April Movie Preview (2024)

Horror/Thriller - dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
In theaters April 19

Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and writer Guy Busick (co-writing this time with Stephen Shields) add horror to that film's comedic, ticking-clock thrills with this story of a group of criminals who discover the girl they've been assigned to kidnap and watch overnight is in fact a very hungry vampire. Alisha Weir (Matilda The Musical) stars as the bloodthirsty ballerina, and Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Melissa Barrera, Kevin Durand, and Angus Cloud are her prey. After resuscitating the Scream franchise with Scream (2022) and Scream VI, the directors make a very bloody and welcome return to original material.

Action/Horror/Thriller - dir. Benjamin Brewer
In theaters April 12

Working from a script by Michael Nilon (Braven), Benjamin Brewer (The Trust) makes his solo feature directing debut with this post-apocalyptic horror-thriller starring Nicolas Cage as Paul, a father who must protect his teen sons Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) and Joseph (Jaeden Martell) from deadly creatures that come out after sundown. Sadie Soverall plays Charlotte, a neighbor Thomas likes to spend a little too much time with, putting himself and his family in danger. While Cage is often reason enough to see a movie, this onehas the added bonus of some exceptionally designed monsters.

Drama/Sci-fi/Thriller - dir. Bertrand Bonello
In theaters April 5

Bertrand Bonello (House of Pleasures, Nocturama, Zombi Child) is incapable of making an uninteresting film, even if they aren't all critical successes (Saint Laurent). And his latest, an inventive adaptation of Henry James' 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle, is no exception. Léa Seydoux stars as Gabrielle, whose story takes place in three different time periods: 1910 Paris during the Great Flood, 2014 Los Angeles, and 2044 Paris where artificial intelligence controls society and offers the ability to eliminate the pain caused by romances from past-lives. The man she meets in each of these periods is Louis, played by George McKay. He is a British man who attempts to woo her away from her doll-maker husband in Belle Époque-era Paris, and in 2010s Los Angeles he's an incel (some of his dialogue comes from ramblings of serial killer Elliot Rodger) threatening Gabrielle, who is an actress trying to make a go of it in Hollywood. It's complex in conception and execution, but Bonello wouldn't have it any other way.

Action/Thriller - dir. Moritz Mohr
In theaters April 26

In this debut feature from director Moritz Mohr, Bill Skarsgård (John Wick: Chapter 4) stars as Boy, who is left orphaned, deaf, and mute after his family is murdered by Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen), the matriarch of a corrupt post-apocalyptic dynasty. Determined to get revenge, Boy trains with a martial arts master (Yayan Ruhian) and, eventually, gets his chance when he battles Van Der Koy 's chief assassin June 27 (Jessica Rothe) and finds himself in the Culling, a Purge-like gameshow put on by Melanie Van Der Koy (Michelle Dockery). Boy eventually teams up with Basho (Andrew Koji) and Benny (Isaiah Mustafa) to face off against the extended Van Der Koy clan, including Hilda 's brother Glen (Brett Gelman) and son-in-law Gideon (Sharlto Copley). In this exceedingly violent action-comedy, Skarsgård never says a word, but his inner voice is provided by H. Jon Benjamin or Archer and Bob's Burgers fame.

Drama/Sports - dir. Luca Guadagnino
In theaters (and IMAX) April 26

The latest from Luca Guadagnino (Bones and All, Call Me By Your Name) was originally slated to debut at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and open in September of last year, but when the SAG-AFTRA strike prevented the film's stars from promoting the film, its release date was pushed to this month. Capitalizing on her presence in Dune: Part Two, Zendaya stars as Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach who has transformed her husband, Art (Mike Faist of West Side Story), into a Grand Slam champion. When he's plagued by a losing streak, she signs him up for a low-level pro tournament where he finds himself facing off against his former best friend and Tashi 's former boyfriend (Josh O 'Connor). This will be Guadagnino's first of two consecutive collaborations with screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, to be followed by Queer, their adaptation of William S. Burroughs' early novel, which could debut at Cannes next month.

