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Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan share how Hot Frosty blends humor, heart, and holiday magic.

Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan share how Hot Frosty blends humor, heart, and holiday magic.

Hot Frosty is streaming now on Netflix.

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A24’s movie concession-themed chocolate bars are onsale at the A24 online shop and coming to select AMC Theaters soon.

Production company A24 has brought us incredible films, from this year’s Love Lies Bleeding and The Brutalist to past Best Picture winners like Moonlight and Everything Everywhere All at Once. Now, they’re delivering another treat: themed chocolate bars.

A24’s Movie Chocolate is a collection of three milk chocolate candy bars, each themed around various concessions. The Fizzy Fountain Soda bar pairs root beer and popping candies, the Popcorn & Candy bar features popcorn and chocolate-covered candies, and the Salty Peanut Crunch bar combines the timeless duo of peanuts and caramel.

The private-label chocolate is currently available to purchase through the website moviechocolate.co, as well as through A24’s online shop. Each bar retails for $5, with the Triple Feature gift set of six bars costing $33. Bars will also be coming soon to select AMC Theaters, where they’ll cost $5.99 plus tax.

While these bars nod to classic movie theater concessions, we couldn’t help but wonder what an A24 movie-themed chocolate bar collection would look like. How would Heretic taste? Would The Witch fulfill its promises of living deliciously? So here, without further ado, are our pitches for 12 additional A24 chocolate bars, as varied and strange as the company’s many offerings.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The ultimate nihilistic treat, this everything bagel chocolate bar is inspired by Stephanie Hsu’s Jobu Tupaki. We’re talking a bar filled with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and kosher salt — we might skip the garlic and onion flakes. When you really put everything on a bagel, then on a chocolate bar, it becomes this. The truth. Nothing matters. — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

Heretic

Mr. Reed’s (Hugh Grant) terrifying blueberry pie-scented candle prompted special scented Heretic screenings. So how about we translate that experience to a chocolate bar next? Blueberry clusters give this dark chocolate a juicy pop, but a smoky aftertaste will leave you questioning your reality. But on the bright side, maybe if we give some of this to Mr. Reed, he’ll let us out of his house of horrors? Please? — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

I Saw the TV Glow

We had to go with ruby chocolate for our I Saw the TV Glow-flavored bar, which pays tribute to the Buffy-esque series The Pink Opaque. Appropriately pink, and covered in sprinkles as a nod to the nightmarish Mr. Sprinkly, we can promise that this chocolate will taste exactly the same now as it will decades down the line. — B.E.

Aftersun

Flash back to Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio’s heartbreaking Turkish vacation with this Aftersun-flavored chocolate. Peppered with mini chunks of Turkish delight, this bar is sure to make you ponder your relationship with your father. Eat while listening to “Under Pressure” for the full effect. — B.E.

Midsommar

No, there’s no bear meat in our Midsommar chocolate. Instead, this beer-infused bar encourages you to celebrate the midsummer festival, with dried edible flowers sprinkled on top evoking everyone’s majestic flower crowns. Don’t worry; there definitely aren’t any hallucinogens in this chocolate. Nothing suspicious at all. — B.E.

The Witch

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously… by sinking your teeth into this The Witch bar? In the spirit of Black Philip, we’ve thrown dark chocolate and butter together, because we wouldst like the taste of butter very much, thank you. — B.E.

Babygirl

We’ve still got a bit of time before Halina Reijn’s erotic thriller Babygirl comes out, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fantasize (wink) about what it might taste like. From the trailer alone, we know that milk and cookies play key roles in Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson’s BDSM courtship, so how about we make a milk chocolate bar studded with decadent cookie crumbles? Lap it up. — B.E.

Moonlight

The dinner Kevin (André Holland) makes Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) in the final act of Moonlight is one of the best food scenes put to film, so of course we have to pay homage to it in our Moonlight bar. In honor of Kevin’s pollo a la plancha, this bar features hints of lime and cilantro. I don’t care if that’s polarizing — it’s movie-accurate! — B.E.

