. ChatGPT could easily ape small talk, but it could struggle with conversations that require true emotional intelligence. Not only that, but modern AI systems are used for much more than chatting, especially as we head toward a world of agentic AI.

None of that is to say that the Turing Test is irrelevant. It's a neat historical benchmark, and it's certainly interesting that large language models are able to pass it. But the Turing Test is hardly the gold-standard benchmark of machine intelligence. What would a better benchmark look like? That's a whole other can of worms that we'll have to save for another story.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Forget James Bond, Jason Bourne, or Ethan Hunt. The secret agent at the heart of the Josh Hartnett-fronted Fight or Flight has more in common with Austin Powers or Brad Pitt's put-upon mercenary from Bullet Train, as he is highly skilled, hilariously eccentric, and nowhere near as suave as he thinks he is. 

Directed by James Madigan and written by Brooks McLaren (How It Ends) and D.J. Cotrona, Fight or Flight brings spiky fun to its espionage thriller framework by filling a fancy plane with contract killers, each brandishing their own set of skills, specialty weapons, and aesthetic quirks. With the madcap energy of Snakes on a Plane, Fight or Flight centers on one world-weary man-of-action who wants no part of the mayhem, but must master it to survive. 

SEE ALSO: Summer Movie Preview: What's coming to theaters and streaming?

The resulting melee is outrageous, fun, and surprising, yet it is mostly confined to a cramped, sky-high cabin. 

Fight or Flight is a spy comedy full of action. Charithra Chandran as Isha in "Fight or Flight." Credit: Vertical

Disgraced and disavowed, former American operative Lucas Reyes (Hartnett) has been living in hiding, and he's worse for wear. Introduced as scruffy, bedraggled, and day-drunk, he looks like he can barely handle his shift on a pedicab, much less sweep in to covertly recover a top-secret asset from an international flight. But when former colleague Katherine Brunt (an icy Katee Sackhoff) calls with a mission that could redeem him, how can he say no? 

Katherine needs Lucas to find "The Ghost," a "black hat terrorist" who's been suspected of destabilizing governments through corporate intrusion. This mysterious figure is on the run after an explosive collision with U.S. ops. And the closest agent they have to The Ghost's escape route is the down-and-out Lucas, so he's sent in to snag The Ghost alive. There are just a few problems. For one, no one knows what The Ghost looks like. So even a well-meaning flight attendant like Isha (Bridgerton's Charithra Chandran) is at a loss as to how to help. And two, Lucas isn't the only hired gun hunting this notorious Ghost. So, he'll not only have to capture his target, but also keep The Ghost alive as a fleet of assassins reveal themselves. 

Josh Hartnett crushes stunts and slapstick in Fight or Flight.  Credit: Vertical

Where Lucas may once have been a smooth operator in the field, he's become a messy drunkard who has no interest in doing this wet work sober. Champagne, whiskey, frog venom — you put it in front of Lucas, he'll give it a go. And this means his fighting style has a goofy looseness, whether he's going hand-to-hand in a spacious first-class bathroom, facing off against a cat-eyed killer (Nóra Trokán) in the aisles, or in full-on battle mode, using improvised tools and other passengers as weapons. 

SEE ALSO: How to watch 'Black Bag' right now: The sexy spy thriller comes to streaming

With the help of a crack stunt team, Hartnett tackles most of these stunts himself. This means his face is front and center during much of the chaotic action, allowing him to mug in comic dismay, rage, or surprise for the camera. And as was hinted in Trap, Hartnett has a terrifically twisted sense of humor. Here it runs free as Lucas bumbles from one comically bloody confrontation to another and into a drug trip that turns reality into rainbows and fireworks, while his reality is much more fountains of gore. 

Surrounding his discombobulated hero are a cavalcade of killers who have little time to develop character. Instead, odd bits of business like dancing, details like facial tattoos or strange contact lenses, or costumes of martial artist robes signify a wider world of distinctive operatives. Fight or Flight doesn't have the time or inclination to get as into its world-building as the John Wick franchise or even Bullet Train, as most of the foes Lucas faces will be ejected from the plot after their first fight with him. Still, the supporting cast has a collective verve that suits Hartnett's chaotic energy, allowing the flow to be fast, furious, and entertaining. 