Animation/Comedy - dir. Sébastien Laudenbach and Chiara Malta
In theaters April 5

A simple premise is brought to vibrant life by colorful hand-painted animation in this award-winning film from directors Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach (The Girl Without Hands). Feeling guilty for unjustly punishing her daughter Linda, Paulette asks what she can do to make it up to her. When Linda asks for a chicken dish that her father used to make, mother and daughter set out on an odyssey to find a chicken to cook for dinner. Chicken for Linda! took home the Annecy Grand Cristal in 2023, as well as the Grand Prize and Audience Award at last year 's Animation Is Film Festival.

Drama/Action - dir. Alex Garland
In theaters (and IMAX) April 12

The latest from writer-director Alex Garland (Men, Annihilation, Ex Machina) follows veteran photojournalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst), her mentor Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), reporter Joel (Wagner Moura), and Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), a young photographer, as they journey through a war-torn America from New York to Washington D.C. in hopes of getting an interview with the President (Nick Offerman). While the film might be used by either side in the political discourse during this election year, Garland explained his intentions to The Guardian, "I think serious journalism needs protecting, because it 's under attack, so I wanted to make those people 'heroes ' to put them front and centre." Fans of Garland's directorial work will want to enjoy this one, because there won't be many Garland films to follow: Even though he has co-directing credit on Ray Mendoza's upcoming Warfare, Garland doesn't plan "to direct again in the foreseeable future."

Comedy - dir. Joanna Arnow
In theaters April 26

As in her celebrated shorts, Joanna Arnow writes, directs, edits and stars in her feature debut about a 30-something Jewish woman navigating power dynamics with her "sexfriends," family, and co-workers. Scott Cohen plays an older man with whom she's had a long-term submissive relationship, and Babak Tafti is a musician she begins dating in this well-received deadpan comedy from a filmmaker with a unique vision.

Documentary - dir. Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss
Streams on Apple TV+ beginning April 5

After winning the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize in 2020 for Boys State, directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss returned to the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year with a similar look at how teenage girls manage a weeklong immersion in American democracy. While Boys State took place in Texas, Girls State unfolds in Missouri in 2022, where, for the first time, Girls State and Boys State are taking place on the same campus, revealing some distinct inequalities between the two programs. Once again, the directors capture participants from across the American political spectrum, revealing how these articulate young women form friendships and debate ideas.

Drama - dir. Guy Ritchie
In theaters April 19

Throughout his career, Guy Ritchie has struggled to receive the critical adoration he achieved with his first film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He came close last year with Guy Ritchie's The Covenant and recently matched it with the TV series The Gentlemen, based on his 2020 film. In his latest feature, he reunites with Henry Cavill from his big screen remake The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (a film critics like decidedly less than Metacritic users) for an action-comedy very loosely based on Churchill's Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII by Damien Lewis. Facing off against the Nazis and hoping to turn the war in Britain's favor is Cavill's Gus March-Phillips and a crew made up of Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, and Babs Olusanmokun. Rory Kinnear takes on the role of Winston Churchill, and Slow Horses' Freddie Fox is Ian Fleming (yes, the man who invented James Bond served in the war).

Action/Thriller - dir. Dev Patel
In theaters April 5

In his directorial debut, Dev Patel stars as Kid, a young man taking beatings in an underground fight club in hopes of getting close to the villainous elites who took everything from him as a child. Getting the film to its premiere at SXSW last month was an arduous task for Patel, who suffered multiple injuries while filming, including a broken hand and foot, as well as other production delays that threatened the film's completion. Originally slated for release on Netflix, this visually daring and very violent action movie now gets a theatrical release through Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions at Universal.

Rom-com - dir. Rudy Mancuso
Streams on Prime Video beginning April 4

Rudy Mancuso co-writes (with Dan Lagana), directs, and stars in his feature debut about a young street performer living with a form of synesthesia in which he experiences everyday noises as complex rhythms.  Rudy lives with his mother (played by the actor 's real-life mother Maria Mancuso) in the close-knit Brazilian community of Newark where he's dating Haley (Francesca Reale). His mother would prefer that he settle down with a nice Brazilian girl, which leads to a meet-cute with Isabella (Camila Mendes), who works in the local fish market. When Rudy finds himself in a love triangle, he gets advice from a local food truck operator played by J.B. Smoove. Mancuso also serves as composer and choreographer for a rom-com based on his own life experiences.

