In a pop culture world that is overrun with superheroes and villains, “Invincible” is something very, very different. While Marvel and DC dominate the field, Image Comics managed to break the mold with their own spin on the “Evil Superman” trope, creating something so much richer than its contemporaries. A series about the true moral quandaries of fighting evil. A series about balancing real life with an innate responsibility to do good. A series that truly creates a new and well-developed world of rich and complex characters. A series that is:

INVINCIBLE

Based on the 2003 best-selling indie comic book series of the same name, “Invincible” was the brainchild of “Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman, along with the help of Amazon Prime Video. Originally greenlit in 2017, the series went through multiple iterations, even dipping into a potential live-action production. The show that we know of today didn’t find proper footing until around 2020, when pedigreed actors Steven Yeun and J. K. Simmons joined the voice cast. 

“Invincible” is set in a typical world of superheroes and villains, where teenager Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), son of Omni-man (JK Simmons), discovers he has powers and must learn to become a superhero while balancing school and his own life, with dark threats looming closer than he knows.

While the premise of the show may sound very similar to many other superhero shows and movies, it stands out in two key ways: gratuitous violence and grounded characters. A key point of this show is that Invincible is a terrible superhero at first. He ends most episodes drenched in blood and clinging to life, but each of these experiences teaches him how to be a better superhero, just like everyone around him. Seeing actual growth like this is truly rare in superhero movies these days, turning “Invincible” into a uniquely grounded story. 

Grayson isn’t the only that has this maturation story, however. He is surrounded by a plethora of different heroes, villains and civilians, all trying their best to survive in a thoroughly complex world, making the show an immediate hit with fans. 

Audiences came into season 3 of “Invincible” with very little faith. Season 2 had been, by all means, a massive disappointment. Coming almost three years after the first season’s release on Prime Video, the show had amassed millions of fans during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Amazon had failed to properly capitalize on its popularity in that gap. 

When the second season was finally released in 2024, several questions were raised. A new art style had been incorporated, but there had also been a visible drop in overall animation quality. 

Many of the action scenes felt slower, and there was a dizzying amount of reused art, making the three-year-long break seem even less reasonable. To make things worse, there was a season break halfway through, which lasted almost six months, further frustrating fans. All of these compounded issues left watchers even less sure of the validity of a third season, but, thankfully, Kirkman and Prime listened to the outcry. 

Season 3 of the show begins much faster, making it clear very quickly that changes were being applied and fans were being properly understood. A large focus of this season is exploring the gray areas of being a superhero. Some of the best superhero stories have come from discussing and debating the moral quandaries of “doing the right thing.” Mark takes on the villains and problems of this season, debating if his current plan of punching bad guys and throwing them in jail really works. 

This line of questioning continues throughout each episode, helping to flesh out new characters and further develop the regular supporting cast. Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) and the Global Defense Agency especially come to a head with Mark on this debate. With both sides so stubborn, they’re unable to listen to the other, even when neither of them are right. 

Goggins’ character Stedman was a standout this season, with special episodes even dedicated to his origins, showing how he became the harsh, stoic leader of the world’s premier superhero agency, and how he developed his moral and ethical gray areas. They better flesh out him as a person and help the audience better relate to his young stoicism which slowly turns into the common cynicism he is known for. 

Another big star of the season is Rex Splode (Jason Mantzoukas), a surprising star to come out of the chaos this year. His character over the past 2 seasons was somewhat annoying, mainly antagonizing Invincible and Atom Eve, not being a big help in any fights or moral debates. He did, however, turn a new leaf this year, turning into a more mature and compassionate person. He goes on a one-man apology tour, showing us that this rude man is truly just a kind-hearted hero inside, making him easy to root for. 

Despite all the improvements this season, there was one apparent problem with this season: the decreasing quality of animation. While the show is fully animated, many of the slower scenes will merely have characters stay still, almost locked into place, with only their mouths moving. For many of the fights, the actions are slow, and sometimes poorly drawn. While the show did poke fun at this issue in season 2, there was no redeeming moment this year, making the drops in quality frustrating at times. 

While this problem can become annoying, the animation redeems itself in the final episode, “I Thought You’d Never Shut Up.” This episode is nonstop action, with Invincible fighting the massive threat that is Conquest (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a Viltrumite with the sole purpose of destruction. While most of the season had Mark struggling with a few villains, Conquest was an extreme challenge of a higher degree. The animation and fight choreography for this episode are amazing, with over 40 minutes of battles across the entire world, with special tag-ins from various villains and heroes. 

This season was clearly an improvement and, hopefully, will mean that the show is becoming better and better. Invincible maintains its reputation as a dark, grounded superhero show, and with more exciting things to come, the sky’s the limit.

In an age of constant superhero movies, B-grade action flicks and dystopian zombie films, there is one thing Hollywood has seen more often than anything: vampires. These monsters have been ingrained in our popular culture since the beginning of the 21st century, starting with the hot boy craze that was the ‘’Twilight’’ series and even more recently, the 2024 gothic horror “Nosferatu.” Audiences have witnessed sexy vampires, snaggle-toothed vampires and even cartoon vampires running hotels. But, they’ve never seen vampires with real historical and societal context, that is, until “Sinners.” 

From the director of the Academy Award-winning Marvel movie, “Black Panther,” Ryan Coogler’s latest film enters the monster-action-horror zeitgeist. “Sinners,” a period piece action-horror taking place deep in 1930s segregationist Mississippi, stars Michael B. Jordan in a dual role as twins Smoke and Stack. 

These twins have returned to the Mississippi Delta after years in Chicago, with the hopes of starting a juke joint to spread their music to the many Black people in their racially divided hometown,no matter who they have to lie to and steal from to do it. But they, regrettably, fail to understand that more supernatural elements are at play, and as night falls, they must work to defeat the monsters at their door. 

“Sinners” is truly a film with two clean points, each with their own themes: narratives and goals. The first half of the film focuses on Smoke and Stack’s return to Clarksdale, where viewers are transported to the segregated South, using phenomenal realism for immersion. 