The X trilogy

How do you sum up Ti West’s genre-bending X trilogy in one tiny bar of chocolate? By splitting it into three parts, of course! One dark chocolate, one white chocolate, and one milk chocolate. Sample at will, or eat all three at once to experience three very different eras of horror — er, I mean types of chocolate. — B.E.

We Live in Time

You’re going to need this experimental haute cuisine-inspired bar to get through We Live In Time. Inspired by the “Douglas fir parfait” Florence Pugh’s chef Almut feeds to Andrew Garfield’s Tobias, this bar is a pine emulsion-infused innovation. It’s salty as hell, from the avalanche of tears we poured while watching this film. — S.C.

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt

If you have the word “taste” in your movie title, we’re going to theme a chocolate bar around it. That’s the case for Raven Jackson’s moving directorial debut All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt. The title gives us one key ingredient already with salt, but we’ll toss in flecks of edible clay to pay tribute to the film’s focus on the tradition of eating clay dirt, and how it moves from generation to generation. — B.E.

Uncut Gems

This Uncut Gems confection is nothing short of a panic attack in a chocolate bar. Like A24’s Fizzy Fountain Soda chocolate, this sweet is chock-full of popping candy — enough to make you feel like your mouth is going to explode and all your gambling plans are going to fall apart. Plus, Pop Rocks look like gems if you squint, right? — B.E.

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As of Nov. 20, you can get ‘Lego 2K Drive’ for Nintendo Switch for just $14.99. That’s a 25% discount, or $5 off.

SAVE $5: As of Nov. 20, you can get Lego 2K Drive for Nintendo Switch for just $14.99. That’s a 25% discount or $5 off.

Whether you’re shopping for the kids on your list or need a new video game to scratch that nostalgic itch, Lego 2K Drive for the Nintendo Switch is a must-have. (Don’t have a Nintendo Switch? You can get one for $299 at Best Buy.)

For a limited time, you can snag this game for just $14.99 (that’s $5 off!) at Amazon. That’s 25% off the regular price and the lowest price we’ve seen on this title yet.

Lego 2K Drive throws you into Bricklandia, a massive open world where you can go off-road, race competitors, and customize your ride brick-by-brick. The game features Story Mode, single races, Cup Series tournaments, and online support so you can play with friends or family. It’s like the Lego version of iRacing. Reddit users say it’s an “absolute blast,” and you know how picky those threads can get.

“What really makes the game fun is that it feels like playing with Lego vehicles the way that children do,” one Redditor writes. “There are little minifig pedestrians that you can run over and watch them burst into Lego bricks.”

Bring the fun home for the holiday season for $5 off today.

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As of Nov. 20, you can snag a NASA Lunarscope telescope at Amazon for just $35.99, down from $44.99. That’s a 20% discount, or $9 off.

SAVE $9: As of Nov. 20, you can snag a NASA Lunarscope at Amazon for just $35.99, down from $44.99. That’s a 20% discount, or $9 off.

If you’re shopping for kids this holiday season and want to give them something that isn’t screen-based, this NASA Lunarscope tabletop telescope may be the perfect gift. And right now, you can get it at a discounted price.

As of Nov. 20, you can get the NASA Lunarscope tabletop telescope for kids for just $35.99 at Amazon — a 20% discount, or $9 off the listing price. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for this telescope so far.

Sure, being the relative who gives “educational gifts” is tough, but a telescope is a genuinely cool gift for the kid obsessed with space (or aliens) in your life — and it supports STEM learning. This telescope features a tabletop tripod and smooth mount system, making it easy for kids to set up and use. It also has a finder scope and low-power (18x) and high-power (90x) eyepieces for viewing different planets and stars.

At $35.99, this beginner telescope is ideal for aspiring astronomers who want to start exploring the night sky.

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Answers to each clue for the November 20, 2024 edition of Arkadium daily mini crossword on Mashable.com.

