April 2024 film preview: Civil War, Challengers, and killers in suits prime an action-packed summer

Director: Tyler Russell

Cast: Sarah Fisher, Jake Allyn, Lynn Collins, Robyn Lively, and Scott Reeves

It’s a tale as old as time: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl to death, boy finds out girl has a twin sister “separated as embryos,” boy falls in love with girl’s twin sister. Someone Like You is based on a weepy bestseller about a young architect named Dawson who finds out his dead girlfriend has an IVF twin. We don’t need to call The Hallmark Channel to know where this one is going: A grown woman rejects the family that raised her for her “real family” in Birmingham and the lonely architect who loved her sister. Bring the tissues because, apparently, one embryonic twin is as good as the other.

Director: Dev Patel

Cast: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Sobhita Dhulipala, and Sikandar Kher

For roughly a decade, fans of Dev Patel have prayed for their Green Knight to don a tux and play James Bond. Little did we know that he should actually play John Wick. Monkey Man, Patel’s directorial debut, looks like a hard-charging, stylish-as-all-hell revenge thriller that’s more The Raid than Skyfall. Hoping to prove he’s an action star with an authorial voice, Patel is already racking up rave reviews (including an “A” out of SXSW from The A.V. Club) for Monkey Man. Maybe it’s a good thing he never played James Bond.

Director: Arkasha Stevenson

Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sônia Brag, Charles Dance, and Bill Nighy

Before anyone says anything, we know that this title makes no sense. The First Omen? You’re not fooling us. The first Omen starred Gregory Peck and Lee Remick. This latest Omen is something closer to The Omen minus one. Instead of focusing on one rotten little antichrist, The First Omen appears to have more in common with the nunsploitation of Immaculate. Frankly, if someone told us this was based on an original horror screenplay and retrofitted into the Omen franchise, we’d believe it. But at least they had the good sense to class up the nunnery with Bill Nighy, Charles Dance, and Ralph Ineson, playing a couple of concerned priests, who help make the connection to the original film.

Director: Vera Drew

Cast: Vera Drew, Lynn Downey, Kane Distler, Nathan Faustyn, David Liebe Hart, Maria Bamford, Scott Aukerman, Tim Heidecker, and Bob Odenkirk

Finally legal after two years of corporate handwringing that reminded the United States that parody laws exist, The People’s Joker is unlike anything audiences are likely to see this year—save for Joker: Folie à Deux. Through a parody of Todd Phillips’ original Joker movie, co-writer, director, and star Vera Drew maps her experience as a trans comedian onto Gotham’s gatekept comedy landscape. The result is an original, hilarious superhero parody that doubles as the most personal Caped Crusader movie in years.

Director: Alexandria Bombach

Cast: Amy Ray, Emily Sailers, and Winona LaDuke

Grammy-winning “political lesbians” Indigo Girls never got the mainstream attention they deserved. Yet Amy Ray and Emily Saliers started a quiet revolution that, thankfully, Ray filmed throughout their four decades atop the American folk music scene. Ray’s tapes became the basis for It’s Only Life After All, a new documentary from Alexandria Bombach about the band, their music, and their legacy. Indigo Girls paved the way for queer artists to be taken seriously in a ruthlessly homophobic and misogynistic culture. It’s Only Life After All shows how they did it.

Director: Alex Garland

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Nick Offerman, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Jesse Plemons

Alex Garland makes divisive movies but, typically, people have seen the movie before they take sides. However, the very premise of another American civil war, given the extreme polarization of American culture, is a touchy subject. Heck, our presidential candidates can’t even admit why the actual American Civil War was fought publicly. Set in the not-too-distant future in which it’s Texas and California against the rest of America, Civil War follows a team of journalists who take a life-changing road trip across these battle-hardened United States. Garland’s penchant for provocation often comes from thoughtful, interrogative, and horrifying places. We look forward to finding out what everyone’s fighting about.

Director: Benjamin Brewer

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, and Maxwell Jenkins

Set in the post-apocalyptic hellspace between The Last Of Us and A Quiet Place, Arcadian sees Nicolas Cage in family protector mode. Sequestered on a small farm as an unseen battalion of monsters ravages Earth, Cage would very much appreciate his sons’ cooperation in staying on the premises. Alas. With a tight of four, which includes It’s Jaeden Martell and Reacher’s Maxwell Jenkins as Cage’s sons, the movie is keeping its plot and creature designs under wraps. It doesn’t matter. A compelling trailer and a non-meme-based Cage performance are all we need.

Director: Wade Allain-Marcus

Cast: Simone Joy Jones, Nicole Richie, Miles Fowler, Ms. Pat, Jermaine Fowler, and June Squibb

Simone Joy Jones is right on top of that, Rose. 2024’s Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead reboots the early ’90s kids-rule cable comedy classic with a predominately Black cast and a familiar premise. Taking over for Christina Applegate is Fresh Prince’s Simone Joy Jones, whose parent-free vacation goes to hell when Mrs. Sturack (played by Oscar nominee June Squibb) shows up to babysit. Luckily for her, as the title implies, Sturack isn’t long for this world. Elsewhere, Nicole Richie fills in for Joanna Cassidy as Jones’ new boss.

