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Kane Parsons and Alex Ullom Discuss Liminal Horror — Watch

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2026 has been the year of liminal horror. It started when Kane Parsons captivated audiences with his directorial debut “Backrooms,” which turned an open-source internet phenomenon about eerily lit rooms that never end into a blockbuster film franchise. And Neon is hoping to build on that momentum with another film by a Gen Z director, Alex Ullom‘s “It Ends.” The 2025 SXSW premiere follows a group of teenagers who find themselves driving down a road that never seems to end or take them anywhere, combining the unsettling vibes of “Backrooms” with roadtrip movie tropes.

To commemorate the film’s release, Parsons recently moderated a Q&A with Ullom following a screening of “It Ends” in Vancouver. IndieWire exclusively releases the video, which sees the two directors discussing everything from post-production workflows to the horrifying experience of being a young person in a world that often feels brutally unstable.

It wasn’t long before Ullom dropped the word “liminal,” drawing faux ire from Parsons who lamented that the subgenre has “become a whole crazy thing.” Ullom joked that “it’s your fault, by the way,” which Parsons reluctantly accepted before they launched into a more serious discussion about why young audiences are drawn to stories about transitional spaces with undefined boundaries.

“I think there’s just a general feeling across the board, in our age range that’s like ‘We’re on the precipice of a massive transition … something is coming,’” Ullom said. “Because things are off, this is not how things should be!”

Ullom continued, explaining that liminal horror films give audiences a temporary excuse to detach from an online world that can be difficult to make sense of. “I think that the Gen Z ennui and malaise is a way of processing. Although I don’t see detachment as an answer forever. There has to be some sort of moral cohesiveness with each other that will pull us out of that eventually. You can’t live in that forever, but it’s totally fair to live in. The world is a lot right now. One second you’re watching a dude’s head get blown off, and the next second you’re watching the Geico lizard twerking. That’s just natural existence now.”

A Neon release, “It Ends” is now playing in select theaters before expanding on Friday, August 28. Watch the conversation between Parsons and Ullom, an IndieWire exclusive, below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0YVjmA75mE

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Maisie Williams Admits She Paid an Etsy Witch to Help With Her Career

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Maisie Williams knows a thing or two about witchcraft beyond her work in “Practical Magic 2,” admitting she once hired a digital mystic.

Specifically, at Wednesday’s European Premiere for “Practical Magic 2,” the “Game of Thrones” alum shared that she once hired an “Etsy witch” to assist in her career.

“I paid an Etsy witch to give me a role. To help me manifest a role in a movie,” she said to British Vogue during a red carpet interview. “And she told me some things that I had to say every night.”

Per Williams, she followed the online spellcaster’s instruction, as she said the words “every night.” However, the spell didn’t work, with Williams quipping, “It didn’t happen!”

While Williams may not be sold on the Etsy witch industry, the actress confessed that she does partake in superstitions.

“I don’t like to walk over the three consecutive drains,” she said, referring to the British superstition that it’s bad luck. “I don’t swear by it. I’ve done it. Listen, I’ve partaken. But it makes me feel uncomfortable every time, even if I sometimes end up walking into ongoing traffic. I just have to. I stick with that one.”

She added: “It makes me feel like everything is going to be fine. It makes me feel like I have control over the uncontrollable, which I don’t.”

Watch Williams’ red carpet interview below.

Williams stars opposite Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman and Joey King in the sequel to the 1998 romantic fantasy “Practical Magic.” She steps into the role of Antonia Owens, one of Bullock’s onscreen daughters, taking over the part from the original film’s child star, Alexandra Artrip.

In an August Instagram post, Artrip shared that she “retired from acting after the film,” but voiced her support for her onscreen sister, Evan Rachel Wood, who did not return to “Practical Magic 2” to reprise her role of Kylie Owens.

“Practical Magic 2” opens exclusively in theaters on Sept. 11.

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Longtime WNBC Investigative Reporter Reveals Network Eliminated Her Position

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After parting ways with WNBC, longtime investigative journalist Sarah Wallace wants to clear the air: She’s not retiring.

Instead, the seasoned journalist revealed in a direct-to-camera social media video on Friday that her position was entirely eliminated from the company, citing the changing media landscape as the cause for her career change.

“As we know, the media landscape around the country has changed, and WNBC made the difficult financial decision not to renew my contract and to actually eliminate my position as an investigative reporter,” Wallace said. “I had 11 great years there, and they have been fabulous to me. I’m also grateful to all of you who have reached out with your support: your calls, your messages, your emails.”

In the video, Wallace looked at the bright side of the situation, saying that she will now be able to dive even deeper into investigation outside of WNBC. However, she, like many journalists who have been laid off, now faces the struggle of finding the best channel through which to continue her work.

“Now, I am able to focus full-time on my passion of investigative reporting: crime, corruption, wherever it leads, and I am just now looking for the right platform to do it,” Wallace shared. “You’re going to be seeing more of me, and I want to hear from you, so I’ll keep you posted.”

You can watch the full video below.

Wallace’s story is becoming all too familiar in the media world, as mass layoffs and restructurings continue across the industry. In the past 10 days, BuzzFeed cut the HuffPost National Desk to three reporters and Vox laid off four employees after being acquired by James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and. In July, BuzzFeed laid off 35% of its workforce, while Patreon laid off 20%.

These losses have hit the entertainment sector as well. Despite the massive success of “Toy Story 5,” Disney let go of hundreds of staffers in July, with Pixar hit particularly hard. Annapurna similarly laid off 30 staffers on Wednesday due to “shifting market conditions.” In 2025, entertainment and media layoffs were up 18%, with over 17,000 jobs cut across television, film, broadcast, news and streaming in the first 11 months of the year.

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5 Back-to-School Movies to Stream in August

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Summer is rapidly coming to an end, even if the weather doesn’t feel like it just yet, and that means it’s back to school for many. To prepare, some good back-to-school movies might help.

Whether you’re headed back to the classroom yourself — either a student or maybe a teacher — or just have a loved one getting back into the swing of things, a new school year can be daunting. So, for this list, we picked some films that can remind you how fun it is, while maybe teaching some good lessons along the way.

Here are five back-to-school movies to stream in August.

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