Katee Sackhoff and Julian Kostov play U.S. agents in "Fight or Flight." Credit: Vertical

When on the plane, Fight or Flight delivers claustrophobic thrills, serving up exciting action built on sharp fight choreography and mindful use of every airplane in-flight element you could imagine. Biting banters — mostly between loopy Lucas and the annoyed Isha — keep the fun flying. Admittedly, Madigan struggles keeping the action on the ground — where Katherine delivers exposition with a snarling colleague (Julian Kostov) — as propulsive. But props to Sackoff, who brings intensity to everything, be it efficient plot point delivery or a hissed insult at a group of strangers meditating loudly in a public park. Beyond elevating such requisites of plot and genre, she smartly creates a foil to Lucas. Katherine, who is almost absurdly stern, is what Lucas might have been had he not flared out years back. That makes his bonkers attitude feel like a bit of a victory, a freedom from spy stuffiness that we get to enjoy vicariously — without the inevitable hangover. 

In the end, sure, Fight or Flight is not as richly built as Austin Powers movies or even Bullet Train, which got soap operatic in its characters and their connections. But it's deliriously fun, satisfying our craving for madcap mayhem, outrageous action, goofy gore, and Hartnett going ham. I mean, this is a movie where a disavowed spy fires up a chainsaw on an airplane in flight. Get on board, or be bored elsewhere. 

Fight or Flight opens in theaters May 9.

There are moments in life that break us to pieces, but not quickly, like a hammer hitting a vase — in a slow but unavoidable way, like a crack in a window. It's only a matter of time before the glass will give way, leaving you wrecked and wide open to a world that keeps on moving regardless. Sharp Corner is about such a moment, where an inexplicable event slowly shatters the psyche of an average family man who previously thought himself content. 

Written by Jason Buxton and Russell Wangersky, Sharp Corner is a lean but gripping psychological thriller than explores fear, anxiety, and how a societal double standard can leave men in a unique disadvantage when it comes to processing trauma. So who better to headline this movie than Ben Foster? This American actor has delved powerfully into these themes in previous roles, such as the wild-card brother of Hell or High Water, the anti-social father of Leave No Trace, and the hardened soldier of The Messenger. 

Ben Foster plays a father in crisis in Sharp Corner.  Credit: Elevation Pictures

Mild-mannered, middle-aged Josh McCall (Foster) is a loving partner to his intellectual wife Rachel Davis-McCall (High School's Cobie Smulders) and a playful parent to his young son Max (William Kosovic). Their first night in their new home in suburban Canada, Josh gently tucks his kid into bed, assuring him that there's nothing to fear in this unfamiliar setting. Next, Josh and his wife christen the living room with some hasty but spirited sex. But then disaster strikes. 

Before the opening title card even hits the screen, a car's tire flies through the big display window, shattering glass and shooting past Rachel's head before landing with a terrifying thud. A car has crashed dramatically in their lawn. While Rachel races to soothe their crying child, Josh stands looking out the window, pantless and powerless, his bare ass facing us while he gazes upon a horrifying new reality. 

Everyone in the family is dealing with this shocking incident in their own ways. Rachel avoids conversation around it and buries herself in caring for her child, who is finding bits of busted reflector as he plays in the yard. But this leaves Josh with no one to talk to about his fears. He had considered himself the family's protector, but it was only dumb luck they too weren't hurt that night. So, Sharp Corner follows his slow-burn quest to reclaim a sense of control, first through understanding the cause of the accident, then by educating himself on life-saving tools like CPR. But more fatal crashes on the titular turn make this increasingly difficult, pushing Josh into disturbing behaviors to reclaim his identity.

