A disorienting premonition, Alex Garland’s Civil War yanks us into a dystopian future United States that doesn’t feel too far in the distance, even though the movie goes to great lengths to skirt around political specifics. This disconnect is hard to reconcile at first, but the further it goes on, the more it pulls back on its opaque fabric, revealing a surprisingly lucid portrait.

A story of war photographers who observe, capture, and transmit history’s horrors, it bears little resemblance to its action-heavy trailers, but instead reveals something far more thoughtful and visceral. If you meet it on its wavelength, it’ll leave you shaken.

I knew from the second the game’s iconic theme song played that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth would be a symphonic masterpiece. I just didn’t know that I’d enjoy playing the second installment of the JRPG remake wearing PlayStation’s Pulse Explore wireless earbuds more than through my Dolby Atmos soundbar.

Don’t get me wrong, if you have a good soundbar, speaker system, or pair of gaming headphones that bring the oomph, you’re absolutely appreciating games properly. Any speaker or headphones setup will pump out better sound than the tinny speakers from your TV.

But what if you’re like me and the stray cat you recently took in gets irritated when you game at night and Cloud’s triple-slashing and “Braver” special attacks in Rebirth spook her? Well, if you’re a PS5 owner like me who prefers wireless earbuds versus over or on-ear headphones, I can’t recommend the Pulse Explore wireless earbuds enough.