Everyone’s accents, uniforms and the settings are extremely well researched, and we follow the twins as they go around their town, setting up for their juke joint, leading up to a climactic show with everyone meeting for the massive party. The first half is extremely fascinating to watch, with audiences able to see the true struggles of the people of the time. 

The second half takes a much more supernatural center, with a larger focus being placed on the actual joint and the subsequent battles between the humans and the vampires. We see how the guests at the joint slowly begin to understand that there are dark and evil elements outside the bar. We see how the party parishioners shift from happiness to pure horror, which helps to make the audience fall into a similar mindset. This turns the second act of the film into a tense battle, without any true hint of who will survive. There is even a special end-credits scene that ties up the film quite beautifully, delivering even more emotional storytelling after the credits have begun rolling. 

A key element in this film is its historical setting. Taking place during the Jim-Crow era in the Deep South, it manages to tackle many historical ideas with references to several key elements like the Ku Klux Klan and their hidden regimes, the interconnected histories of early African Americans and Asian Americans, as well as the early fights between African religion and musical creativity. These elements all add together to create an extremely realistic period piece with so much more for audiences to learn about after leaving the theater. 

A standout performance in this film was Mile Caton as Sammie “Preacher Boy” Moore, the cousin (and budding musician) of Smoke and Stack, whose prowess is so amazing that supernatural forces want it for themselves. In just his first acting role, Caton explodes on screen, playing the young musician torn between his family and his music with a level of emotion rarely even seen in established actors. Every scene of his in this movie is well-acted and filled with passion, making his future in the industry an exciting one. 

The film is also elevated by the stellar soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson. The Swedish composer masterfully combines historically accurate blues music with several genres and styles throughout history, including guitar rock and electronic synths. The soundtrack and score are extremely ambitious, combining beautiful musical instruments into never-before-seen contemporary compositions. Being a film focused on music, and it’s great power, the sound in this music was extremely important, and Gorransson delivered amazingly. 

A pivotal moment in the film is when Sammie plays a song at the juke, and manages to sing so well that he pierces a supernatural veil and begins to bring in music from his past and future, creating these amazing duets with Sammie’s guitar and instruments from all times. The scene is also elevated by a single, moving camera, which moves across the entire dancing floor, and ends with a stunning tribute to African musical roots, bringing the film to a height of amazement rarely achieved. 

“Sinners” is truly something new because it doesn’t try to be anything seen before. The film combines history, action, comedy, music and horror in a film that would simply have been too chaotic for anyone else to direct. Coogler and Jordan managed to create a stellar story that tackles real-world problems without ever really losing steam. The world they created is filled with well-built settings and deeply developed characters, making every moment rich and filled with deeper subtexts. Films like “Sinners” will always be needed (and welcomed) in the theaters.

In a decade of stellar television, “Severance” was a true golden goose. Released in 2022 by Apple TV+, the show was produced by Ben Stiller and new writer Dan Erickson. When originally made, it focused on two questions: “What if you had no memories of work at home?” and “What if you had no memories of home at work?” This simple idea transformed into one of the greatest shows of the 2020s.

“Severance” focuses on the lives of “severed” workers at the fictional company of Lumon; regular people who have chosen to keep their work and outside lives separate by undergoing surgery to add a mind-splitting device in their brains. This essentially creates two different people within one, a person who works in Lumon, fittingly called an “innie”, and the regular person out of work, called an “outie.”This means neither person crosses memories with the other, due to the mysterious and important nature of the work being done at this extremely secretive company.

The show primarily centers on the life of Mark Scout (Adam Scott), who became a severed worker to cope with the death of his wife. The series begins as he starts to question the work that is being done inside Lumon, especially after his innie co-worker on the outside reveals strangely personal details about Mark – things even he doesn’t know himself.

Scott is joined by a loaded cast of experienced actors like John Turturro, Patricia Arquette and Christopher Walken alongside many lesser-known standouts such as Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman and Dichen Lachman. The series masterfully balances Mark’s innie and outie lives by fleshing out both sides of Mark’s life with their own developed plot lines and serious dilemmas that both Marks need to face in their own unique ways.

Season 1 was a bit of a surprise hit, receiving raving reviews from critics in the very beginning but taking a year for audience viewership to pick up. Since then, the “Severance” train has shown no signs of stopping. With Season 1 focusing on building out the world of Lumon and the lives of those around it, Season 2 was able to further develop beautifully. The show spreads its metaphorical wings this season by focusing on several different genres and incorporating new and exciting cinematography, providing some of the best television of the past decade.

While it was already a critically acclaimed show, it managed to become even better and more complex in its second season, primarily thanks to more complex world-building. The show’s world was rather mysterious in Season 1, with very few clues spread throughout the offices of Lumon. Viewers learned mainly through the conversations of the innies and outies, which proceed to become even more complex in the latest season.

Picking directly up from a massive cliffhanger in the first season, Season 2 begins with the innies recuperating from a major operation, intending to implement changes in their treatment within Lumon. Season 2 continues by following the group going through changes and fighting towards the ultimate goal of finding out what Lumon is really using severed workers for.

Both the outies and innies go through strenuous trials and tribulations, each focusing on different parts of life, helping establish these characters and their motivations. Audiences learn about Mark’s past, focusing on his life before his wife died. Viewers see how Dylan George (Zach Cherry) found himself at Lumon and his family outside. More information is developed about the severance procedure and what Lumon is truly using the workers for.

While every actor in this show truly pulls their weight, Tramell Tillman had a surprising stand-out performance in Season 2. Tillman’s Seth Milchick perfectly personified the true difficulties of people of color working in white-majority office spaces, dealing with countless microaggressions and constant belittlement from his superiors. His arc throughout the season focuses on his struggles to understand his place at this strange company and his future with an employer that doesn’t respect him. This comes at odds with his innate loyalty and positive characteristics, a side that was not really explored in the first season.

Finally, it is impossible to praise this show without discussing its opening. While the theme, written and produced by Theodore Shapiro, remained the same, the animation was further developed, providing more easter eggs to the coming season and giving audiences even more intriguing things to learn about.

