And thats another SXSW for the history books. At the same festival that saw a keynote talk given by the CEO trying to bring the Woolly Mammoth back, cinephiles and genre enthusiasts also got a new Babak Anvari banger, the unicorn horror-comedy you never knew you needed, and a reported return to form by Matthew McConaughey after he stepped away from the big screen for the last six years.It was a lot of fun, a lot of work, and as always over too soon. (Spoiler: McConaugheys much celebrated The Rivals of the Amaziah King is one of the ones we missed!) Be that as it may, we still saw a whole lot from the Film and TV festival selection during our limited time on the ground. Heres the round-up to prove it.Ramy Youssef (Rumi)#1 Happy Family USAAnimated sitcoms dont usually make a habit of concluding their first episode with the events of Sept. 11, 2001. But then again not many animated sitcoms are Prime Videos #1 Happy Family USA. Created by comedy superstar Ramy Youssef and South Park producer Pam Brady, #1 Happy Family USA follows the Husseinsa Muslim family in New Jersey doing their best to project patriotism amid a very dark time in American history.While that setup is bleak (and undoubtedly reflects Youssefs own experiences growing up as a Muslim-American during the turn of the 21st century), the series ends up being quite a cheerful experience. Young Rumi Hussein (Youssef) befriends a talking lamb and tries to bang his teacher (who may or may not have a personal connection to His Airness, Michael Jordan). His dad Hussein Hussein (also Youssef) breaks out into pro-America song numbers routinely. Also, Grandma (Randa Jarrar) appears to have Doc Ock arm attachments.Each episode of the show, which has already scored a two-season order at Prime, opens with faux MPAA text warning Rated H for Haram: Allah please forgive mistakes in this program. Rated H it may be, but that could just as easily stand for Halal. Alec BojaladAmerican SweatshopMost folks objectively recognize the internet is a terrible and unpleasant place. But most of us also never think about the poor souls who are encouraged (tricked?) into trying to clean it up for lawsuit-fearing tech companies. Director Uta Briesewitz and star/producer Lili Reinhart care though. And maybe they can convince you to put down the doom-scroller in your hand for a while with American Sweatshop.In the film, written by Matthew Nemeth, Reinhart plays a young person who thinks the gig of a media moderator at the fictional company of Paladin is a foot in the door to tech, but in truth it is an invitation for the most vile and terrible things on the web being seared into her brain. Briesewitz wisely elects to mostly obscure what those things are. But we glimpse them in miniature reflection on Reinharts pupils as they burrow into her soul. This acts as the opening to a larger drama with thriller elements as Reinharts Daisy demands for more to be done than simply deleting harmful (and possibly murderous) content. She wants revenge. Yet the film is at its best when wallowing in the camaraderie and occasional gallows humor of a young staff that looks increasingly as hollowed out as meat in a frontlines grinder. David CrowAre We Good?Are we good? That phrase began as a verbal tic from comedian Marc Maron as he launched his eventual medium-conquering podcast WTF in 2009. Maron would conclude episodes with that question, often posed to his comedic peers whom he previously was not, in fact, good with. Nowadays Maron is more or less good with everyone, having long ago conquered both his personal demons and professional insecurities. Its only fitting then that the documentary about him bears that familiar phrase.Directed by Steven Feinartz, Are We Good? tells the whole story of Maron while honing in on his particularly chaotic 2020s. The doc is rich in pathos, covering the death of Marons partner, filmmaker Lynn Shelton, to a non-COVID illness at the outset of the pandemic. It also covers his triumphant 2023 special From Bleak to Dark and his still-fraught but now simpler relationship with his father.Through it all Feinartz summons many of Marons peers in the comedy world to explain his unique appeal. Marcs having a bad time all day. Then gets on stage and destroys the audience, John Mulaney offers. Is it good? It sure is. ABAshFlying Lotus fully embraces his love for creature feature spectacles of the 1980s and 70s with this trippy throwback to Ridley Scott and John Carpenter movies so seminal you dont even need us to name them. The trick about Ash, however, is that the musical artist and filmmaker behind the film synthesizes it in a dreamlike fantasia of psychedelic imagery and some gnarly camera tricks which could only be executed in this century.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Our favorite is when RiyaEiza Gonzalzs heroine who awakens on an abandoned spaceship with her crew dead and her memories erasedis forced to defend herself against a monstrous foe in a fevered first-person oner. The camera catches her arms and legs using scalpels, fire, and some badass choreography before things get really whild. Its all part and parcel for a drive-in dopamine-hit. Other highs include fantasy dream sequences and an ensemble that includes Aaron Paul and The Raids Iko Uwais. DCThe AstronautKate Mara knows her way around a spaceship. After all, she helped steer one of the great ones in cinema during Ridley Scotts The Martian. But in that film, she never really got to come back down to Earth. We see a homecoming in Jess Varleys The Astronaut, though, and its a rough landing when the film opens on the wide, wide sea where a decimated space capsule floats. Apparently it needed emergency deployment after something cracked the hull, and even suit, of Maras Capt. Sam Walker.This proves to be a kinetic and spacious kickoff to what is really a claustrophobic thriller. After being monitored for some time, Sam is sent by NASA and her father (Laurence Fishburne) to finish her quarantine on a glorified farmhouse where something seems to continue to stalk the astronaut. The film is obviously playing with tropes, but Varley seems intent on inverting the often reductive parable about the mad, crazy woman in touchstones like Repulsion and Black Swan in favor of something optimistic about a womans ability to observe eerie changes in the world around herand within. DCMusic can remind us of a time. Music can remind us of a place. Music puts us in touch with the people we once were. There is something sweet about that. It can also be annoying as hell. James Griffiths The Ballad of Wallis Island finds humor in both sentiments with an absolute charmer of a movie. As cozy as a cable-knit sweater by the fire on a cold night, Wallis Island takes place in exactly such an environment when struggling folk singer Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) is induced to visit Wallis Island because he is being offered a lot of money to play for an intimate audience of uber-fans. Actually, as it turns out, there is only one fan: Charles (Tim Key). And hes also invited Herbs ex and former songwriting collaborator, Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan).The Ballad of Wallis Island is an absurd premise that most of the collaborators have spent a lot of time thinking about. Basden and Key in fact wrote it as a short film some 18 years ago, which Griffiths directed. Time has given them space to make a feature thats a little more wistful and reflective on the ephemeral nature of lifewhile still being funny enough to convince you that Keys lonely fanboy is neither a creeper nor a danger to Herb and Nell. Although that doesnt mean trips down memory lane are ever truly safe. DCThe BondsmanKevin Bacon has been a regular on episodic television since headlining Foxs The Following in 2013, with lead roles in Amazons I Love Dick and three seasons on the acclaimed Showtime series City on a Hill. His new series for Prime Video, The Bondsman, which premiered at SXSW Film & TV Festival, has all the hallmarks of his preferred workday: covered in blood, sticking a chainsaw into a demons face.It was a blast, Bacon says with a laugh while his showrunner, Erik Olsen reminds him that one particular stunt sees Bacons character, Hub Halloran, drown a demonic cheerleader in a pool. Bacon himself was in the pool for the stunt. The Bondsman begins with Hub Hallorans gruesome death and resurrection, maybe the fastest in television history, and what may seem like a demon-hunting case of the week storytelling structure quickly world-builds into a much larger narrative arc across season one.One of the most prolific working actors with over 107 credits to his name, Bacon still loves making movies, but hes found a home, for now, in the gritty world of Satanic bounty hunters.I went to television very reluctantly when I first signed up for The Following, Bacon tells Den of Geek. Its hard to imagine that there was a world where if you were a movie actor, you just did not do a series. That was just a thing and all of a sudden I said Wow! This is so much fun! Im really digging this. Chris LongoPhoto by: Nick MorgulisBulldozerIn the spirit of Phoebe Waller-Bridges Fleabag, independent TV pilot Bulldolzer is a single-word titled show about a funny woman whose life is falling apart. Written by and starring Joanna Leeds, and directed by her brother Andrew Leeds, Bulldozer picks up with Jo learning of her partners infidelity and reacting poorly. What follows is a fun and breezy half-hour journey of self destruction with only occasional breaks for growth.Both Leeds shine in front of and behind the camera, and are bolstered by an impressive supporting cast that includes Nat Faxon, Harvey Guillen, and most notably, Mary Steenburgen, who according to the Leeds, hand-crafted her own blonde wig to better resemble her onscreen daughter Jo. The many famous faces, sunny California setting, and lead characters very transparent flaws lend a welcome air of Curb Your Enthusiasm to the proceedings.Its an impressive, personal debut but maybe not that personal, as Joanna Leeds told Den of Geek: I have the same first name as the lead character but we have different last names so were not the same person, right? Maybe the awful characteristics about her, I dont have them! ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisClown in a CornfieldIts been 15 years since director Eli Craig has been in Austin for SXSW. The last time was because he brought future cult classic Tucker and Dale vs. Evil to town. He might have another on his hands with this Shudder-bound horror-comedy, Clown in a Cornfield.Deliberately modeled after the look of other 1980s slasher movies, Clown in a Cornfield plays with the generation gap between Zoomers like Quinn (Katie Douglas) and Xers like her father (Aaron Abrams) when they move to a dying small town with a local mascot called Friendo the Clown. There are some obvious similarities to Terrifier, however this film, which is based on a YA novel by Adam Cesare, is not after the same splatter cinema highs (not least of all because the kills are a lot less inventive). But theres some clever social satire at play, especially when we reach the third act and the clown takes things out of the cornfield and into the streets. Suddenly, its like if Freddy Krueger had a fanged point to make to kids these days. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisGrace Glowickis sophomore feature came from a simple starting point: I wanted to make a comedy with my friends, she tells us. She assembled a weird writers room to build ideas and jokes.What came out of it was a true midnighter (though it was curiously in the festivals Visions section) that follows a lonely gravedigger who stinks of corpses. When the gravedigger, played by Glowicki, has a whirlwind affair cut short by the tragic passing of her lover (played by her frequent collaborator and off-screen partner Ben Petrie), she defies science to bring him back from the dead with unintended consequences.If the logline sounds far too familiar, the final outcome is anything but: the film was shot on 16mm with no monitors on set for playback to honor a more theatrical process. Glowicki says the structure forced us to be spontaneous and trust ourselves. It worked. We awarded Grace and the Dead Lover cast our only Den of Geek award of the festival, for best (and funniest) accent work.Dead Lover is bound to be a buzzy camp hit on the festival circuit for its innovative filmmaking approach. Glowickis risk paid off as she took home the NEON Auteur Award for Uncompromising Visionary in the Visions Section. Its admittedly a much more impressive award than ours, but not nearly as fun. CLDeath of a UnicornIn the High Middle Ages, unicorns were embraced by the wealthy and moneyed as a metaphor for the appeal of resurrection and everlasting life. In his first feature, writer-director Alex Scharfman shrewdly estimates not much has changed between then and now for the elite gentry classes, even if we get our highs a little differentlybe it by vaping, a la the films heroine Ridley (Jenna Ortega), or snorting pure concentrated, ground unicorn horn up our noses, a la Will Poulters absolute shit-kicker of a trust fund baby, Shep.Those prove to be just a few of the appeals of this delightfully weird horror-comedy which marries creature feature aestheticsincluding a surprisingly heavy emphasis on emulating the first couple of Steven Spielberg-directed Jurassic Park flickswith class satire that makes direct allusions between the billionaires of today and the liege lords of the past. Somehow the two impulses make a happy union in large part because of the cast, including the aforementioned Poulter, Paul Rudd, and a scene-stealing Richard E. Grant as the patriarch of a pharmaceutical dynasty who discovers on his deathbed that unicorns are real and they have the power to extend life. Pleasantly, though, any attempt to corner that market turns into an absolute bloodbath. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisDescendantPeter Cilellas Descendant kicks into gear when Sean Bruner (Ross Marquand), a school security guard who is haunted by childhood trauma, sees a beam of light in the sky. He then wakes up in a hospital and soon hes inexplicably drawing beautifully artistic renderings of extraterrestrials and desert landscapes.Cilella drew inspiration from Jeff Nichols 2011 apocalyptic thriller Take Shelter, which he lauded because of the performances and character development. With Descendant, he knew the genre elements resonate only if he landed the relationship between Marquands Sean and Sarah Bolgers Andrea, who is quickly approaching her babys due date.For Bolger, the slightest hint of extraterrestrial life had her from the jump. First of all, Im obsessed with aliens. Were very knowledgeable about this [topic], UAPs. Were all in. On a deeper level, Bolger was excited about exploring the films familial themes through the science fiction lens. If you look at the alien metaphor, it makes people feel isolated or removes them from reality, she says. Theres this beautiful thing of fate and identity thats such a big part of Descendant: who are you as a person? And what changes you? Those factors are wonderful when you can merge them with something science fiction or ethereal or alien. CLDropWhen a studio brings a genre movie to an Austin festival, it usually means they have the goods for winning over a movie-loving crowd. And Christopher Landon (Freaky, Happy Death Day) knows nothing if not how to put audiences on his side, which he does with glee in this Blumhouse original that hews closer to Hitchcockian suspense than straight horror.The stakes are high, too, even before the genre stuff is introduced, because this film marks the first date of Violet (Meghann Fahy) and Henry (Brandon Sklenar), an immediately adorable would-be couple with enough chemistry to intoxicate the entire posh restaurant with a view where they rendezvous. Unfortunately, one stranger in the back doesnt want to imbibe. Instead they send increasingly cryptic and threatening AirDrop messages to Violet, slowly urging her to prepare to murder Henry for no apparent reasonor they promise theyll kill her son at home.With massive font lettering marking every hideous message on Violets phone, and ultra-glossy studio set design and cinematography, this is unapologetic popcorn-programming, and it is absolutely a blast in that lane. There is a more ambitious version of this story that could have been told, but somehow we suspect this is the one you really want if youre looking for a date night out at the multiplex. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisFantasy LifeTheres a very deliberate choice made by actor-turned-director Matthew Shear in his first feature. He never shows the moment when his two main characters, who both suffer from differing forms of anxiety, panic. We know they have such attacks, or that they endure dark moments while alone, but those bits are left just ever off-screen. Instead we are asked to deal with the aftermath of the proverbial pyrotechnics. We are asked to deal with what it means to be human.Casting himself as one of those humans, and relying on a wonderful performance by Amanda Peet for the other, Sheers Fantasy Life favors a story of connections (and performance), even when it comes down to a genuinely odd pairing. What Sam (Shear) and Dianne (Peet) have isnt romanticper sebut it is nonetheless profound when a thirtysomething failed paralegal becomes the unlikely nanny of Diannes three children. Its messy, sometimes tragicomic, and ultimately sweet. It also features a terrific performance by Alessandro Nivola as David, Diannes rock star husband who might want to be home more often. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisFucktoysWriter/director/star Annapurna Srirams idea for Fucktoys started with a phone call from a psychic, who told her to break up with her then boyfriend to avoid further illness and any roadblocks to her career.Sriram impulsively obliged and within weeks she had a script for her debut feature, described perfectly in the logline as a lush 16mm fever dream that reimagines The Fools Journey of the Tarot through the story of AP a sanguine young woman seeking salvation from a curse. With Fucktoys, the psychics prophecy has come true.The campy fantastical comedy is grotesque, sexy, smutty, and surprisingly poignant when tapping into themes of exploitation and class. Its also laugh-out-loud funny with standout performances from its leads in Sriram and Sadie Scott, as well as supporting roles from Brandon Flynn, Damian Young, Big Freedia, and Franois Arnaud.The film is set in Trashtown, which Sriram described as a neglected Americana yesteryear landscape. Trashtown is a term of endearment. We love Trashtown. Srirams singular vision for Trashtown earned her the festivals Special Jury Award for a Multi-Hyphenate. It was well-deserved for pushing forward a bold, darkly funny sensibility unlike any film we screened at the festival, a new genre the cast described as neo-camp. Long live Trashtown. CLPhoto by: Nick MorgulisGood BoyWriter-director Ben Leonberg and producer Kari Fischer might have stumbled on one of the best setups for an original horror movie weve heard in years. Ever notice how your dog or cat stares off into the darkness of empty rooms? Has it ever creeped you out to ponder what it is theyre getting so worked up about after midnight? Well, Good Boy has the answers, and theyre provided through a dogs perspective.What could be a gimmick ultimately works as a bit of inspired, if rough-around-the-edges, genre moviemaking. As Leonbergs feature debut, Good Boy was shot largely like a documentary with Leonberg and Fischers own pup, Indy, standing in as the poor dog in a house haunted with secrets and despair, and an unseen owner who is not particularly warm and cuddly. The effect is a definite low-budget indie, but one with a lot of style and atmosphere that manipulates the audience into investing in one dogs seeming plight. Owing a bit to silent movies as well, Indy proves a compelling lead while turning the corner and seeing what goes bump in the night. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisGovernment CheeseHow far can magical thinking take you? In Government Cheese, Hampton Chambers (David Oyelowo) will endeavor to find out. Fresh out of prison in 1969 Los Angeles, this convicted burglar turned man of faith is putting his familys financial well-being in the hands of his latest radical doo-hickya self-sharpening drill called a Bit Magician. Will that be enough to realize the American dream? Hell, will it be enough to pay off the debts Hampton unknowingly incurred from the dangerous Prevost brothers? Guess well find out!Government Cheese is a stylish 10-episode series from Apple TV+ that combines the timeless story of Black family life in California with some magical realism. Show creator Paul Hunter (previously known for his revolutionary work in commercial campaigns and music videos) cites his own father as inspiration for Hampton Chambersa man powered by ambition and that titular government food product that helped fuel working class families. ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisHappy FaceEver sit back and think about how many pop songs have the word Happy in the title? Paramount+ true crime series Happy Killer certainly has and it puts those cheery tunes to ironic good use in this dark serial killer drama. Adapted from the 2018 podcast of the same name, Happy Face follows Melissa Moore (Annaleigh Ashford), a woman who deals with the fallout of discovering that her father (Dennis Quaid) is a prolific serial killer known as Happy Face.While that may sound like a stranger-than-fiction premise, not only is Melissa Moores experience real, she serves as an executive producer on this project. Moores involvement gives the proceedings an added element of realism, even as the show indulges in some by-the-numbers true crime pop storytelling. ABJULIE VRABELOVAHallow RoadThe best horror movie we saw while in Austin, Babak Anvaris Hallow Road is a nearly-perfect exercise in descent. It begins with a plunge into the worst nightmare of any parent: that call in the middle of the night from a child whose life has been forever changed. In the case of Maddie and Frank (Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys), that comes after their daughter Alice (voiced by Megan McDonnell) has hit a stranger in the middle of the night while driving alone on Hallow Road in the deep woods of Wales. Now she wants Mom and Dad to come fix it for her.What starts as one type of nightmare quickly cascades into something far more slippery and sinister. Hallow Road is a dark fable as grim as the fairy stories of yore, and as unforgiving as an Old Testament deity. Maddie and Frank have differing views of parenting and of their daughter, and both are put to the extreme test in a taut 80 minutes that mostly take place inside of their car as they drive from their suburban home deep into the wilderness. Often as much about how they listen to the pleas and fears of their daughter over the phone as it is how they try to guide her, Anvaris camera stalks and shadows the lines of their faces until even their countenances become haunted things and they discover what lies at the end of their surreal journey into dark. Its a relentless triumph. Stay for the credits. DCAmazon MGMHollandMimi Caves first feature was the seductively twisted horror-comedy Fresh. Her second seeks to similarly beguile its audience into thinking theyre getting one type of movie only to discover another as we enter the world of Holland, Michigana real Midwestern town with an affinity for things so Dutch that it verges on fetishistic.It is there that Nancy Vandergroot (Nicole Kidman) lives with her perfect husband Fred (Matthew Macfadyen) and tween son Harry (Jude Hill). Theirs is such an idyllic existence that Nancy seemingly wants to create a sense of danger to spice up her life, or at least find an excuse to hang out with a fellow teacher named Dave (Gael Garcia Bernal) who clearly is carrying a torch for her in the instructors lounge.Look, theres obviously something ominous occurring beneath the surface, and Holland takes its time getting there. But truthfully, when the revelation finally comes, it feels ultimately in service to a sum lesser than its parts. But it does give Kidman a juicy role to play as a Midwestern mom who kind of stumbles her way into a genuine thriller, which is likely why such an unsatisfying screenplay got made.Photo by: Nick MorgulisLifeHackProducer Timur Bekmambetov has spent about a decade making screenlife movies like Searching and Unfriended. Some have been clever genre inversions and others tacky high-concepts. All, however, have felt largely like an older generation trying to imagine what Zoomers online life might be. LifeHack, by contrast, is actually made by youts, which might be why it amounts to a dazzling, fast-moving plunge into a digital lifestyle that is all things at once: coming of age melodrama, high-stakes heist escapism, and finally an expression that the kids are all right even when scrolling endlessly through Minecraft group chats.Directed by Ronan Corrigan and featuring a cast that includes both a Wednesday player (Georgie Farmer) and an honest-to-goodness YouTuber (James Scholz), there is indie gumption and rebellious zeal to the film that is infectious. It also taps into the modern zeitgeist of eating the rich since this teenaged, keyboard-ratpack is off to snatch a crypto bros BitCoin reserves. Its all flash and a lot of fun. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisMix TapeYou never forget the boy who makes you your first mix tape. So says Allison (Teresa Palmer) near the conclusion of Mix Tapes first episode. The four-episode series, an Irish-Australian joint production, then goes on to reveal just how right she is.Mix Tape is a decades-spanning romantic saga, picking up with a young Daniel (Rory Walton-Smith) and Allison (Florence Hunt) at a house party in 1989 Sheffield house party before jetting off to a future where the pair (now played by Palmer and Jim Sturgess) is set to reconnect over their shared love of music. Mix Tape is a lowkey, yet affecting sonic journey. ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisNirvanna The Band The Show The MovieIn 2017, Matt Johnson came by himself to SXSW to screen three episodes of his webseries turned TV series, Nivanna The Band The Show. I had never seen a crowd in my life react the way they did to the TV show, he tells us of the reception in Austin.Johnson returned home to Canada and the screening became a legend within the shows creative and production team. It became the goal of Johnson and co-creator and co-star Jay McCarrol to bring a feature length version of the show and premiere it at SXSW. They submitted an unfinished cut and still made the festival. For SXSW it was worth the risk. For Johnson and McCarrol it was well worth the wait.We dont time festival ovations with a stopwatch here like other outlets, but it comfortably felt like the audience reception to Nirvanna The Band the Show The Movie was the longest at SXSW 2025. The data backs up our claim: Nirvanna won the 2025 audience award for the midnighters section. The film sees Johnson and McCarrol reprise their roles as bandmates who attempt to scheme their way to a gig at Torontos Rivoli nightclub, to no success. In their most elaborate plan yet, they Back to the Future their way to 2008. Using clever editing techniques to splice present day and archival footage, and featuring daring stunts on the unsuspecting public in downtown Toronto, Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie earned every bit of the riotous energy at the ZACH Theatre.Its been 17 years since the original Nirvanna webseries was released. Since then, the project ran for two seasons as a full-fledged TV show on the ill-fated Viceland, Johnson had a hit feature film with 2023 SXSW darling Blackberry (on which McCarroll did the music), and theyve already filmed a third season. Theyre hopeful a positive reception to the feature film will help find a U.S. distributor for the film and a new home for season three. Until then, the