The Daily Mini Crossword is one of the many popular daily word games available on Mashable. Powered by Arkadium, the mini crossword offers a speed round of puzzle fun with clues that are sure to challenge experienced crossword enthusiasts.

But there’s no need to let the challenge get in the way of your enjoyment! If moments are turning to minutes after getting stuck on a clue, find the answers you need to progress right here.

And when you’re done, check out the many other word games you can play on Mashable, including a full-size crossword.

Also, if you get stuck on any other daily word games, such as Wordle, Connections, or Strands — we have you covered.

Here are the clues and answers to Daily Mini Crossword for Wednesday, November 20, 2024:

Across

On your smartphone

The answer is App.

Rat’s place

The answer is Lab.

Theft

The answer is Larceny.

Apportion

The answer is Prorate.

Family man

The answer is Dad.

Related to rainfall

The answer is Pluvial.

Permit

The answer is License.

Thus far

The answer is Yet.

Hit the slopes

The answer is Ski.

Down

Yodeler’s perch

The answer is Alp.

Golfer’s goal

The answer is Par.

____s and services

The answer is Product.

Starting segue

The answer is Leadins.

Departure announcement

The answer is Bye.

Hunger for

The answer is Crave.

TP layers

The answer is Ply.

Deception

The answer is Lie.

Query

The answer is Ask.

Floral necklace

The answer is Lei.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Mini Crossword.

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As of Nov. 20, Target Circle members can get 50% off books with this BOGO deal.

BOOK BOGO DEAL: As of Nov. 20, Target’s Deal of the Day features a buy one, get one 50% off deal for Target Circle members on books.

Target’s been offering up some excellent deals in the lead-up to Black Friday. In particular, the retailer’s been dropping discounts as part of its Deal of the Day program throughout this month, which features a selection of sales each day on different items for shoppers and exclusives for its Target Circle members. The latest is worth your time if you’ve been hoping to pick up some new books ahead of the holidays.

On Nov. 20, Target Circle members can take advantage of a Buy One, Get One 50% off deal on books. This offer applies to a fantastic selection of books as well, whether you’re looking to invest in a massive box set like the fancy leather-cloth A Game of Thrones collection or want to pick up a beloved book like The Wild Robot, there are so many different options to choose from.

It’s also not the only Target Circle deal available to members right now. The retailer’s offering a BOGO deal on board games that’s well worth checking out ahead of the holidays, especially if you’re planning some big gatherings. And if you’ve yet to sign up for Target’s free Circle program, it’s worth it for exclusive discounts like these.

Don’t miss out on this one-day-only BOGO deal on books for Target Circle members.

Target’s official big Black Friday sale kicks off on Nov. 24, and runs all the way through Nov. 30. If you’re curious about what other retailers have planned, it’s worth having a look at our breakdowns of Walmart, Best Buy, and Amazon’s Black Friday events to learn more.

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Hints and answers to today’s Hurdle all in one place.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.

Hurdle Word 1 hint

Another way to describe cash.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

MONEY

Hurdle Word 2 hint

A way of describing someone as unreliable.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

FLAKE

Hurdle Word 3 hint

A sweetener.

Hurdle Word 3 answer

SUGAR

Hurdle Word 4 hint

An alcohol frequently mixed with cranberry.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

VODKA

Final Hurdle hint

A space object with a tail.

Hurdle Word 5 answer

COMET

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

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An interview with “Missing” directors Nick Johnson and Will Merrick on the dangers of true crime. Starring Storm Reid and Nia Long.

The standalone sequel to Searching is here, and like its predecessor, Missing weighs in on some hefty topics using social media and technology. Starring Nia Long and Storm Reid as mother-daughter duo Grace and June Allen, Missing follows the twists and turns of Grace’s mysterious disappearance as June pieces it all together at home using her laptop and some social media hacking. But while the film will lure you in as a suspenseful thriller with astounding editing and novel visual storytelling, its real appeal stands on the thematic undertones grounding its whirlwind plot. 