“Severance” truly is the show that has no haters, with the only drawback of the show being that it is on a subscription service nobody uses. It falls into that category of television that cannot truly be binged, but rather digested, over time, to properly understand and reel in the sheer grandeur of the show’s world. It is a show that requires thinking, but understanding the show in all its entirety provides an experience worth seeing, even if just once.

In a decade of stellar television, “Severance” was a true golden goose. Released in 2022 by Apple TV+, the show was produced by Ben Stiller and new writer Dan Erickson. When originally made, it focused on two questions: “What if you had no memories of work at home?” and “What if you had no memories of home at work?” This simple idea transformed into one of the greatest shows of the 2020s.

“Severance” focuses on the lives of “severed” workers at the fictional company of Lumon; regular people who have chosen to keep their work and outside lives separate by undergoing surgery to add a mind-splitting device in their brains. This essentially creates two different people within one, a person who works in Lumon, fittingly called an “innie”, and the regular person out of work, called an “outie.”This means neither person crosses memories with the other, due to the mysterious and important nature of the work being done at this extremely secretive company.

The show primarily centers on the life of Mark Scout (Adam Scott), who became a severed worker to cope with the death of his wife. The series begins as he starts to question the work that is being done inside Lumon, especially after his innie co-worker on the outside reveals strangely personal details about Mark – things even he doesn’t know himself.

Scott is joined by a loaded cast of experienced actors like John Turturro, Patricia Arquette and Christopher Walken alongside many lesser-known standouts such as Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman and Dichen Lachman. The series masterfully balances Mark’s innie and outie lives by fleshing out both sides of Mark’s life with their own developed plot lines and serious dilemmas that both Marks need to face in their own unique ways.

Season 1 was a bit of a surprise hit, receiving raving reviews from critics in the very beginning but taking a year for audience viewership to pick up. Since then, the “Severance” train has shown no signs of stopping. With Season 1 focusing on building out the world of Lumon and the lives of those around it, Season 2 was able to further develop beautifully. The show spreads its metaphorical wings this season by focusing on several different genres and incorporating new and exciting cinematography, providing some of the best television of the past decade.

While it was already a critically acclaimed show, it managed to become even better and more complex in its second season, primarily thanks to more complex world-building. The show’s world was rather mysterious in Season 1, with very few clues spread throughout the offices of Lumon. Viewers learned mainly through the conversations of the innies and outies, which proceed to become even more complex in the latest season.

Picking directly up from a massive cliffhanger in the first season, Season 2 begins with the innies recuperating from a major operation, intending to implement changes in their treatment within Lumon. Season 2 continues by following the group going through changes and fighting towards the ultimate goal of finding out what Lumon is really using severed workers for.

Both the outies and innies go through strenuous trials and tribulations, each focusing on different parts of life, helping establish these characters and their motivations. Audiences learn about Mark’s past, focusing on his life before his wife died. Viewers see how Dylan George (Zach Cherry) found himself at Lumon and his family outside. More information is developed about the severance procedure and what Lumon is truly using the workers for.

While every actor in this show truly pulls their weight, Tramell Tillman had a surprising stand-out performance in Season 2. Tillman’s Seth Milchick perfectly personified the true difficulties of people of color working in white-majority office spaces, dealing with countless microaggressions and constant belittlement from his superiors. His arc throughout the season focuses on his struggles to understand his place at this strange company and his future with an employer that doesn’t respect him. This comes at odds with his innate loyalty and positive characteristics, a side that was not really explored in the first season.

Finally, it is impossible to praise this show without discussing its opening. While the theme, written and produced by Theodore Shapiro, remained the same, the animation was further developed, providing more easter eggs to the coming season and giving audiences even more intriguing things to learn about.

“Severance” truly is the show that has no haters, with the only drawback of the show being that it is on a subscription service nobody uses. It falls into that category of television that cannot truly be binged, but rather digested, over time, to properly understand and reel in the sheer grandeur of the show’s world. It is a show that requires thinking, but understanding the show in all its entirety provides an experience worth seeing, even if just once.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on his X account that he would not be donating to either political party in the upcoming November election on March 6, 2024. Now, months later, the statement feels almost comedic, having seen how far he’s gone from this statement to physically being inside the White House alongside President Donald Trump. But understanding how we got here is what’s most crucial to seeing the type of far-right Republican he has turned into. 

Musk is the face and funding behind several famous tech companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, but, in 2025, he is making headlines in much more controversial ways as the Senior Political Advisor to the President of the United States. Having helped the current president get re-elected via massive donations and holding events nationwide, Musk cemented himself as a figurehead in the new Trump administration. 

For those less familiar with the eccentric billionaire mogul, Musk is also the majority owner of companies like Twitter, which he renamed to “X,” and The Boring Company, an infrastructure organization that spun off SpaceX. Over the past decade, he has ingrained himself in the popular culture thanks to his frequent posting on X, breaking more common social norms of the time by interacting directly with people online and being lauded as this “nerd turned tech superhero,” thanks to his programs that focused on reducing the world’s carbon footprint and his more liberal stances on global issues. He was seen by many, including myself, as a so-called “good billionaire.” 

His persona didn’t become tainted until his controversial acquisition of Twitter. In 2022, Musk began to post more about his opposition to current government practices, including his issues with the pandemic. He began sharing more far-right conspiracies, even propping up prominent, controversial figures such as Alex Jones and Jordan Peterson. He began to speak more on topics he was far less educated on, such as foreign immigration and politics in the U.K., even endorsing a German anti-immigration party in the last election. 

The power he holds is concerning due to his account being engineered to send out a notification to the millions of users on X,  putting him in the perfect position to bring about catastrophic change to U.S. politics. 

Beginning in early 2024, Musk focused a lot more on U.S. politics, discussing the upcoming election but remaining fairly bipartisan. He would even host “open discussions,” where he would use open channels called “Twitter Spaces” on X to post from multiple politicians, usually both conservatives and liberals, and act as a “moderator.” It did not take long for his views to begin spiraling towards somewhere dangerous, however. 