Director: Zarrar Kahn

Cast: Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, and Bakhtawar Mazhar

In Flames, Pakistan’s selection for Best International Feature at this year’s Academy Awards, advertises itself as having more in common with Hereditary than Anatomy Of A Fall. Directed by Zarrar Kahn in his directorial debut, In Flames follows Mariam (Ramesha Nawal), who, following the death of the family patriarch, must navigate the supernatural horror of a male-dominated society as malevolent specters from the past haunt her present. The film, which premiered at last year’s Cannes film festival, finally makes landfall in the United States this month.

Director: Guy Ritchie

Cast: Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Eliza González, Cary Elwes, and Henry Golding

Guy Ritchie doesn’t take vacations. He makes movies—usually starring British men wearing suits. While he’s moved his Gentleman to Netflix, he’s bringing Ungentlemanly Warfare to theaters. The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare looks like the type of kinetic action movie on which Ritchie made his bones. Hot off the zeitgeist-grabbing Argylle, Henry Cavill and his tongue star in a fictionalized telling of Operation Postmaster, with Eiza González, Henry Golding, the refrigerator from Reacher (Alan Ritchson), and—holy shit—Alex Pettyfer providing backup. Plus, Freddie Fox plays James Bond creator Ian Fleming in this one. It looks like a Guy Ritchie movie. If that’s your thing, enjoy the Ungentlemanly hijinx.

Directors: David and Nathan Zellner

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, Christophe Zajac-Denek, and Nathan Zellner

Had Terrance Malick directed Harry And The Hendersons, it might look a little like whatever Sasquatch Sunset is. That’s a compliment. The improbably idyllic-looking movie is about a family of Bigfoots (Bigfeet!) enjoying their natural habitat. Though, given the first shot of the trailer, we assume the David and Nathan Zellner-directed comedy will have some jokes, too. At the very least, it’s the easiest way to see Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough looking like the Geico Cavemen. We are so back.

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Cast: Giancarlo Esposito, Dan Stevens, Matthew Goode, Kathryn Newton, Angus Cloud, Kevin Durand, Melissa Barrera, William Catlett, and Alisha Weir

The horror genre left the COVID lockdowns with a real fear of children. However, while Abigail may look like the bad seeds of M3gan and Exorcist: The Believer, this pint-sized terror has a killer twist. Melissa Barrera, Kathryn Newton, Dan Stevens, and Giancarlo Esposito have kidnapped a ballerina vampire and are stuck holding her hostage until her family can pay a $50 million ransom. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the pair responsible for reviving the Scream franchise, Abigail is a post-modern horror comedy that looks more fun than their stabs at Ghostface and harkens back to their breakthrough, Ready Or Not.

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Cast: Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor

Bad news for those weirdos who hate sex scenes: Luca Guadagnino has a new movie coming out. Two years after Timothée Chalamet ate his father right the fuck up, Guadagnino returns with a tennis court ménage à trois. In Challengers, Zendaya plays Tashi, a tennis prodigy whose career took a nasty turn toward coaching her husband (Mike Faist), a tennis pro in the throes of a losing streak. His next match on the comeback trail? One-on-one with his ex-best friend (Josh O’Connor), Tashi’s ex-boyfriend, and the couple’s former third. See that? We made it the whole preview without embarrassing ourselves by saying anyone was serving.

Director: Moritz Mohr

Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Famke Janssen, Sharlto Copley, Brett Gelman, and H. Jon Benjamin

Boy Kills World couldn’t have picked a worse month to come out in. With Monkey Man bowing at the beginning of April, do multiplexes have space for another heavily stylized revenge thriller about a strong, silent type in a suit doing the John Wick thing as Sharlto Copley hangs out in the supporting cast? We’re going to find out. Bill Skårsgaard stars as the titular boy doing the titular killing that takes the cocaine-laced lunacy of Crank: High Voltage and gives it a Comic-Con spin. At the very least, it’ll give moviegoers a chance to bliss out to the dulcet tones of H. Jon Benjamin, who narrates this high-concept action comedy.

Director: Joanna Arnow

Cast: Joanna Arnow, Scott Cohen, and Babak Tafti

Joanna Arnow’s Cannes breakout, The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed, looks like a cult classic in the making. Drawing on Todd Solondz’s sardonic, pitch-black humor and Lena Dunham’s penchant for self-imposed sexual humiliation, The Feeling follows a lowly sub with a mean dom who seeks a boring boyfriend for a change. Arnow writes, directs, and stars in what could be the most uncomfortably funny movie of the month.

David Cronenberg’s kids are keeping the family legacy strong. Joining her brother, Brandon, in the next wave of horror filmmakers, Caitlin Cronenberg’s directorial debut swerves toward satire. Starring Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, and Peter Gallagher, Humane asks for volunteers to help reduce the Earth’s population amid a global environmental collapse. Who’s going to raise their hand to be sacrificed? Well, Peter Gallagher just volunteered his whole family. Hilarity, presumably, ensues.