At a first glance, Missing may seem to be a crime story about the internet’s many rabbit holes that undermine our privacy. But the film is actually more concerned with the public’s obsession with finding the perfect victim and villain for a news story. It’s a fixation that’s created and nourished by a seemingly endless wave of true-crime content that sensationalizes real-life tragedies, frequently at the expense of people of color. Missing‘s real story is about how quick people (and the internet) are to villainize and neglect people of color if it means they get another TikTok hit or Netflix true-crime special. 

What happens in Missing?

“A lot of this film is playing with your biases, and the ways you might misinterpret something.”

When Grace Allen fails to return from her vacation with her new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung) in Colombia, time is of the essence. As the feds drag their heels on investigating her disappearance, June takes things into her own social media-savvy hands to find out what actually happened to her mom. While Missing strings you along for many plot twists, spoiler alert — its big reveal is that Grace never actually left for Colombia; she was kidnapped on her way to the airport by June’s father, James (Tim Griffin). 

James was dangerously abusive to Grace when June was young. So, Grace fled with June to California years before, changing their names and leaving young June to believe her father was dead. As it turned out, James met Kevin while they were both in prison. It was Kevin who helped him orchestrate this entire heist by hiring actors to play out their Colombia vacation gone wrong. While all eyes and fingers were pointing to Kevin in Colombia, Grace was trapped in a shack in James’ ranch the entire time. After a series of trials and tribulations, June manages to save the day and get her mom back home. 

What does Missing‘s ending actually mean?

Mashable hopped on a quick Zoom with the co-directors of Missing, Nick Johnson and Will Merrick, to discuss the subtext of their movie.

“There was one [high-profile] case in particular where it felt like people on TikTok were profiting off of the commentary and theories of this case, that we didn’t really love,” shared Johnson. “And so we injected that into the movie itself because we saw that happening [in real life].”

When Grace’s disappearance makes it to the news, everything about her case quickly becomes internet clickbait, with TikTokkers and Gen Z true-crime aficionados digging into Grace’s past and finding out that she has something to hide. The viewer knows Grace changed her name to escape her abuser, but the internet doesn’t and is adamant about making her a villain. 

The wave of true-crime TikToks pouring in and pointing to Grace as the true puppet master behind everything illuminates how quick society is to point fingers at single Black women (or men) instead of looking at the bigger picture. “We definitely thought about the missing white girl syndrome while making this” added Merrick. “A lot of this film is playing with your biases and the ways you might misinterpret something, even you as the audience and not the true-crime people we’re criticizing.”

In Missing, true-crime content creators don’t operate with empathy, never stopping to wonder what might have compelled Grace to change her name in the first place. Instead, they hop on a dangerous media bandwagon for the rush of it all, leaping to scandalizing conclusions. It’s a phenomenon Cat Cardenas at Slate Magazine refers to as “true-crime brain,” and we can see it every day, onscreen and off.

While Missing is a wild roller coaster with a series of events that may seem out of the ordinary, a lot of the film is grounded in real-life inspirations that guide its characters’ actions. The real joy of the film is watching your TikTok FYP page being fed to you on the big screen — a dish out on all things true crime and what it can create. 

Missing is now streaming on Hulu.

UPDATE: Nov. 18, 2024, 4:48 p.m. EST This article was originally published on Jan. 22, 2023. It has been updated to include the latest viewing options.

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A review of Sony Picture’s latest film “Missing,” starring Storm Reid, Nia Long, Ken Leung, and Tim Griffin.

While Missing may be a mystery, it’s more importantly a masterclass in innovative, visual storytelling. The film is a standalone sequel to 2018’s Searching, and like its predecessor, Missing’s plot is entirely mediated through technology.

We see our protagonist June Allen, wonderfully played by Storm Reid, navigate her mother’s disappearance by watching her laptop screen for the majority of the film’s unfoldings. Every Google search, text message notification, or notes app to-do list is how Missing tells its story. It’s a wildly intimate visual rollercoaster.