Canadians are happy to bask in a warm, if not red hot reception way south of the Toronto border. It felt like a gift that we gave to all the fans who stuck with us, McCarrol says. CLSearchlight PicturesODessaEight years after knocking Austins socks off with Patti Cake$, Geremy Jasper returns with ODessa, a niche fairytale that will appeal to a very specific kind of nerd. Did you grow up loving post-apocalyptic or dystopian wasteland movies with dilapidated mega-cities? These would be your Blade Runners and Tim Burton Batmans, but also Dark Citys and Streets of Fires? Do you know all the words to Science Fiction Double Feature and Meatloafs big moment in Rocky Horror Picture Show? If that Venn Diagram crossed over and found you smiling at both prospects, then ODessas rock opera silliness is for you.It certainly was for me during an opening credits crawl that looked as if it had been panned and scanned for VHS in another century. This sets the stage for a parable about a farmgirl (Stranger Things Sadie Sink) with dreams about being a musician and wanderer (or rambler) in the big city, even as that city is ruled by a despot (Murray Bartlett). There she might find love, or at least a partner in crime opposite a fabulous Kelvin Harrison Jr., and a reality show where contestants sing to the death. Its bizarre, fleeting, and yet filled with the kind aspirational power of rock that makes movies worth seeing. In another era, it would be a cult favorite at the video store waiting to be discovered by hopeless nerd romantics. Hopefully today, it still finds the descendents of that on Hulu at the end of the month. DCPhoto by: Nick MorgulisSallyScience Fair director Cristina Costantini returns with an unflinching, deeply emotional portrait of astronaut Sally Ride, and her 27-year relationship with Tam OShaughnessy that was kept from the public spotlight until Rides passing in 2012. In third grade, Costantini painted a life-sized mural of Sally Ride in her jumpsuit and by the time she was ready for high school she was inspired to find a career in science in part because of Rides story.I was struck by this feeling of disbelief that she could have went through something like that, Costantini tells us of her motivation to put the story on film. NASA was barely ready for a woman at that time. The idea that she was also queer and closeted at such a homophobic time, it was illegal to be gay in Texas at that time.Sally uses a mix of original audio interviews from Ride, as well as recreations of Sally and Tams time together to supplement a lack of documentation of their relationship. The film dives into women and LGBTQ+ rights through interviews with Billie Jean King, members of the Ride family, and astronauts from Sally Rides NASA class of 1978: Kathy Sullivan, Anna Fisher, John Fabian, and Steve Hawley, Sallys ex-husband. Ultimately Tams journey provides a gut-wrenching look into Rides life and the power dynamics and pressure that come with fame.Tam is an incredible gift to a documentary filmmaker, Costantini says. She is an amazing storyteller. She has an incredible memory. But more than anything she is willing to be vulnerable to tell the story of what it was like to fall in love in this secret relationship. CLPhoto by: Nick MorgulisSlantedSlanted was the big winner at this years SXSW Film Festival, taking home the Grand Jury Award in the Narrative Feature Competition. And to that we say good on ya, South By! This comedy-drama from Australian filmmaker Amy Wang is an entertaining and affecting coming-of-age story with a clever supernatural bent.Shirley Chen stars as Joan Huang, a second-generation Chinese-American high school student who just wants to be prom queen. To make that dream a reality she undergoes a controversial ethnic modification procedure and comes out the other side as Ghostbusters: Afterlife star Mckenna Grace. Okay, Shirley doesnt become literally Mckenna Grace, but Grace does take over the role as the now white-passing Shirley.Slanted has as much fun with that premise as youd hope while also never losing sight of the complicated racial dynamics and youthful insecurities at play. Call it The Substance for the YA crowd: smart, silly, and satisfyingly gross. ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisStars DinerWe have but one simple rule at Den of Geeks TV section: if you open your indie comedy pilot with a jaunty 80s sitcom theme song, you get included in the festival roundup. Three cheers to Stars Diner creators Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker, and Mary Neely for making it happen.Stars Diner is a whacky pastiche of laughtrack sitcoms set in the titular diner where everything is always going to shit. Not only will the steak get overcooked but the nearby supervolcano may exterminate all life in Fresno. Blessed with an endearing DIY energy (Ruiz-Healy handles all the exterior shots as miniature and PS1 graphics), Stars Diner should get a look from distributors and networks that dont mind a little bit of anarchy. ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisStrange Journey: The Story of Rocky HorrorThe Rocky Horror Picture Show remains the longest running theatrically released film in history. Seriously, if your hometown has any sort of cool cred, its playing this Saturday at midnight somewhere. Yet, curiously, there has never been a major, comprehensive documentary about the phenomenon lest you count a 90s Behind the Music episode on VH1. Director Linus OBrien, son of Richard OBrien, and writer/producer Avner Shiloah correct that oversight with Strange Journey, aka the Rocky Horror Documentary.Filled with most of the surviving stars and contributors to both the 1975 film and the original 1973 stage musical who shaped the lore, Strange Journey doesnt necessarily teach diehards anything new, but it immortalizes for posterity the memories of all involved in a concise and elegantly told format. OBrien and Shiloah also make the astute choice to intertwine the building of Rocky Horror with the legacy of its mytheschewing a linear format in favor of using the feature-length to expand on why this show became such a conduit for counterculture, freedom, and escape. May it continue to provide that time warp release for another 50 years. DCThe SurrenderTake a touch of Ari Asters Hereditary, add a heaping dose of Stephen Kings Pet Sematary, and blend them together with a host of chopped up limbs and youve got the formula for Julia Maxs macabre horror flick, The Surrender.The Boys Colby Minifie stars as Megan, a woman who returns home to take care of her terminally ill father. After Megans dad succumbs to the inevitable, her mother Barbara (Kate Burton) turns to some alternative methods to bring him back. The Surrender leaves too much potential woo-woo wellness culture satire on the table but ultimately succeeds as a horror movie sizzle reel for all involved. ABPhoto by: Nick MorgulisThe ThreesomeIf the star-crossed entanglements of characters played by Zoey Deutch and Jonah Hauer-King arent enough to sell you on this rom-com, then a first-act twist anchored by Bottoms breakout Ruby Cruz pushes The Threesome out of familiar territory and into something much closer to comedic bliss.Director Chad Hartigan masterfully balances the films big hearted moments of Ethan Ogilbys script with key supporting roles from comedy TV mainstays like Jaboukie Young-White and Josh Segarra, and standout quips and one-liners from Deutch.Whenever I read a script and find myself reading the lines out loud, I know I really want to do [the film], Deutch tells us. Its almost like my body has a physical reaction to wanting to jump in and figure out how I would gel with [the role]. I loved the script. CLPhoto by: Nick MorgulisThe True Beauty of Being Bitten by a TickDirector Pete Ohs had a SXSW breakout in 2022 with Jethica and returned in 2025 with The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick, a creeping rural psychological thriller. Like his past films, Ohs creative process is unique in that he shares writing credits with his actors, and theyre constantly evolving the narrative or solving problems on set together in real time.Filmmaking is a collaborative medium, but that approach is extra collaborative, Ohs says.He calls the process his table of bubbles. A shoot begins with an outline of the story and, with a minimal crew anchored by a key location, they shoot chronologically while writing scenes together. Zo Chao, Callie Hernandez, and James Cusati-Moyer, and Jeremy O. Harris, the top four on a sparse call sheet, are all credited as writers on the film in which Chaos Yvonne develops troubling symptoms after a tick bite during a weekend away at a secluded house amongst friends new and old.Harris, who executive produced and previously collaborated with Ohs on the editing of Harris Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play., credited the director for building a creatively freeing atmosphere on set.The genre isnt horror. Its much like [David] Lynch. Its Ohs-ian. Part of being in an Ohs-ian universe is saying yes to his table of bubbles. Its a very fragile process to say yes to whats on the table to keep the table alive. Its like being in film school with the best, most active professor. CLPhoto by: Nick MorgulisWe Bury the DeadIt seems increasingly tough these days to produce a zombie movie that feels fresh or innovative. So the fact that Zak Hilditchs We Bury the Dead finds