Comedy - dir. Vera Drew
In theaters April 5 (NY) / April 12 & 19 (many other cities)

Vera Drew's debut feature finally makes its way to theaters this month—something that didn't seem possible after it was banned following its 2022 Toronto International Film Festival premiere. Now cleared of the legal troubles with DC Comics' parent company, Warner Bros., Drew's DIY parody of the classic autobiographical coming-of-age story follows a closeted trans girl as she moves to Gotham City to make it big as a comedian in a world where comedy has been outlawed. After struggling to hit it big, she's reborn as Joker the Harlequin and unites with the misfits of the city to take on the devious caped crusader. Written, directed, edited by and starring Drew, it's an unmistakably personal vision and story.

Action-adventure/Comedy - dir. David Zellner and Nathan Zellner
In theaters April 12 (wider April 19)

The latest daringly original movie from filmmaking duo David and Nathan Zellner (Damsel, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter) chronicles a year in the life of a Sasquatch tribe. Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Christopher Zajac-Denek and Nathen Zellner are unrecognizable under their make-up and say no words in the film, but still convey a surprising amount of emotion through their eyes and various grunts and gesticulations. It's a scatological comedy with a surprising undercurrent of emotion—not something one gets a chance to see very often.

Drama - dir. Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami
In theaters April 26

Filmmakers Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami premiered their latest collaboration in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The well-received film is composed of 11 vignettes, 10 of which feature a fixed camera capturing a single character as an offscreen voice of authority asks them questions. Using this format, Asgari and Khatami mine dark humor out of the absurdity of rules and regulations controlling everyday life in contemporary Iran.

Foreign/Action-adventure - dir. Martin Bourboulon
In theaters April 19

Director Martin Bourboulon completes his adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel set in 1625 to 1628 France with this follow-up to The Three Musketeers - Part I: D'Artagnan. The sequel finds D'Artagnan (François Civil) joining forces with the mysterious Milady de Winter (Eva Green) to rescue his kidnapped beloved, Constance (Lyna Khoudri). As for the Musketeers themselves—Porthos (Pio Marmaï), Aramis (Romain Duris), and Athos (Vincent Cassel)— they are ordered to La Rochelle where the Protestants under Cardinal Richelieu are laying siege to Catholic France. Is this rousing adventure based on an oft-adapted novel and shot using real locations France's answer to the sci-fi wonder of Dune: Part One and Two? Let's not go that far, but it deserves your attention nonetheless.

Drama - dir. Minhal Baig
In theaters April 19

Writer-director Minhal Baig's follow-up to 2019's Hala is set in 1992 Chicago and follows best friends Malik (Blake Cameron James) and Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez) as they struggle to escape hardships at school and home when tragedy strikes their Cabrini-Green community. Nominated for three Film Independent Spirit Awards (Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Feature), this delicate coming-of-age tale features a strong supporting cast that includes Jurnee Smollett, Lil Rel Howery, S. Epatha Merkerson, Avery Holliday, and Ora Jones.

Foreign/Comedy - dir. Quentin Dupieux
Streams on MUBI beginning April 5

The latest from French musician/DJ (under the name Mr. Oizo) and absurdist filmmaker Quentin Dupieux (Incredible But True, Mandibles, Deerskin, Keep an Eye Out) follows Yannick (Raphaël Quenard), a parking attendant who hijacks a theater during a production of the comedy The Cuckold. The reason? He finds it boring and wants to become the playwright, so he forces the play's cast (Sébastien Chassagne, Pio Marmaï, and Blanche Gardin) to perform his play, despite several bouts of writer's block. In only a little over and hour, Dupieux and Quenard find a surprising amount of empathy for their off-kilter lead character.