What is Missing about? 

June Allen is your typical Gen Z teen, ready to party it up all week while her mother, Grace (Nia Long), goes on a vacation to Colombia with her new boyfriend, Kevin (Ken Leung). But things quickly turn dark when Grace doesn’t return from her vacation, leaving June in the epicenter of a dangerous disappearance where she assumes the role of detective, using her laptop and overall tech-savvy skills to hack into emails, security camera footage, and even TaskRabbit to piece together her mother’s whereabouts.

While the film is riddled with one too many plot twists, its big reveal speaks to a more pressing aspect of our news cycle and its vilification of people of color. This makes Missing an important watch beyond the simple merit of a fun, action flick.

The charm of Missing is initially in its editing, but the plot twists become tedious. 

Missing’s editing and choice in telling its story through June’s MacBook is the real fun of the film. It allows the audience to get to know her in a really intimate and innovative way. Yes, we learn about June through her dialogue with other characters throughout Missing, but we also get extremely detailed tidbits on her laptop — like a to-do list that solely consists of “do financial aid thingy” — that are sweet but subtle nods to what a Gen Z teen is actually like. You can tell a lot about a person by how many Google tabs they have open or how messy their desktop is, and Missing acknowledges that fact and invites you into June’s world. 

The editing also leaves room for some incredible montages. In the film’s first act, June throws a massive house party that’s mediated through smooth transitions from Snapchat filters to Instagram stories to fire emojis morphing into her home’s fireplace. And when the film’s mystery kick-starts, the editing and sound design catapults its suspense to a whole new level as we see (and hear) June frantically typing and clicking different links to get a single clue as to where her mom is. It all perfectly situates you in her position and realistically follows what anyone one of us would do in the face of dangerous uncertainty: Google what the hell you’re supposed to do. 

But Missing slows down in its second act. The ceaseless plot twists, coupled with the lack of seeing June actually move around, kills the suspense. There are only so many FaceTimes you can watch before wanting to actually see your protagonist in action — a feeling that’s most potent in the final act, when we’re exclusively watching almost everything through a security camera as opposed to getting up close to June in her final fight.

Missing acknowledges where we’re at with true crime and why it’s a problem.  

Missing‘s incredible editing also comes through in its concluding moments, when we see June’s final fight transition to a true crime Netflix special made about her story. June questions why anyone would want to see this “garbage.” The sensationalization of her story was an incredibly smart take from Missing’s creators; it speaks to a moment in entertainment where true crime remains an audience hot topic with no clear ethical boundaries. We’ve seen it play out with Netflix’s Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, where the real-life families involved with the case spoke against the show for rehashing old wounds. Missing’s focus on the internet driving a true crime thirst that overshadows what’s actually at play saves its lackluster final act. 

Throughout the film, we also see June’s close friend Veena (Megan Suri) regularly reference different true crime shows in an attempt to help June figure out what to do next — it’s an extra dimension to the film’s reflection of Gen Z culture, while simultaneously addressing the same audience hunger that drives true crime entertainment in the first place. Couple that with the flood of viral TikToks in the film about Grace’s disappearance, and Missing is, at its core, commentary on how true crime can eclipse real-life scenarios and bolster an environment where nothing is really at stake if it reads like a fun, true crime doc.

Missing may drag on, but its decision to speak on cultural issues, including true crime, racism, and the internet, gives its twisty plot real substance. If you power through its hefty second act, there’s great reward in its finale and some fun along the way. 

Missing is now streaming on Hulu.

UPDATE: Nov. 18, 2024, 4:27 p.m. EST This article was originally published on Jan. 13, 2023, and has been updated to include the latest viewing options.

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The final act of “Arcane” is upon us. Watch the trailer for the final episodes of the “League of Legends”-based Netflix series.

The final act of “Arcane” is upon us. Watch the trailer for the final episodes of the “League of Legends”-based Netflix series.

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