He began to see the Democratic Party, the one he had voted for several times in the past, including in 2020, as a party of “division and hate” and proclaimed that he would become a Republican. He began to urge others online to switch parties. 

While he had spoken originally about not donating to either party, the Wall Street Journal reported him donating $50 million to “Citizens for Sanity” in October 2024, a PAC – Political Action Committee – that focuses on targeting Democrats on topics of medicine and transgender rights, a very sad sentiment given the existence of his own trans daughter. He began to endorse several different Republican career politicians, including Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy and eventually Donald Trump himself.

Along with this, Musk began to subscribe to several of the hot-button political dogmas of the current Republican Party, bonding him further with them. He began to tout online and at conventions several messages about illegal immigrants stealing money and jobs from the U.S., how transgender and transition therapies should be banned, and even denying the usefulness of several important governmental bodies, such as the FAA and CDC. 

In the past few months, Musk has slowly made himself more and more connected within the U.S. government. In his current position, he oversees several committees and groups, the largest and most concerning of these being the newly created DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. This group was founded by Trump in his second term with the sole focus of “reducing government spending,” which he found to be excessively egregious in the previous administration. This program is entirely focused on cutting funding from crucial government programs, such as US-AID and the Department of Education.

It is impossible to discuss this situation without addressing the elephant in the room: Musk is not a natural-born U.S. citizen. Born in South Africa in 1971, he originally emigrated to Canada at the age of 17 to avoid conscription, which was mandatory at the time for all white males under the apartheid government. He gained Canadian citizenship through his mother but did not become a naturalized American until 2002. 

There have been a handful of senators who were not birthright U.S. citizens. There have been many representatives and mayors who immigrated to the U.S., but by helping Trump get elected into office, he threw away any semblance of a precedent. He has gone where no one thought he should go. No naturalized citizen has had a governmental position as high-up or as influential as Musk. 

What makes this even more hypocritical is that Musk is a major contractor for the U.S. government, with SpaceX sending several rockets to the ISS and even recently being commissioned to bring back the marooned astronauts aboard the space station. This creates an enormous bias where, in his position, he can give himself massive contracts that he did not previously have and may not have received otherwise. When former President Jimmy Carter was elected, he was forced to sell off his peanut farm to avoid this bias. Unfortunately, the days of Carter are long gone.

The power that Musk currently holds over hundreds of millions of Americans is extremely concerning, as he and Trump are actively ignoring precedents set by administrations from past centuries. The rhetoric and messaging he constantly posts on his own social media platform are being pushed out to millions, if not billions, of people who are being tainted.  

Not everything has been good for the wannabe ruler, with Tesla’s stock dropping by billions, reaching a point of critical no-return where he could potentially even be ousted by his own board. Everywhere, Cybertrucks are being vandalized and Tesla fanboys are being mocked online. He is not alone in his idiocy, with the Trump administration failing to bring about any lasting or significant savings within the governmental budget.  

Trump and Musk’s descent into far-right, extremist politics has begun to set an even more horrifying precedent: billionaires can do whatever they want in this country and the people cannot do anything about it. We have been seeing in recent months how this duo is overturning programs and laws with shocking speed, all in the hopes of maintaining the most control over one of the largest economies, militaries and general landmasses in the world. 

In a land that touts its freedoms, we are seeing unprecedented levels of xenophobia, literary suppression and a political divide larger than ever. But what people fail to understand is that the real divide is not Republicans versus Democrats; it is the working people vs. greedy billionaires. 

Musk was not elected into office. He has no political background. The most interesting thing about him is that he has more money than anyone else in the world. So why is he the one deciding how our lives should work? His impacts on the U.S. government may be massive, but they do not have to last. 

Around the country, people are fighting back in any way they can: judges are blocking his DOGE initiatives, journalists are calling out his major hypocrisies and even regular people are trading their Teslas in, understanding the type of man that they are supporting. That is all it takes. Musk may be painful to deal with, but he does not have to be the end; it is possible to rally against him. 

For the first time, three Indian dance style teams at Saint Louis University are competing on multiple national circuits at the same time. 

Though the teams, Omkara, Raas and Shakti, have been on campus for more than 10 years, circumstances like lack of members or funding have consistently kept them from performing nationally. Until now. 

The groups are also connected on campus, with teams normally performing at the same events at SLU and supporting each other at their competitions and showcases. 

“Whenever one of the teams has a showcase or performance on campus, we’ll all go as a team… To show our support,” Shakti captain Suman Behera said. “Whenever one of us wins, it feels like a win for all of us.” 

Shakti has consistently been successful in their circuits, regularly making podium appearances, but the same amount of success hasn’t been achieved by the other two teams until this year.

SLU Raas is the university’s premier competitive raas team, dancing in the traditional Northern Indian styles of garba and raas. Following a rebuilding season without competing last year, the team recently had their second competition of the semester, competing in the U.S.’s largest collegiate raas circuit, Raas All Stars. 

“We kind of focused more on rebuilding the team, and I think it made us stronger… We have a good mix of more experienced dancers and new members now,” junior Vrushi Patel said, one of the team’s captains. 

Their set this year follows the story of Spiderman as he battles against his archnemesis, the Green Goblin and saves passersby from runaway cars. The entire performance runs around seven minutes with multiple segments including one for women and another for men. The performance also incorporates different dance styles, like garba, which uses long sticks of wood called dandiyas. 

Gallery • 3 Photos

Aditya Gunturu

Omkara dancers run through the competition set piece in the Simon Recreation Center during a practice session on Feb 6., 2025.

Sophomore Aasvi Patel said the set this year is a powerful combination of modern and traditional dance elements. Having joined the team last year, this is the first time she has performed this type of elaborate dance competitively. 

“I feel like it’s really interesting because it’s not completely Gujarati and we add elements of our theme… It’s how we combine our identities together,” Aasvi Patel said. 

The team was excited to be back competing after a year away, with captain Jiya Patel saying SLU Raas feels stronger than ever after their recent competition at UNC Chapel Hill. 