Sharp Corner's deep-set empathy makes its horrors hit harder.  Credit: Elevation Pictures

Often, when media discusses toxic masculinity, they're addressing macho men who refuse to acknowledge their own emotions. Ben is not that guy. He's desperate to talk about what happened, but he can't find a place where he feels safe to do so. His wife doesn't want to hear it. His friends aren't prepared to go from wine recommendations to trauma-dumping, and he doesn't trust a stoic psychiatrist, who has a dog named Drake.

So, like a lot of people grappling with anxiety and post-traumatic distress, Josh throws himself into action. He creates projects to prevent further crashes, and when that fails, he is desperate to be prepared to save a life when the need arises. Maybe that can restore his sense of self? Maybe that can save his family from falling apart? Foster's nuanced performance — tension rippling under his skin and need gleaming through his eyes — makes this terror feel at once extraordinary and achingly common. 

Yet as empathetic as Sharp Corner is, binding us to Josh in moments he can't share with anyone, it doesn't paint his wife as an uncaring nag or a cliched villain. She too is grappling with this jolting realization, not only that their dream home is a suburban nightmare but also that death can be random, and stupid, and on your front lawn over and over. Though hers is a much smaller role, Smulders comfortably shoulders the character work of Rachel, her careful words hitting with precision. Her tone shifts from direct and annoyed, when the two adults are alone, to guarded yet cutting when they're with their son. Together, they create a couple that feels real — and really on the brink of splitting up.

Sharp Corner packs a punch without packing in gore.

The script is crisply realized, keenly charting Josh's downward spiral as he surrenders everything to his desperate need to reclaim a sense of power in a world that's made him feel impotent and futile. Buxton, who also directs, wisely trusts in Foster and Smulders to ground the film's drama. It helps he keeps the home's aesthetic clean and cozy in cool blues and grays, so the carnage outside — with its streaks of yellow dome lights and red reflectors and blood — is all the more jarring. Yet the deaths are largely off-screen, or when they're shown, are done so with a mindfulness towards graphic bodily harm.

Buxton isn't seeking to sensationalize these moments. He gives us just enough to understand why Josh can't shake them. So, we too struggle to focus as others talk to him about mundane things like school pick-up and work assignments. But how far would we walk in his shoes? That's the terrifying question Sharp Corner asks in a third act that is ruthlessly plotted. 

Focused so intently on the inner turmoil of its ego-ravaged hero, Sharp Corner is leanly executed. But Buxton and Wangersky seems to lose faith in their audience in the second act, offering a sequence where a psychiatrist basically spells out what Josh is going through (though she's not knowingly talking about him). Despite this detour, the finale regains momentum. Ultimately, a smart premise is poignantly brought to life by Foster and Smulders, making for a psychological thriller that is nerve-rattlingly tense and a family drama that is unapologetically gutting.

Sharp Corner was reviewed out of its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. It is now in theaters.

UPDATE: May. 8, 2025, 12:26 p.m. EDT This review was first published on Sept. 6, 2024, as part of Mashable's coverage of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. It has been updated to reflect its theatrical premiere.

Cozy crime is a subgenre in which intriguing tales of murder boast a jaunty aesthetic that's irreverently twee. Think Only Murders in the Building, with its foolhardy amateur sleuths alternately investigating homicide and bickering over their podcast's production. Think Pushing Daisies, a candy-colored mystery series about a lovelorn pie-maker who can literally raise the dead to solve their murders. Think Sew Torn. 

Written and directed by Freddy Macdonald, this inventive indie crime comedy begins with a drug deal gone violently wrong, before stitching together a multi-thread tale of an unlikely criminal mastermind: a mild-mannered mobile seamstress played by Eve Connolly (Vikings). 

What's Sew Torn about?

Sew Torn is set in a picturesque village high in the mountains, where a pleasant business district boasts quaint shops. One such shop is owned by seamstress Barbara Duggen (Connolly), who offers custom embroideries alongside alterations. Further out, vibrant green pastures dotted with cows stretch to a mighty concrete bridge overlooking a misty valley, reaching even farther to stately homes, where a wealthy bride-to-be (a hilariously harsh Caroline Goodall) is in a snit over a fallen button. 

