It's Friday! You made it, Columbus.

☀️ Today's weather: Another beautiful, sunny day ahead of a beautiful, sunny weekend.

🍽️ National Food Day is Saturday — consider where your food comes from and who in your community could use some help.

Today’s newsletter is 1,065 words — a 4-minute read.

A new horror film written, directed and produced by Central Ohio natives is wrapping up its festival circuit and is ready for its streaming launch just in time for Halloween.

Why it matters: "The Cycle" is the new (and a bit more serious) movie from Granville native Jordan Downey, who made the infamous horror-comedy "ThanksKilling."

The movie: Starring recognizable faces Deborah Ann Woll and Jeffrey Donovan, "The Cycle" is a murder mystery that begins when police find the body of a man missing for 30 years at a crime scene.

• It premieres today on horror-focused streamer Shudder.
• Jordan co-wrote and directed the film, which was shot in Astoria, Oregon, and his brother Michael is a producer.

The intrigue: The filmmakers are in the midst of a festival run that's led to good reviews and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score.

What they're saying: The brothers say they're thrilled by the response from critics and horror fans who have seen the movie at festivals, and were shocked to get an endorsement from someone like King.

• "We grew up reading his books and watching his movies," Jordan tells Axios. "It was wild to see that he got ahold of it."

Perhaps best known for the over-the-top "ThanksKilling" from 2008 (shot in Licking County), Jordan is quick to point out the murderous turkey movie is nearly 20 years old, and his new film is a lot less tongue-in-cheek.

• Since then, he's directed multiple films and TV episodes, including the 2018 film "The Head Hunter" and a segment in 2024's "V/H/S/Beyond."
• "'ThanksKilling' was a horror-comedy that we wanted people to laugh with and laugh at," he says. "'The Cycle' takes itself very seriously."

Zoom in: When he moved to Los Angeles at 18, Jordan says, he had "never really experienced" a film scene in Central Ohio. Now he sees productions coming to Ohio and local festivals like Nightmares, and is "glad to see that it's grown."

• Michael is moving from the West Coast to Cleveland, where he's getting involved with the Ohio Film Commission and making a movie in Ashtabula.
• "We left because there was no film business in Ohio — now there is," Michael tells Axios.

The bottom line: The brothers are excited for the masses to experience "The Cycle" this weekend, and hope the scary mystery will be part of their hometown's Halloween festivities.

• "I want other people to take it and make it their own thing, talk about it, come up with theories and hopefully like it," Jordan says.

Major U.S. banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts, with some agents attempting to take actions that appear to be independent of user instructions, sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: AI agents are becoming a nightmare for America's banks, making their way into banking systems faster than financial institutions can respond.

Driving the news: Banks including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and others are racing to contain agent risks. Some are aware of unauthorized access, people familiar with the issue said.

• These are generally situations when an agent or AI assistant accesses a human's account with the user's permission and login credentials. Even if permitted by the user, this goes against the guidelines of most banks requiring that humans log in to their own accounts.
• This presents significant security risks: Banking executives fear the steps agents with login access might take, especially if a user has granted purchase authority or the ability to shift funds.

State of play: The concerns are at the root of the decision by several banks to restrict third-party AI agent access, the people said.

Zoom out: Most banks have authorized or are moving in the direction of allowing read-only access, which should allow agents to see customer financial information without taking action.

Reality check: Several industry and bank executives told Axios they recognize the need to find a middle-ground with AI agents.

• Customers will want to use these agents going forward, which banks recognize.
• But for now, the risks of being too permissive are too high.

Threat level: Many banks are broadly not able to parse whether agent account activity is user-directed, sources said.

Keep reading.

📺 Gov. Mike DeWine called Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial Amy Acton attack ad "just wrong," and urged the Republican gubernatorial candidate to pull it.

• He did not, however, rescind his endorsement for Ramaswamy. (WCMH-TV)

📉 Ohio employers eliminated 5,000 jobs in September and state unemployment increased to 3.4%, per Ohio Department of Job and Family Services data. (Ohio Capital Journal)

🎃 Dublin's popular pumpkin painter Jeanette Paras created a 700-pound Dolly Parton display this year. (614 Magazine)

Halloween is a weekend away, and there's nothing more festive than Central Ohio's most fall festival.

🎃 Our pick: The Circleville Pumpkin Show.

The intrigue: Festivities kicked off Wednesday, but this weekend will be the main event for Circleville's annual bash.

• There are giant pumpkins, ridiculous pumpkin foods, live performances and the usual fair-style rides and vendors.

🎟️ If you go: The show is open 10am-10pm daily through Saturday in downtown Circleville.

• The trip is around an hour south.
• Admission is free!

What else is happening:

🫦 The Short North Stage starts its "Rocky Horror" performances this weekend, running through Halloween.

🎼 The Columbus Symphony celebrates its 75th anniversary season with the world premiere of "The Mysteries" and other works today and Saturday.

🥃 Ohio-made spirits take center stage at the Central Ohio Craft Whiskey Festival in Delaware Saturday afternoon.

🏟️ Buckeye football has the weekend off — catch a different sport.

• ⚽️ The Crew hosts Toronto FC Saturday afternoon.
• 🏒 The Blue Jackets host Las Vegas Saturday night.
• 🥊 MMA comes to Kemba Live Saturday with Buckeye Fight Night.

🐂 Professional Bull Riding headlines the last weekend of the Quarter Horse Congress with the Challenger Series Saturday night.

🍿 Plus: Catch screenings of the Unorthodocs Film Festival at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

Thanks to Tyler Buchanan for editing today's newsletter.

Our picks:

📴 Alissa is off.

👻 Andrew might sign up for a Halloween Shudder trial.

😬 Tyler is shuddering at these high candy prices.