“It honestly felt amazing, just dancing on stage… You just have like an energy and adrenaline where everything just feels great,” Jiya Patel said. 

SLU hosted its annual raas competition called Gateway to Raas on Feb. 15. The competition saw university teams from around the country coming to St. Louis to compete against each other. The teams were graded on execution, artistic elements and choreography, with Virginia Tech’s Dhamaal taking first place at the end of the night. 

Each Indian dance team is part of competitive circuits where they apply to different competitions and score points based on their performances. The teams that end their season with the most points will compete in group finals with the hopes of leaving with gold. Each team follows this process but focuses on a very different dance and format. 

Omkara is another Indian dance team at SLU that focuses on dance in Indian classical styles, mixing old techniques from all around the Indian subcontinent, like Tamil Nadu’s Bharatanatyam and Uttar Pradesh’s Kathak. Their current competition piece follows the story of Victor Frankenstein, mixing different dance styles and traditional Indian songs to portray a beautiful interpretation of the classic novel. 

“We’re following the main characters of the scientist and the monster throughout, and the big question we’ve based the piece around is ‘who is the real monster?’” co-captain Arya Ramdas said. 

This new performance is much different from their set piece last year, which followed the story of an Indian princess who became a freedom fighter. 

The team spent the last seven years as an exhibition team, meaning they didn’t perform on a competitive circuit. But following a transition, the team is now in its second year competing in the Origins Championship with the season fittingly being called “Omkara 9.0.” 

“We used a lot of inspiration from teams we’ve seen compete in the past and that shaped how we wanted to build our group this year,” co-captain Saachi Kumar said. 

The switch has been successful, with the team placing second at their first competition of the season, Navarasa at North Carolina State University. 

“It’s our first award ever…and just the opportunity to perform alongside these other teams marks the achievement so we’re really grateful to have come this far,” senior co-captain Jessica Michael said. 

Currently fourth in the Origins ranking, the team will likely make this a successful season. 

Shakti is the third Indian dance team at SLU, dancing on the U.S.’s most popular Bollywood-fusion circuit, Desi Dance Network (DDN) Legends. The teams in this competition combine classic and modern Indian dance styles with a mix of American and Indian music to deliver a passionate story through movement. Shakti’s set this year follows a “Night at the Museum” style performance with different historical figures coming to life. 

Following a string of high-ranking wins and podiums in previous years, the team is hoping to continue their streak, and so far the results have been speaking for themselves. At a recent competition in a different circuit, the National Desi Dance League, Shakti placed 3rd at Tar Heel Taal at UNC. 

“There was such an adrenaline high from all of us and we were all so hyped, like we couldn’t keep our excitement down,” Behera said.

Behera said the team had gone through a rough patch, running into logistical delays and issues leading up to their competition, so the podium was rather unexpected. 

“We were more proud than anything when we heard our name because we as captains had to pull everything together so fast, but all the dancers quickly rose to the challenge,” Behera said.

All the dancers on these teams are dedicated to their crafts, attending practices almost daily, and for hours at a time. 

“Usually we’ll have four practices a week… Where we just focus on complex performances, cleaning our set and taking critiques from previous [competitions],” Jiya Patel said. 

A common sentiment among all the dance teams is the feeling of family. These groups spend hours together every day, training, learning and competing. This collective time forges strong bonds between the dancers. And while on campus, dancers go to classes with one another, they eat with one another and these bonds tie them together.

“I know I met some of my best friends from this,” Januly Fernando said, a new dancer with The Raas team.

Fernando said it is these connections that make the team special. “Especially coming in as a freshman… It’s just been really nice to have those people you know you can always go to.” 

Each team started its competition cycle last semester by recruiting new members and teaching them choreography. A strategy each group used to find dancers was hosting intro workshops. 

“The sessions really helped me get my foot in the door… I really liked all the girls too, so I wanted to join the team,” sophomore Preeyom Govind said. 

The next few weeks for the teams will be filled with thousands of miles of traveling, days and days of practicing and many moments on stage showcasing their craft for hundreds in person and thousands more online. 

The dancers say they welcome spectators at various showcase events taking place this semester. The dates can be found on Instagram at @slushakti, @sluraas and @omkaraslu. 

“We appreciate any support we get on campus, and we usually perform at a lot of events here,” Aasvi Patel said. 

For the first time, three Indian dance style teams at Saint Louis University are competing on multiple national circuits at the same time. 

Though the teams, Omkara, Raas and Shakti, have been on campus for more than 10 years, circumstances like lack of members or funding have consistently kept them from performing nationally. Until now. 

The groups are also connected on campus, with teams normally performing at the same events at SLU and supporting each other at their competitions and showcases. 

“Whenever one of the teams has a showcase or performance on campus, we’ll all go as a team… To show our support,” Shakti captain Suman Behera said. “Whenever one of us wins, it feels like a win for all of us.” 

Shakti has consistently been successful in their circuits, regularly making podium appearances, but the same amount of success hasn’t been achieved by the other two teams until this year.

SLU Raas is the university’s premier competitive raas team, dancing in the traditional Northern Indian styles of garba and raas. Following a rebuilding season without competing last year, the team recently had their second competition of the semester, competing in the U.S.’s largest collegiate raas circuit, Raas All Stars. 

“We kind of focused more on rebuilding the team, and I think it made us stronger… We have a good mix of more experienced dancers and new members now,” junior Vrushi Patel said, one of the team’s captains. 

Their set this year follows the story of Spiderman as he battles against his archnemesis, the Green Goblin and saves passersby from runaway cars. The entire performance runs around seven minutes with multiple segments including one for women and another for men. The performance also incorporates different dance styles, like garba, which uses long sticks of wood called dandiyas. 

Gallery • 3 Photos

Aditya Gunturu

Omkara dancers run through the competition set piece in the Simon Recreation Center during a practice session on Feb 6., 2025.

Sophomore Aasvi Patel said the set this year is a powerful combination of modern and traditional dance elements. Having joined the team last year, this is the first time she has performed this type of elaborate dance competitively. 