In an opening in which Barbara barely speaks, Macdonald swiftly sets up how this young woman has shrunken in the shadow of her late mother, the original mobile seamstress. Trapped by her dedication to carry on her mother's work even as the family business fails, Barbara's fingers twitch at rebellion as she stitches. Her urge for self-sabotage might be ruinous, but at least it could bring something new. By flicking a button into a floor vent, she must flee the growling bride to get another. Barbara's lovely commute back to her village is interrupted when she comes across a pair of bumbling gangsters on a blood-spattered, remote road.

A clever lass, Barbara takes one quick look at the scene and assesses from the felled motorcycles, hobbled goons, and scattered bags of white powder that the briefcase skittered down the road is full of cash. "A perfect crime," she says to herself, seeing a solution to her financial woes. She doesn't just pick up the money and run, though. Instead, Barbara uses her handy seamstress kit and its brightly colored threads to create a Rube Goldberg machine that should neatly dispose of the messier bits of this could-be heist. Despite her quick thinking, things don't exactly go to plan. 

Sew Torn offers a collection of possibilities and quirky characters. 

In 1998, writer/director Tom Tykwer awed critics with his high-energy crime thriller Run Lola Run, which featured a flame-haired Franka Potente chasing down several different solutions to save her scheming boyfriend from a deadly fate. Sew Torn offers Barbara a similar bargain. When her perfect crime proves deeply flawed (and fatal), rather than leaving her bleeding out in a cornfield, Macdonald thrusts her back onto that road, staring down the coveted briefcase once more. 

Armed with some hard-won knowledge from her previous encounter with the briefcase, Barbara tries a new plan; she calls the cops. Well, actually, this village is so small that she calls the cop, an elderly woman who is not only the sheriff but also the local notary and the justice of the peace. Far from a hard-ass, K Callan (Poker Face, Knives Out) brings the energy of Coen brothers comedy, as her character can suss out bullshit with ease yet exudes patience and empathy. She'll collar all three of these crooks with the sternness of a school marm teaching a lesson. 

Here and throughout the other threads, Barbara's choices knit in a reluctant gangster (Calum Worthy), a frantic thug (Thomas Douglas), a chatty embroidery enthusiast (Ron Cook), and a merciless kingpin (John Lynch). Each gets their moment to shine via Sew Torn's curious narrative structure. Some imbrue menace, while others give off agony, and still others a boisterous warmth. Yet all would be for naught if Connolly weren't crushing the lead role. 

Eve Connolly proves she's a captivating leading lady in Sew Torn. 

While this crime comedy can get quite silly with its violent slapstick, thread-centric machinations, and kooky criminals, Barbara is the straight man surrounded by stooges. Her expression is often drawn, her eyes spiked with calculation. While other characters bloviate about their lives, Barbara is a much more internal character, her quietness making her seem all the more an outsider in her hometown. But Connolly makes sure Barbara never feels flat or passive. Voiceovers framing the beginning and the end give audiences a peek into Barbara's thinking, but mostly we rely on Connolly's sharp facial expression and precise physicality for insight. 

All of this interiority makes a sharp contrast in the third thread of the film all the more exciting. In this sequence, Barbara's only path to survival is to throw herself into a dance number. It is explosive and inexplicable. Her limbs fling about madly while her face is sharply focused. This is not a celebration; it is a scheme tied to strings. And of all the incredible things she pulls off with thread, it's the most climactic and wickedly fun. 

Macdonald enhances the fantastical possibilities of this crime-ridden tale with color, using vivid hues but a medium contrast. There's grays within these tones, perhaps reflecting Barbara's boredom with these surroundings despite their beauty. Yet there's no ignoring the boldness of things like the dazzling blue of her eyes, the harsh red of blood, and the bright yellow thread wrapped around the giant bobbin at the back of her teal Volkswagen bug (a cutesy signifier of her trade). Notably, each color is reflected in literal threads that prove crucial to Barbara's plans. Each burst of color speaks to Barbara's possibilities for more than mending. She can remake the world around her or tear it to shreds. But what to do with that knowledge?