a new way into the genre via We Bury the Dead makes the horror-drama hybrid one of the nicer genre surprises out of Austin this year. Technically a post-apocalyptic movie set down under where Ava (Daisy Ridley) is a woman looking for her missing husband after the world stopped, the truth is We Bury the Dead is the first undead parable in-tune with a post-COVID and post-Trump world.In the film, life on the Australian island of Tasmania ended long before the story properly begins, with most of the inhabitants dropping dead after the U.S. government accidentally detonated an EMP off the coast of a sovereign ally. Oopsie. Curiouser still, a few of the dead wont stay down. The hapless local authorities euphemistically refer to these folks as coming back online. Still, everyone is promised that the dead, and not-so-dead, will be treated with the dignity they deserve.Its in this context that Ridleys Ava enters the island as a member of the Bodies Retrieval Unit. Like everyone else in the gig, shes looking for a closure that will not come, and a loved one who at best will be a snarling corpse. The irony, and day-to-day indignity, of such a prospect grounds the horror in an eerie verisimilitude. Ridley does raw work, too, when encountering others haunted by those, uh, terminally online. DCColdwave at SXSW 2025. Photo by Perry Hall.Best Music Sets & ShowcasesInitial reports that SXSWs music festival is in a state of flux for 2026 have since been clarified by the event organizers. The show will go on, albeit reduced by two days. There has been a dramatic decrease in artist participation over the decade or so, and a shortening of the SXSW 2026s overall schedule due to construction on Austins new convention center will inevitably lead to changes for the music festival that has been a staple of the event for nearly 40 years.The artists that did travel to SXSW 2025 still packed a punch, though. Of the artists we selected for our SXSW 2025 music preview, we caught sets by Aussie six-piece Coldwave (photo above), who captivated a packed inside stage audience at Mohawk during a late-night set, and Brazilian outfit Terraplana closed out Valhalla with a mesmerizing shoegaze set that evokes emo and grunge inspiration.From artists who also made our SXSW Music Mixtape playlist, we saw Sierra Spirit, a Native American indie artist from Oklahoma, shine during an intimate set with standout tracks bleed you and better wild, and Norways indie pop math rockers Mall Girl impressed with tantalizing vocals and thumping guitars inspired by midwest emo (see Midwest).The British Music Embassy, one of our favorite mainstays at SXSW, once again filled out one of the festivals strongest lineups with strong sets from some of the buzzy bands showcasing last week, including Freak Slug, Gurriers, and Delivery.Dune Rats at SXSW 2025. Photo by Perry Hall.Finally, we stopped by the Sounds Australia House on Thursday for a second Coldwave set and photoshoot to make sure our eyes and ears didnt deceive us. They delivered yet again. And they were followed by Brisbane three-piece Dune Rats (pictured above), who lit up Creek and Cave with their energetic mix of rowdy throwback pop punk. CL

This article contains spoilers for The Electric State.The Electric State has many problems: derivative plot, lackluster acting, indifferent visual style. But the most troubling issue might be the way it portrays AI.In The Electric States fictional 1994, a technological leap in 1990 allowed machines to become self-aware. They immediately rebelled against their creators, leading to a civil war between humans and machines. Lacking physical feelings of pain and fear of death, the machines seemed poised to win the war until scientist Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci) created Neurocasters. Neurocasters allowed humans to put their consciousness into mechanical bodies, giving them the fortitude to defeat the robots and drive them into a quarantined zone.Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, MCU veterans all, The Electric State lacks any sort of originality. This extends to the characterization, the emphasis on pop culture detritus, and, of course, an uprising machine plot. The imagery and story mechanics come directly from The Terminator, The Matrix, Blade Runner, and even Star Trek, all venerable sci-fi entries. However, the portrayal of AI reads very differently in The Electric State than it does in those entries, and not just because the Russos arent James Cameron.Its because in the year 2025, AI is here. Its real. And its terrible. What once seemed like a far away thought exercise about technological evolution and human consciousness has become a fact of our daily existence, and one that raises immediate moral questions which pop culture can no longer avoid.The Evolution of Fictional AIWithin the montage of images and soundbites that serve as exposition in The Electric States first 10 minutes comes a CNN debate between a human and a robot. We deserve the right to liberty, insists the trash-can shaped robot. We deserve freedom from servitude.No, they deserve the right to work for me when I plug them in, responds the human host. And when they dont, its off to the garbage dump.The robot debater responds in horror, as if the host just suggested genocide, which suggests the beginning of an interesting dialogue. But The Electric State has no interest in exploring sentience and the develop of technology. Instead it goes onto just show images of robots battling humans, leading armies against human militaries, and scaring regular people in public spaces.None of these images will be very surprising to people who have watched a movie before. Way back in 1999, the Wachowskis told us about a synthetic world created by machines who wanted to use humans as batteries. In 1984, Cameron described a war between humans and machines after Skynet became self aware. Long before that, the covers of 1950s sci-fi magazines depicted robots rounding humans into camps and Computo killed one of Triplicate Girls duplicates in Adventure Comics #341 (1966).Sometimes these stories served to question the very nature of being. The Philip K. Dick story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep? (1968) and its film adaptation Blade Runner (1982) force us to consider the true difference between organic and artificial sentience. In 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), HAL 9000 becomes self aware and even defends itself when perceiving humans as a threat to its mission. The great Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Measure of a Man (1988) contends that the synthetic life form Data is precisely the type of new life that futuristic explorers seek to find.Obviously, The Electric State has no such heady ideas. Thats not necessarily a problem in and of itself. Neither The Terminator or The Matrix are really interested in exploring the nature of being either. They both focus on action and adventure first and then on other themes, such as fate and heroism.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Nor did they need to. Up until the five or so years, functioning artificial intelligence was so far away and so innocuous that it could be used as a metaphor or a gateway for another concern. We could just use machines as things to kill because killer machines gave us escapist fantasy distance. We could HAL and Data and Deckard to redefine our notions of humanity because no one was pretending that robots could stand in for people. We could contend that AI was an exploited work force for life among the stars.But thats not the case anymore. And as such, AI can no longer be a metaphor without first being AI.The Future Is Now and TerribleReal life, its contact, its you and me, declares the hero Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) in a speech at the end of The Electric State. Were flesh and blood, yeah, but were also electricity.Its an unbelievable moment, not just because of the hackneyed construction of sequence, which is all gauzy flashback shots and a piano cover of Wonderwall by 90s touchstone Oasis. The speech at the end of The Electric State also fails because its attempt at warm-fuzzies also tries to include robots, who get their own reaction shots during the speech, presented in a simulacrum of the Spielberg awe reactions.With all of its talk about connection and meaning through interaction, The Electric State speech wants to be inspirational. It wants to urge viewers to get along with one another, to overcome the divisions and form messy connections. It wants to use the civil war of its alternate 90s as a metaphor for the divisions in our real world, with the robots standing in for random belligerents, as if every debate opponent is just misunderstood.Obviously, such empty signifiers have problems, not least of which is the fact that AI is a real and present tool in our current culture. More specifically, generative AI has replaced crypto currency and NFTs as Silicon Valleys latest cause, with everyone from Apple to H&R Block to Taco Bell using AI as a selling point.But generative AI isnt just the latest bell and whistle to get us to buy new products. Its explicitly an exploitative technology that diminishes the labor of real people for the benefit of a rich few. Generative AI works by combining and remixing information provided to it, which includes not just data and facts, but also stylistic choices and