“I feel like it’s really interesting because it’s not completely Gujarati and we add elements of our theme… It’s how we combine our identities together,” Aasvi Patel said. 

The team was excited to be back competing after a year away, with captain Jiya Patel saying SLU Raas feels stronger than ever after their recent competition at UNC Chapel Hill. 

“It honestly felt amazing, just dancing on stage… You just have like an energy and adrenaline where everything just feels great,” Jiya Patel said. 

SLU hosted its annual raas competition called Gateway to Raas on Feb. 15. The competition saw university teams from around the country coming to St. Louis to compete against each other. The teams were graded on execution, artistic elements and choreography, with Virginia Tech’s Dhamaal taking first place at the end of the night. 

Each Indian dance team is part of competitive circuits where they apply to different competitions and score points based on their performances. The teams that end their season with the most points will compete in group finals with the hopes of leaving with gold. Each team follows this process but focuses on a very different dance and format. 

Omkara is another Indian dance team at SLU that focuses on dance in Indian classical styles, mixing old techniques from all around the Indian subcontinent, like Tamil Nadu’s Bharatanatyam and Uttar Pradesh’s Kathak. Their current competition piece follows the story of Victor Frankenstein, mixing different dance styles and traditional Indian songs to portray a beautiful interpretation of the classic novel. 

“We’re following the main characters of the scientist and the monster throughout, and the big question we’ve based the piece around is ‘who is the real monster?’” co-captain Arya Ramdas said. 

This new performance is much different from their set piece last year, which followed the story of an Indian princess who became a freedom fighter. 

The team spent the last seven years as an exhibition team, meaning they didn’t perform on a competitive circuit. But following a transition, the team is now in its second year competing in the Origins Championship with the season fittingly being called “Omkara 9.0.” 

“We used a lot of inspiration from teams we’ve seen compete in the past and that shaped how we wanted to build our group this year,” co-captain Saachi Kumar said. 

The switch has been successful, with the team placing second at their first competition of the season, Navarasa at North Carolina State University. 

“It’s our first award ever…and just the opportunity to perform alongside these other teams marks the achievement so we’re really grateful to have come this far,” senior co-captain Jessica Michael said. 

Currently fourth in the Origins ranking, the team will likely make this a successful season. 

Shakti is the third Indian dance team at SLU, dancing on the U.S.’s most popular Bollywood-fusion circuit, Desi Dance Network (DDN) Legends. The teams in this competition combine classic and modern Indian dance styles with a mix of American and Indian music to deliver a passionate story through movement. Shakti’s set this year follows a “Night at the Museum” style performance with different historical figures coming to life. 

Following a string of high-ranking wins and podiums in previous years, the team is hoping to continue their streak, and so far the results have been speaking for themselves. At a recent competition in a different circuit, the National Desi Dance League, Shakti placed 3rd at Tar Heel Taal at UNC. 

“There was such an adrenaline high from all of us and we were all so hyped, like we couldn’t keep our excitement down,” Behera said.

Behera said the team had gone through a rough patch, running into logistical delays and issues leading up to their competition, so the podium was rather unexpected. 

“We were more proud than anything when we heard our name because we as captains had to pull everything together so fast, but all the dancers quickly rose to the challenge,” Behera said.

All the dancers on these teams are dedicated to their crafts, attending practices almost daily, and for hours at a time. 

“Usually we’ll have four practices a week… Where we just focus on complex performances, cleaning our set and taking critiques from previous [competitions],” Jiya Patel said. 

A common sentiment among all the dance teams is the feeling of family. These groups spend hours together every day, training, learning and competing. This collective time forges strong bonds between the dancers. And while on campus, dancers go to classes with one another, they eat with one another and these bonds tie them together.

“I know I met some of my best friends from this,” Januly Fernando said, a new dancer with The Raas team.

Fernando said it is these connections that make the team special. “Especially coming in as a freshman… It’s just been really nice to have those people you know you can always go to.” 

Each team started its competition cycle last semester by recruiting new members and teaching them choreography. A strategy each group used to find dancers was hosting intro workshops. 

“The sessions really helped me get my foot in the door… I really liked all the girls too, so I wanted to join the team,” sophomore Preeyom Govind said. 

The next few weeks for the teams will be filled with thousands of miles of traveling, days and days of practicing and many moments on stage showcasing their craft for hundreds in person and thousands more online. 

The dancers say they welcome spectators at various showcase events taking place this semester. The dates can be found on Instagram at @slushakti, @sluraas and @omkaraslu. 

“We appreciate any support we get on campus, and we usually perform at a lot of events here,” Aasvi Patel said. 

“Nosferatu,” the latest horror film from esteemed indie director Robert Eggers, is yet another home run for the young creator. A remake of the original 1922 film considered by many to be the original horror movie, “Nosferatu” manages to take everything great about the original and make it even better. 

This film follows the story of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard), a terrifying vampire who has been fated to wed Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp). Hutter is a young woman who suffers from manic hallucinations and horrible nightmares, desperately attempting to escape the monster she is betrothed to. 

Taking place in 1830s Europe, a large cast of characters like Hutter’s husband Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), Hutter’s best friend Anna Harding (Emma Corrin) and estranged witch doctor Albin Franz (Willem Dafoe), race against the clock to save Hutter from her terrible fate. 

The film begins by following two sides: Hutter’s friends and family trying to find a solution to her unique plight and Orlok and his henchmen preparing his home and traveling to his betrothed’s hometown. The movie jumps between the two groups until the finale, when everything comes to a head and all are forced to reckon with their greatest fears. 

“Nosferatu” is a true masterclass in pacing and editing, as each character is given the proper amount of importance to the plot and enough screen time to let their emotions and motivations be fleshed out. This provides the audience with an extremely enthralling story, keeping people glued to the story as the puzzle pieces of mystery slowly fall into place across the 132-minute runtime. 