Thanks to a crackling cast, a clever color scheme, and a plotline that's uniquely knotty, Macdonald makes Sew Torn a sensational experience. It has the cheeky fun of a top-notch crime comedy without losing the edge of life-or-death stakes. With a series of possibilities being unspooled, the movie is delightfully unpredictable. Its leading lady lands each beat, be it one of harrumphing frustration, a outrageous dance, or a dangerous hope. And in the end, it leaves its audience dizzy but satisfied by its wild spins. 

Sew Torn was reviewed out of its World Premiere at SXSW 2024. It is now in theaters.

UPDATE: May. 8, 2025, 12:03 p.m. EDT This review was first published on March 11, 2024, as part of Mashable's SXSW 2024 coverage. It has been updated for its theatrical premiere.

The Roman Catholic Church elected its new pope on Thursday, with the conclave selecting American Cardinal Robert Prevost, henceforth known as Pope Leo XIV. And like friends investigating their bestie's new boyfriend, the internet is already digging through the pope's old social media posts.

SEE ALSO: Pope Francis warned against new technology replacing 'human relationships' in final weeks

Pope Leo XIV opened his X account @drprevost in August 2011, back when the social media platform was still known as Twitter. However, rather than pen his own posts, Pope Leo XIV overwhelmingly preferred sharing other people's posts, links to external articles, and the occasional Catholic-themed meme. Of the few posts he appears to have written himself, many merely record administrative events, whether in his professional life or more broadly within the Catholic Church.

However, we can still glean a lot from what the new pontiff chose to share.

Pope Leo XIV is pro-life This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The first post strongly indicating Pope Leo XIV's attitude toward a political issue came in 2012. That February, the then-Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine appeared to share a petition calling for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to scrap its requirement that Catholic employers provide their workers with healthcare insurance plans which include birth control. 

The petition ultimately garnered 29,127 signatures. In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that employers could enjoy an exemption from the HHS' requirement on religious and moral grounds.

Pope Leo XIV's views on abortion appear to have remained unchanged in 2016, when he shared an article in which pro-life voters blamed Hillary Clinton's election defeat on her pro-choice stance. The next year, he shared articles from the religious publication Catholic News Agency (CNA), which reported on then-U.S. vice president Mike Pence and New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan's comments at a pro-life rally.

The freshly minted pontiff also shared an article from CNA reporting on allegations that doctors conducting abortions were selling fetal tissue and endorsing infantcide. Though not mentioned in the article, an investigation by media watchdog Media Matters for America found that the undercover video giving rise to these claims had been deceptively edited and taken out of context.

Pope Leo XIV is pro-immigrant rights This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Though he apparently shares Pence's views on abortion, this doesn't mean Pope Leo XIV is wholeheartedly supportive of President Donald Trump's administration. The pope has long expressed disapproval of Trump's immigration policies in particular.

One of Pope Leo XIV's old X posts which has gained significant attention dates back to when Trump was campaigning. In August 2015, Pope Leo XIV shared a Washington Post opinion piece from Dolan entitled, "Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic."

"I am not in the business of telling people what candidates they should support or who deserves their vote," wrote Dolan. "But as a Catholic, I take seriously the Bible’s teaching that we are to welcome the stranger, one of the most frequently mentioned moral imperatives in both the Old and New Testament."

Then shortly after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Pope Leo XIV shared a speech by Archbishop José H. Gomez acknowledging that Trump's win left many immigrants fearful.

"This should not be happening in America," said Gomez. "We are better people than this. We should not accept that this is the best we can hope for — in our politics or in ourselves."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Then in 2017, Pope Leo XIV shared several posts condemning U.S. bans on refugees. He further shared statements from Gomez calling for immigration reform, speaking against deportation of undocumented people, and stating that the U.S. government's "ongoing failure to address the immigration crisis is a humanitarian tragedy."

"There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents and warehouses them in cages," Cardinal Blase J. Cupich wrote in a post Pope Leo XIV shared in 2018, referring to Trump's widely criticised policy of separating immigrant children from their parents. "This is being carried out in our name and the shame is on us all."