opinions. Unlike natural resources (which, to be sure, generative AI does inordinately drain, as do crypto currencies and NFTs), the opinions and facts and styles that generative AI mines all come from people. AI programs take the work done by others and remixes it into something it presents as new and original.Obviously remixing and retelling has a long history in humanity, as anyone whos read a Shakespeare play can tell you. But the functions of capitalism make the reforming done by generative AI something different, as financial compensation gets involved, something needed to live by the people who actually do the writing and creating that generative AI consumes. AI allows the rich and powerful to benefit completely from creative work without having to pay or even acknowledge the people whose labor makes it possible.AI programs like Siri may sound like humans. But they are not. Theyre tools used by the haves to exploit the have nots, and its about to get much worse. So it is perhaps time that sci-fi movies, TV shows, and the larger canon accept this emerging reality.The Real AIThe closest moments where The Electric State borders enjoyable comes from the quips traded between grizzled vet Keats (Chris Pratt) and his robot pal Herman (physically portrayed by Martin Klebba, voiced by Anthony Mackie). Even though the two fought on opposite sides of the civil war, they decided to stop killing one another and formed a bond so deep that Keats is inconsolable when it appears that Herman dies in the final act.In the movies estimation, Herman and Keats represent hope for the future, the ability to overcome differences and make bonds. Its the connection Michelle alludes to in the concluding speech. But thats because The Electric State understands Herman and all other AIs as just a different type of human.The Electric State is hardly the only film to fumble its approach to AI. Recently, the horror-thriller Companion used the mistreatment of its robots to make a point about patriarchy and homophobia. Ex Machina, made by the usually very thoughtful Alex Garland, nailed its critique of tech bros and the cult of personality around them, but too often treated its central robots as women suffering from mistreatment by terrible men.To be sure, Companion and Ex Machina are much better movies than The Electric State. Furthermore, topics such as patriarchy, homophobia, and yes, even the bonds formed between enemies deserve to be explored via fiction.But AI can no longer be used as a stand in for these issues. Artificial intelligence now exists and it is used as an explicitly anti-human, exploitative tool. To pretend that it doesnt exist, or that its something other than what it is feels antiquated, and tone deaf. At best, it is creatives in our brave new world burying their heads in the sand and ignoring the changing of the tide. Worse, however, would be using fiction to normalize this new reality as a healthy and happy thing. To suggest were all electricity. This errs closer to moral bankruptcy. Either way, its bad sci-fi.The Electric State is now streaming on Netflix.

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Microsoft Ability Summit 2025: Accessibility in the AI era Mar 18, 2025| Jenny Lay-Flurrie - Vice President, Chief Accessibility Officer Today, we hosted the 15th annual Microsoft Ability Summit, with over 20,000 attendees from 164 countries coming together virtually to discuss the future of AI and accessibility. Microsoft has a long-standing commitment to investing in accessibility, grounded in our business model and going back over three decades from the earliest accessibility features in Windows 95 and continuing today with new hardware and software functionalities powered by AI. We are innovating faster than ever before and people with disabilities continue to lead the way.Accessibility is a fundamental right for people with disabilities and makes technology easier for everyone. We see this reflected in how customers are using Microsoft technologies around the world. Copilot for Microsoft 365 is unlocking workplace productivity like never before, more than 10 million people use Edge each month to have the web Read Aloud, over 1 million people use Immersive Reader to make webpages easier to read and partners like Tobii Dynavox and Special Olympics are bringing AI to people with disabilities globally. And these are just some of the highlights of what we shared today!Heres a quick summary of the new accessibility products, features and programs announced at the 2025 Ability Summit.Whats new in 2025?We announced that the Xbox Adaptive Joystick is now available for purchase exclusively at Microsoft Store. With more than 429 million players with disabilities worldwide, we know each player has unique needs and preferences for how they choose to play. The Xbox Adaptive Joystick is a singular, wired controller primarily designed to meet the needs of players with limited mobility. Its versatility helps players seamlessly incorporate it into their existing gaming setups. Built with the Gaming and Disability community who inform the development of Xbox products from the beginning. The joystick joins our family of adaptive accessories including the mouse, pen, adaptive kit and Xbox Adaptive Controller. For more details visit Xbox Support.And all our Microsoft hardware comes in packaging designed to be accessible and sustainable. No more plastic clamshells! To help others with accessible packaging, today at the Summit, the Packaging and Content Team at Microsoft published its Accessible Packaging Design Guide, which offers practical guidelines, best practices and strategies to create accessible packaging and foster a trusted customer experience.At the Summit, Microsoft teams and partners also shared ways they are working to further advance accessibility through technology:Tobii Dynavox is integrating Microsoft Neural Voice, a capability of Azure AI Speech, into their assistive communication solutions. This AI-powered feature gives more personal options for individuals who use assistive communication devices using eye gaze. Neural Voices are available in over 50 languages within their apps TD Talk and TD Phone.Microsoft Teams will improve for those using Sign Language View. Later this year, Teams will be able to identify when someone is using sign language and feature them prominently as a speaker in the meeting. These video customizations are part of our ongoing product development to help deliver clear and accessible communication for everyone.Copilot is powering neurodiverse talent. Recently, an EY study found that Copilot helped 76% of neurodiverse employees perform better at work by enhancing communication, memory recall and focus. At the Summit, we shared how new simple features like Team Reflow and PowerPoint Designer are helping people do their work. See four early adopters of Copilot in New York share their stories.YouTube VideoAI comes to Narrator. Rich image descriptions powered by AI will be coming to Narrator in Windows Insider Preview this spring and Azure AI Foundry announced new UI improvements to reduce cognitive load.Over 5 million learners around the world have participated in our Accessibility Skilling program and were grateful to our partners including Teach Access, Computacenter UK and the City of New York. The free, virtual training includes the latest on AI and is available for organizations to use in their learning management systems.Speech recognition improved up to 60%. The Speech Accessibility Project, led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, unlocked a breakthrough improving accuracy gains for non-standard speech, and the Azure platform team demonstrated how developers can leverage GitHub Copilot to write accessible code.Special Olympics shared how Copilot has been a game-changing training companion for their coaches and athletes with intellectual and development disabilities for the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin, Italy.All this progress is possible because of the people who design technology with accessibility in mind. In this way, technology benefits everyone, creating a more productive and efficient workplace. It is beautiful to see that reflected in this profile of Dave Dame, Senior Director of Accessibility and Human Factors at Microsoft, where he shared how accessible technology helps him thrive as a leader.OnwardFor over 30 years, Microsoft has focused on accessibility in our products. Accessibility makes our tools and technologies easier for everyone and accelerates innovation for the world. From the introduction of Sticky Keys and speech recognition in Windows 95 to Seeing AI in 2016 and beyond, accessibility innovations have benefited people in ways we designed for and ways we could have never expected. Just think about how closed captions are now invaluable for everyone watching videos and calls.AI has the potential to create significant advancements across every sector of our economy and society. We will continue to be grounded and responsible in our approach as we work to get the latest technology to the people who can benefit from it the most.Whether this is your first or fifteenth Ability Summit, thank you for joining and we hope you picked up a new feature, skill or nugget that helps you, your community or your organization get the most out of technology. All content will be available to watch after the event.Lets move forward together.