Every actor in this film truly embodied the setting and their characters, especially Depp, Hoult and Skarsgard. In the original film, Depp’s character was a simple damsel in distress, but the remake finally provides her with agency, allowing her to voice her own fears and play a key role in the conclusion. Depp shines in this role, delivering haunting monologues with a true face of fear, embodying her role of the timid Hutter who turns animalistic as her terror grows. 

Hoult plays the doting husband perfectly, spending the majority of the film with the sole purpose of returning to his love. Sharing most of his scenes with Orlok, Thomas acts as a conduit for the audience’s fear and curiosity, providing a powerful role as the man forced to speak with evil incarnate. 

Both Depp and Hoult are truly amazing, but Skarsgard steals the show with his dedication to the character of Orlok. Spending six hours in makeup every single day, the Swedish actor is unrecognizable, with a different frame, face and even voice. Clearly pulling from his larger-than-life performance as Pennywise in the 2017 adaptation of “It.” Orlok draws all the attention anytime he is on screen. 

Working with a budget of only 50 million dollars, there was a serious focus on practical effects and settings. “Nosferatu” was filmed entirely in eastern rural Europe, with the production team ensuring the settings and structures present were all era and culturally appropriate. The scenes in Orlok’s castle were filmed in a real Transylvanian castle, and all these details help to bring the viewer into the film, adding a dimension of reality to this otherworldly tale. 

A largely unsung aspect of this movie, and the element that truly cinches it together, is the lighting. Shadows play an extremely important part in Orlock’s character, whether it is the shadows of burning flames hiding the true horror of his face or him creeping around via the shadows of the moon, lighting is crucial to this film. It plays into how the vampire’s one weakness is the light of the sun, further adding to layers of this character and his sense of terror.

It is clear from the many elements present, that every single person involved in this movie truly loved what they were doing. The cast carried a level of dedication not apparent in most modern films. Eggers’ passion for gothic tales and horror translate extremely well into this remake, putting it on par, perhaps even above, its predecessor. In a world of “Twilight” and “Abigail” vampires, “Nosferatu” shines by providing a truly grounded and horrifying portrayal of these wicked creatures. 

The year 2025 is upon us, and with it comes an entirely new slate of movies. Use this helpful guide to find out what is coming when and what to get excited about. With everything from science fiction dinosaur sequels to indie thrillers, this year has a movie for everyone. 

“Companion” – January 31

The earliest movie on this list, “Companion” is a psychological thriller that has been shrouded in ambiguity and mystery. The film is the directorial debut of industry writer Drew Hancock. 

Along for the ride is a star-studded cast of the latest Hollywood talent, like Jack Quaid, star of the hit Prime Video original show “The Boys” and Sophie Thatcher who is coming off a recent leading role in the critically acclaimed horror film “Heretic.” They are joined by an ensemble cast of Lukas Gage, Rupert Friend and Megan Suri for this indie horror flick that is best consumed with the least prior knowledge possible.

“Paddington in Peru” – February 14

What better way to spend a day focused on love than watching a CGI-animated bear travel to a South American nation? “Paddington in Peru” is the latest film in the Paddington series, coming more than a decade after the first film. With such a large break in production, it was clear the series wished to go somewhere new. 

This film follows Paddington Bear, voiced by Ben Whishaw, and the Brown family as they explore the tropical landscape of Peru after he discovers his grandmother has mysteriously disappeared from the home for retired bears. This movie has Paddington interact with all kinds of local animals and people on his way back to his grandmother. “Paddington in Peru” will almost surely prove to be another heartwarming and (especially) fuzzy family flick. 

“Mickey 17” – March 7

From Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho, “Mickey 17” is an upcoming science fiction movie that follows the adventures and struggles of Mickey Barnes, played by Robert Pattinson. Barnes signs up to explore space as an “expendable” worker who is scanned and remade every time they die. Now having died more than 15 times and almost numb to the process, Barnes finds himself in very hot water when another copy of him shows up, vying to be the only “Mickey” standing.

For this film, the “Parasite” director is adapting the award-winning sci-fi comedy book “Mickey7” from Edward Ashton, who joined Ho to write the screenplay. Pattinson is joined by Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun and Toni Collette for this exciting, genre-bending film hitting theaters very soon. 

“Opus” – March 14

One of the more unique films on this list, “Opus” is an upcoming horror movie that focuses on an old legendary musician who disappeared 30 years ago but suddenly re-emerges. He calls a young writer to his private island to chart his return, but she is met with his strange cult of followers and must do her best to survive their terrifying antics.

This film is the directorial debut from Mark Anthony Green, director of the award-winning short film Trapeze USA, and his first full film release. Ayo Edibiri and John Malkovich lead the film, both in their horror movie debuts. They are joined by Amber Midthunder, Juliette Lewis and Young Mazino, indicating it should be a film that is both hilarious and terrifying. 

“Elio” – June 13

Following the box office failure of “Lightyear” in 2022 and years of Disney+ releases, “Elio” will be the first Pixar film to receive a theatrical release in four years, a film that the company is dearly praying will bring them back to the highs of the early 2000s. 

The film, from Oscar-winning director Domee Shi, follows the story of Elio, a young space fanatic obsessed with aliens who suddenly finds himself interacting with an entire federation of them. Now forced to act as Earth’s representative, Elio must find his way home and prevent a galactic crisis of epic proportions. Starring Zoe Saldana, Jameela Jamil and Yonas Kibreab in his feature film debut, a lot is riding on “Elio” to bring Pixar back into the limelight of the past. 

“28 Years Later” – June 20

Following 2002’s “28 Days Later” and 2007’s “28 Weeks Later,” “28 Years Later” is the third film in the Danny Boyle-directed, Alex Garland-written zombie survival film series. This film even attached original cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle to the project, filming entirely on Apple iPhones in Scotland. 

The film will follow an all-new cast of Aaron Taylor Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Jodie Comer with the potential of seeing the original movie’s star Cillian Murphy returning. It will also follow an all-new story of the zombie plague that attacked the world, as the title stated, 28 years ago. 