The pontiff further shared articles examining his predecessor Pope Francis' letter to U.S. bishops on immigration, and criticising J.D. Vance's statement on Fox News that "you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that prioritize the rest of the world."

"J.D. Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others," read the headline for a National Catholic Reporter article shared by the new pope. 

As of writing, the most recent update on Pope Leo XIV's X account is a repost sharing an article in the Catholic Standard by Bishop Evelio Menjivar, which condemns the U.S. government's recent treatment of immigrants and refugees.

"Do you not see the suffering…?" wrote Menjivar. Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?

Pope Leo XIV is for gun control This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The pope also seems to support gun control. In the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, Pope Leo XIV shared a statement from Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, which called for "increased access to mental health care and stronger, sensible gun control laws."

Pope Leo XIV also shared a post by Democratic senator Chris Murphy, who wrote, "To my colleagues: your cowardice to act cannot be whitewashed by thoughts and prayers. None of this ends unless we do something to stop it."

Pope Leo XIV is against racism This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Pope Leo XIV also took to X to condemn racism mere days after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in May 2020. The murder sparked global protests against racism and police brutality, and widespread support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

In one of his rare self-penned X posts, Pope Leo XIV wrote, "We need to hear more from leaders in the Church, to reject racism and seek justice." 

He also shared posts expressing support for Floyd's family and condemning racism.

Pope Leo XIV is for vaccines and masks Credit: Francesco Sforza - Vatican Media via Vatican Pool / Getty Images

The pope continued posting on X during the COVID-19 pandemic, posting news of mask donations in Peru. He also displayed a sense of humour when he shared a comedic TikTok skit about social distancing.

More significantly, in 2021 Pope Leo XIV shared a post from Gomez stating, "May God grant us the grace to face #COVID19 with the strength of faith, ensuring that vaccines are available for all, so that we can all get immunized."

Pope Leo XIV believes in climate change This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

While the pope hasn't made many posts about climate change on X, he isn't completely silent on the matter. In November 2015, Pope Leo XIV called for followers to sign a climate petition organised by the Global Catholic Climate Movement, which has since been renamed to the Laudato Si' Movement. This organisation advocates for non-proliferation and divestment from fossil fuels, as well as the protection of biodiversity.

Pope Leo XIV opposes the death penalty and euthanasia This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Another issue Pope Leo XIV touched on in his X posts was the death penalty. The pope took a strong stance against capital punishment in March 2015, writing, "It's time to end the death penalty."

He also doesn't seem to be a big fan of euthanasia, sharing an article in 2016 which reported on Belgium citizens who advocated against Canada legalising the practice. Canada legalised medical assistance in dying later that year. 

Pope Leo XIV might share some of Pope Francis' progressive philosophy This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Exactly how closely Pope Leo XIV will follow in Pope Francis' footsteps is still yet to be seen. However, a few of his X posts indicate he may be sympathetic to some of his predecessor's progressive views. In 2016, Pope Leo XIV shared a talk by Pope Francis in which he stated that God's law "was not drawn up to enslave us but to set us free," and that rigid adherence to it "isn't a gift of God."

Later sharing guidance that Pope Francis issued to bishops in 2021, Pope Leo XIV added that "These beatitudes also highlight the temptations faced by bishops, like that of seeking power and a comfortable lifestyle."

Another hint at what we might expect from Pope Leo XIV's papacy may be found in a 2015 article he shared from Huffpost. In it, author Kerry Weber discussed the future of the Catholic Church, and suggested how it might retain younger Catholics. This included supporting women in leadership roles; putting more emphasis on a global, diverse church; and making more of an effort to listen to younger Catholics.

Much of Pope Leo XIV's activity on X is years old, so it's possible that some of his opinions may have changed over time. Merely sharing an article also doesn't necessarily denote agreement with absolutely everything in it, and looking solely at the new pope's X activity still leaves many questions and gaps. Still, examining Pope Leo XIV's digital footprint certainly offers interesting clues as to what the Catholic Church might look like under its new leader.