Aerospike rocket engines are the stuff of legend in the space industry. Conceived in the 1960s, their unique spiked-nozzle design promises better efficiency, reusability, and performance at all altitudes. But their complexity and the shutdown of major space programmes towards the end of the 20th century meant they never entered the mainstream.But now, startups are dusting off old designs and using new technologies to revive aerospike engines for modern spaceflight. One of these ventures is Spains Pangea Aerospace.Founded in 2018, Pangea has been operating under the radar for most of its seven-year history. But today, the company announced a 23mn Series A funding round as it looks to ramp up development of its 3D-printed aerospike rocket engine.Among the investors was Andr-Hubert Roussel, former CEO of ArianeGroup, who oversaw the development of Europes only heavy-lift rocket in operation, Ariane 6. Roussel joined Pangeas board last year.Its incredibly valuable to have such a figure investing in and advising us as we embark on our next stage of growth, Pangeas CCO and co-founder Xavier Llair told TNW. Get TicketsRoussel praised the companys plans on LinkedIn. Strong team, strong technology, building the future of space propulsion, he said.An aerospike rocket revolution?In 2021, Pangea successfully conducted a hot-fire test of Demo-P1, the worlds first aerospike methalox engine.Weve been silently making breakthroughs in cooling techniques, additive manufacturing, and materials science that are now paying off, said Llair. Were sure we can produce aerospike engines at a low cost.Pangea, which has headquarters in Barcelona, Spain and Toulouse, France, is now directing most of its focus towards ARCOS, slated to become the worlds first flight-ready aerospike engine.ARCOS is designed to be reused up to 10 times and to power both a rockets booster and upper stage. And like the Demo-P1, it will be 3D-printed.A 3D render of the finished ARCOS engine. Credit: PangeaPangea, in partnership with Aenium Engineering, has developed a proprietary copper-alloy material that can make an engine capable of withstanding the extreme thermal and mechanical loads of rocket launch and flight. The team has also developed a way to quickly deposit it in layers using a 3D printer.The result is a very low cost, very strong combustion chamber that can withstand the high heat and pressure, said Llair. With this technology, weve been able to produce things that were simply unproducible before.Pangeas aerospike engines are 30% more efficient than traditional bell engines, delivering 15% higher overall efficiency, and enabling up to 30% more payload capacity to orbit, the company said in a statement.The new space boomPangea aims to build rocket propulsion systems for all rocket sizes, from microlaunchers to heavy-lifters. Last year, the European Space Agency (ESA) contracted the startup to design a very high-thrust rocket engine, which could power future European heavy and super-heavy rockets.However, Pangeamainly looks to cater to the emerging flock of private spacecompanies. The startupsays it wants to be the Rolls-Royce of rockets the leading engine supplier in the sector.Pangea is currently testing its technology in partnership with three private space companies, Llair told TNW. Two European, one American, he said, refusing to elaborate further.Europes most promising rocket launch startups right now include Germanys Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) and Spains PLD Space. All three are set to blast off on their maiden flights this year, although Isar looks to be the first. Then there are the more established European heavyweights, Arianespace, a subsidiary of ArianeGroup, and Avio, the Italian makers of Vega-C.All these companies are looking to tap a booming global space economy, forecast to be worth $1.8 trillion by 2035. For Pangea, that means more customers.Llair also thinks space tech offers an important strategic lever for Europe, which is pushing to ramp up its defence capabilities and tech sovereignty amid cooling relations with the US and threats from Russia.Space is crucial for our defence and autonomy in Europe, he said. We have an opportunity to build a strong local space economy [here] and to be leaders in certain areas, like propulsion systems. However, its an opportunity that will go to waste unless governments invest more [in space startups] and take a risk like they do in the US. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Oslo-based startup Visoid has raised 700,000 in seed funding for its AI software, which helps architects turn their 3D models into striking renders within seconds.For architects and designers, a good render can mean the difference between winning or losing a client. However, rendering typically requires a lot of time, effort, expertise and money. Tools like Visoid look to disrupt the status quo.What started as a simple tool for architects to generate beautiful visualisations has led us on a journey to simplify and democratise the visualisation process itself, said co-founder Joachim Holwech.Heres how the software works:Check It OutYou take a screenshot of your 3D design and import it into Visoids web-based app. Then write out a general overview of your creative vision using a text prompt Scandinavian house in the woods with big windows, for example. You can also set more detailed requirements like the desired lighting or background elements. Once youre ready, click Render.Then the AI, trained on images of real buildings and homes, will generate your visualisation. If youre happy with the result, you then download it in up to 4K resolution.All of this speeds up the 3D rendering time by up to 90%, Visoid claims. The startup also promises to slash costs. A typical architectural 3D render costs anywhere from 90 to 9,000 per image. In contrast, Visoids Premium software package is available for just 55 a month.The founders of US-based construction outfit PANL, one of Visoids clients, described the impact as game-changing.It allows us to create lots of beautiful content for a fraction of the price, they said.AI accelerates into architecturePANL is far from alone in applying artificial intelligence to architecture. Over 40% of architects are now using AI tools, according to a report last month by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).Some of these AI tools include OpenAIs ChatGPT for writing briefs, and text-to-image generators like Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, or Dall-E for creating early concept designs. However, Visoid is confident that its tool offers something unique.Unlike other AI tools that generate images from prompts and light references, Visoid uses architects actual 3D models to create precise, true-to-design renderings, CEO and co-founder Mark Szoke told TNW.While other AI tools operate with more freedom based on less information and are more relevant in generating concept ideas and variations, Visoid ensures precise control and photo-realistic visualisation key reasons behind our rapid usage growth in just a year.https://cdn0.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2025/03/Visoid_beforeafter_2.mp4Since launching in 2023, Visoid has attracted customers in over 80 countries and generated more than 2.7 million images, with over 500,000 uploaded to its platform, the company said.The startups progress caught the attention of VC firm Antler, which participated in the new seed funding round.The fact that they have reached a high ARR [annual recurring revenue] and attracted users from around the world while having spent very little money on marketing shows they have built something that creates real value for their customers, said Anna Munthe-Kaas, associate partner at Antler.Antler contributed to Visoids new funding alongside lead investor StartupLab, a Norwegian startup incubator and investor and construction giant OBOS.Visoid will use the fresh capital to expand its team and reach new clients. Among the recent additions to the customer base is the Nordic Office of Architecture. One of Scandinavias leading architecture practices, the company has led mega projects including the new Oslo Airport and Norways Government Quarter. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Adaptive Audio originally shipped for AirPods Pro 2 only, but has since expanded to AirPods 4 too. Apple built the feature to be a contender for default noise mode for users. But did you know you can customize Adaptive Audio to better suit your needs? Heres how an iOS 18 change might help you stick with a single AirPods noise mode moving forward.Apples first take on Adaptive Audio didnt hit the mark for me, but its gotten betterAdaptive Audio first came on the scene as part of iOS 17. Heres how Apple described it at the time:Adaptive Audio [is] a new listening mode that dynamically blends Transparency mode and Active Noise Cancellation together based on the conditions of a users environment to deliver the best experience in the moment. This new listening mode will seamlessly tailor the noise control experience while users move between environments and interactions that are constantly changing throughout the day.Its clear from Apples pitch that the company hoped Adaptive Audio could serve as the one noise mode many AirPods users might stick with.Rather than needing to constantly switch between Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency, Adaptive Audio was presented as the best of both modes.In my early testing of the feature, however, I found that it didnt quite work like Id hoped. It didnt seem to offer enough noise reduction for my tastes, and I also preferred Transparency mode in some situations.Anecdotally though, Id heard Apple may have updated and improved Adaptive Audio over the course of various firmware updates.So I gave it another shot recently and found it much improved.Adaptive Audio hasnt quite become my only noise mode, as I still use Active Noise Cancellation to block out as much sound as possible. But Adaptive has sufficiently replaced Transparency for me.However, there was a key setting introduced in iOS 18 that Id overlooked until nowand which just might make Adaptive the only mode I need.iOS 18 lets you customize Adaptive Audio to suit your needsLast September, alongside various other iOS 18 improvements, AirPods got an Adaptive Audio upgrade too.You can now customize Adaptive Audio to allow more or less noise through.Heres how:When wearing your AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods 4, open the Settings appGo to the AirPods menu near the top of the screenIn the Audio section, tap Adaptive AudioUse the slider to modify Adaptive Audio to your preferencesOn this final screen with the slider, youll see the following:Adaptive Audio dynamically responds to your environment and cancels or allows external noise. You can customize Adaptive Audio to allow more or less noise.Im eager to play around with adjusting Adaptive Audio to allow more or less noise and see how it works out. It would be great if these adjustments meant I could stay in Adaptive mode 24/7.Do you use Adaptive Audio on your AirPods? Let us know in the comments.Best AirPods deals and accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

MacWhisper has been a must-have transcription tool for a while now, and the new version 12 update makes it downright essential. New customers can save 15% at checkout with the promo code listed below The most requested MacWhisper feature, according to developer Jordi Bruin, has been on-device automatic speaker recognition. The app uses powerful speech-to-text transcription models that are capable of turning hours of dialogue into text, but automatically assigning who said what has been a huge problem to solve.Enter MacWhisper 12. The new versions headlining feature is the ability to automatically group transcribed text by speaker, making it the first Mac app to offer this feature locally on-device.Now, when you transcribe an interview, meeting, or conversation, MacWhisper will automatically detect different speakers, group their speech, and label themmaking your transcripts clearer and easier to navigate.This is a game-changer, and were proud to be the first to bring local, on-device speaker recognition to the Mac, thanks to our collaboration with ArgMax and their WhisperKit Pro and SpeakerKit models. All processing happens privately on your Mac, meaning no data is sent to a server, and it works offline. Getting started is easyjust transcribe your audio, assign names to each speaker, and youre done.In addition to on-device automatic speaker recognition, MacWhisper 12 works with ElevenLabs and Deepgram transcription APIs for alternative speaker recognition support.MacWhisper is available as a free download with free OpenAI Whisper transcription included. Unlock MacWhisper Pro to unleash the apps full capabilities including on-device automatic speaker recognition. Save 15% at checkout with promo code FINALLY for a limited time to celebrate this highly-requested feature finally shipping.Best Apple accessoriesFollow Zac Hall on X, and listen to Runtime with co-host Sophia Tung on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

As slumping EV giant Tesla's sales slow to a crawl, rival Chinese company BYD is starting to eat its lunch.Yesterday, the Shenzhen-based corporation revealed a lineup of cars it claims can soak up nearly 250 miles' worth of battery charge in just five minutes just a hair longer than the time it takes to pump a traditional car full of gasoline. The buzzy new tech will be available next month in BYD's flashy new Han L sedan.That announcement sent shockwaves through the EV space and beyond, and it's not hard to see why. If the claims hold up, BYD's system will be at least twice as fast as Li Auto's Mega MPV, which can charge about 310 miles in 12 minutes, and more than three times more efficient than Tesla's record of a 170-mile charge in 18 minutes, according to Bloomberganalysis.Since announcing the Han L, BYD's market value has skyrocketed. In just one day, BYD's valuation surpassed Ford, General Motors, and Volkswagen combined a first for the company, and a major boon for the Chinese automotive industry. Tesla's stock, meanwhile, crashed by 4 percent just on premarket trading alone, thanks to tumbling sales in China, Cybertruck quality issues, and the BYD charging race.Despite tariffs and trade war escalations, China's global slice of the EV pie is steadily growing. In 2023, China exported 1.7 million EVs to the rest of the world 50 percent more than the next highest exporter, Germany. In August 2024, BYD's global exports more than doubled Tesla's, a lead that's only grown in recent months as protests and Musk fatigue sent Tesla sales into the ground.Holding that leadon exports is going to be a huge factor in deciding whether or not BYD can become a decisive global frontrunner, as it facesfierce resistance from Western policymakers. When it comes to charging infrastructure, BYD's star is currently rising throughout Latin and South America, as well as other corners of the globe, like Europe and the Middle East. While Tesla currently boasts some 65,000 proprietary Superchargers worldwide, BYD drivers can access 800,000 universal charging points throughout Europe alone.One thing's for sure: the electric vehicle market is here to stay. The only question remaining is how the major players carve up their pieces of the pie as the world adjusts to rapid innovations in zero-emissions transit.As it stands, BYD is looking more and more like the gold standard in the EV world while Tesla's US-made cars feel like cheap knockoffs.More on electric vehicles: Man Tests If Tesla Autopilot Will Crash Into Wall Painted to Look Like RoadShare This Article

As Tesla's shares continue their monthslong slump, even its executives and board members are starting to jump ship.As ABC News reports, four top officers at the company offloaded over $100 million in shares since early last month suggesting that even insiders see troubling days ahead for the Elon Musk-run company.Since Trump's inauguration in early January, Tesla's shares have been getting hammered, the result of widespread market pessimism, an aging vehicle lineup andperhaps mainly animosity aimed at Musk, who has been rampaging through the federal government with the help of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.The company's shares have plummeted over 40 percent since the beginning of the year, wiping out all gains Tesla had made since Trump was reelected in November.Sales numbers have fallen off a cliff in key markets around the world. Tesla's performance isdown in almost every single European market. Even sales in China, one of the company's most lucrative markets, are dropping.Even Musk's brother Kimbal has seemingly had enough, unloading 75,000 shares worth around $27 million last month, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.According to a separate document filed last week, longtime Musk ally James Murdoch sold around $13 million on the same day Tesla had its worst single-day decline since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic."Whenever insiders, including directors, are selling shares, it's not a positive signal," University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter told ABC.However, two sales by Tesla's board chairman Robyn Denholm, totaling more than $75 million, were planned months ago as part of a sales planin a common practice, per Ritter.And not everybody agrees that executives are getting cold feet. It could also be a sign that higher-ups are looking for a correction."While a sale doesn't necessarily mean an executive or board member feels negatively about a company's outlook, it could mean they think the stock is at a fair price or even overvalued," research firm Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein told ABC.Stilll, Musk's track record is dicey.Could Tesla suffer a similar fate as Twitter, which the mercurial CEO infamously acquired for $44 billion in 2022? Musk's erratic management and extremely polarizing behavior have erased an estimated 80 percent of its value in just a few years.Without any enthusiasm from consumers and existing owners plastering anti-Musk stickers on their Teslas' bumpers, the EV maker's future is as uncertain as ever.One thing's for sure: a lot is riding on the company's hail mary, in the form of afleet of "Cybercab" robotaxis that it's promised to reveal this summer.Share This Article