“Superman” – July 11

Following recent internal struggles and box office bombs, Warner Brothers media made the decision in 2022 to cancel and restart their entire cinematic universe of DC comics characters, this time headed up by the duo of award-winning director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran. Now, with a whole new slate of films and TV shows to come out in the next few years, “Superman” is to act as this new world’s introduction and beginning. 

This film will forgo rehashing the origin of Superman, a classic comic book character, instead throwing audiences into the Kryptonian’s adventures after a few years on the job. David Corenswet plays the timid Clark Kent/Superman and is joined by a loaded stack of comic characters like Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) and Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion). “Superman” will also show the Man of Steel facing off against classic villains like Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) and Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) like never before. 

“Freakier Friday” – August 8

“Freaky Friday” was a 2003 Disney Channel Original Movie (D-COM) that followed the misadventures of a mother and daughter, played by Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, where they switch bodies and must act like one another, as hilarity ensues. A raving hit, it went on to be one of the only D-COMs to receive a theatrical release, becoming a box office hit. So in an age of reboots and remakes, it was only natural it would finally receive a sequel. 

“Freakier Friday” will continue the stories and characters that were established in the first film, with Curtis and Lohan reprising their starring roles. Along with them come many members of the original supporting cast, like Chad Michael Murray and Mark Harmon, as well as brand new faces like Manny Jacinto and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. With a brand new writer and director duo of Jordan Weiss and Nisha Gantara, “Freakier Friday” has the opportunity to grow an already well-made story.

“Marty Supreme” – December 25

“Marty Supreme” will focus on the semi-fictionalized origins of Marty Reisman, a 1950s ping-pong champion who had an extremely controversial professional career and went on to have a storied life of opening various businesses and schemes, including smuggling gold between Hong Kong and Bangkok. 

Directed by Josh Safdie, one half of the directorial duo that made “Uncut Gems,” the film will follow Marty, played by Timothee Chalamet, as he makes his way through the 50s ping pong circuit and beyond. Gwenyth Paltrow and Odessa A’zion round out the cast alongside Tyler, the Creator in his acting debut. 

Students and professors at Saint Louis University’s Doisy College of Public Health and Social Justice say they fear that U.S. Secretary of Health and Humanitarian Services Robert F Kennedy Jr. will negatively change the public health landscape in the coming years. 

RFK Jr. is infamous for his unconventional stances on various health policies, including on vaccines and the existence of the Food and Drug Administration. His beliefs are controversial, with some health professionals labeling them as conspiracy theories because they push dangerous rhetoric and challenge well-researched health regulations. RFK Jr. has also been known for his peculiar persona, with everything from his gravelly voice to the worm that used to live in his brain.

After RFK Jr. was confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 13, Brian Mander, a sophomore studying public health, said he was in disbelief. It seems like an almost satirical nomination, he said. 

“It doesn’t feel real looking at the announcement… All the jokes made me think it could never happen,” Mander said. 

Initially an independent presidential candidate, RFK Jr. dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in August following a slew of controversies, including his opposition to vaccines. He then endorsed President Donald Trump. 

RFK Jr. started an anti-vaccine group, Children’s Health Defense, which gained major traction during the COVID-19 pandemic. He expressed hesitancy about routine vaccinations, specifically ones that target diseases like influenza and Hepatitis B. This stance caused him to lose traction among some independents until he backtracked and stated that he wouldn’t ban vaccines, but would make them optional. 

Abolishing the FDA is also on RFK Jr. to-do list. The regulatory agency, RFK Jr. claims, has been under the control of Big Pharma and other large corporations, a situation he said he wants to rectify.

In addition, he is in charge of agencies that run important programs like Medicare, Medicaid and healthcare research. With his plans to reduce these groups’ power and reach, funding and job security will be at risk. 

That worries public health professionals across the country like Keon Gilbert, a professor who teaches health equity in the Doisy College. Gilbert said he is concerned about RFK Jr. leading the top U.S. public health office, saying he might not be the right man for the job.

“I think that he’s just sort of another example of one of those folks who could be the wrong messenger for public health in a lot of different ways,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert said that RFK Jr. will have a lot of power in his new role and the potential to make widely influential decisions. 

“That’s always a dangerous position because of the microphones of people like the president, the surgeon general… They’re a lot bigger than your local health department,” Gilbert said.  

In a state like Missouri, which ranked 38th out of 50 in the Commonwealth Fund’s healthcare standards, these changes could be even more harmful. 

Spring Schmidt, executive director of the Missouri Public Health Institute (MOPHI), said some of Missouri’s public health systems are already struggling, which is shown by the increasing disparities in health outcomes between white and Black Missourians.

RFK Jr.’s sweeping changes could prove to have lasting consequences on the public health landscape in Missouri, Schmidt said. Federal public health agencies with offices in St. Louis like the CDC and the National Prevention Information Network could also see layoffs and budget cuts. 

“Many in our state rely on these organizations, including ours, for help and education… We could be losing a lot of that in the next few years,” Schmidt said. 

Health Management graduate student Chandra Reddy said he also feels apprehensive of the new administration. 

“My friends and I were shocked to see him in the senate hearings,” Reddy said. “His confirmation is unreal.” 

While Reddy already has a job lined up, he feels empathy for his fellow public health classmates who are unsure of the future landscape of this field. A common consensus within the Doisy College is a feeling of uncertainty, which is amplified by other decisions from the new presidential administration. 

“A lot of my friends don’t graduate until 2026… Who knows how many changes [RFK Jr.] could make before that?” Reddy said.

Some students are also worried about securing jobs in the field after graduation.

“Graduating now is just plagued by a fearful future,” said senior public health student Jessica Bouman. “[RFK Jr.] doesn’t seem at all qualified for the job.”

For students feeling nervous about the future, Schmidt said she encourages them to focus on the present. 

“It’s gonna take a while for these seismic shifts to show up… I’m focusing on what I have control over,” Schmidt said.  

Schmidt also said that despite the uncertainty, she believes there will be a future for graduating public health students. 

“You need to look at what will always be needed,” Schmidt said. “There will always be a need for infectious disease specialists, community health managers… what’s important is seeing where people are needed.”