Monkey Man, Civil War, Challengers and all the movies you need to see in theatres this April

Everybody knows the legendary John Wick, but Dev Patel introduces a new action hero this month in his feature directorial debut, Monkey Man. This high-octane revenge flick follows an anonymous young man (Patel) on a blood-stained journey across Mumbai to find and destroy the corrupt politicians responsible for his mother’s death. Also releasing at the start of the month is a throwback to one of the scariest movies ever made, The Omen. In this chilling prequel set five years before the original, a nun travels to Rome, discovering a sinister plot within the Catholic church to summon the Antichrist.  

 

Audiences can also look forward to A24’s next nail-biting film, which comes out the following weekend. Alex Garland’s (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later) new dystopian thriller, aptly titled Civil War, takes place in the near future as another American Civil War between the government and separatist forces rages across the country. If the horrors of political warfare aren’t scary enough, a horror movie about a 12-year-old vampire ballerina might do the trick. In Abigail, Melissa Barrera and Dan Stevens star as kidnappers who hold the daughter of an influential figure for ransom, unaware of the terrifying creature she actually is.  

 

If you’re looking for something less fear-inducing, we’ve got plenty of options for you too! Housekeepers For Beginners is a beautiful film about found family and the difficulties of taking on responsibilities you may not be ready for when it comes to being a parent. There’s also Unsung Hero, an uplifting true story following the Smallbone family as they immigrate from Australia to Tennessee in 1991 and raise their children to become the inspirational pop stars they are today.  

 

Last but certainly not least, Zendaya is hitting the big screen for a second time in two months after Dune: Part Two when she appears in Luca Guadagnino’s latest film. Challengers is a thrilling romantic sports drama about a tennis champion who must face off against his wife/coach’s spiteful ex-boyfriend.  

 

That’s not everything coming out this April. Keep reading to see the entire list of must-see movies coming to Cineplex theatres throughout the month! 

 

The First Omen 

Starring: Nell Tiger Free, Bill Nighy, Sônia Braga, Ralph Ineson  

Director: Arkasha Stevenson 

Release Date: April 5th, 2024 

While there have been five films in The Omen series, The First Omen will be the first to come out in nearly twenty years, . In the original movie, Damien Thorne, son of the American Ambassador to Great Britain, is revealed to be the Antichrist after displaying demonic signs. The First Omen is set to explore his origin. The gothic horror prequel follows Margaret Daino (Tiger Free), an American woman who travels to Rome after accepting a job at an orphanage to become a Nun. Upon her arrival, Margaret notices that things are darker than they appear when she uncovers a conspiracy set to bring about the birth of the Antichrist. If you want to start the month off with a fright, The First Omen has to be on your watchlist!  

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Monkey Man

Starring: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Sobhita Dhulipala, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma  

Director: Dev Patel 

Release Date: April 5th 2024 

You know you’re in for a fantastic time at the movies when Academy Award-winning director/writer Jordan Peele (Get Out), a producer on Monkey Man, declared the movie so good audiences had to see it on the big screen instead of on streaming as planned initially. Dev Patel has been acting for quite some time, but Monkey Man will finally show the world the full spectrum of what he can do. This electrifying revenge thriller serves as Patel’s long-awaited feature directorial and writing debut; he was inspired by the legend of Hanuman, a Hindu deity representing strength and courage. In the film, a young man (Patel) must become this legend to take down the high-profile men who stole his childhood. Monkey Man recently premiered at the South by Southwest® (SXSW®) film festival where it won the coveted Headliner Audience Award.  

 

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Housekeeping For Beginners

Starring: Anamaria Marinca, Alina Serban, Samson Selim, Vladimir Tintor 

Director: Goran Stolevski  

Release Date: April 5th, 2024 

 

Many have been waiting for Stolevski’s next movie after he ambitiously but successfully debuted his first two features, You Won’t Be Alone and Of an Age, in the same year back in 2022. Stolevski’s third film, Housekeeping For Beginners, is a heartfelt and restless drama about the families we’re born into and the ones we create for ourselves. Anamaria Marinca gives a beautiful performance as Dita, a woman who never wanted to be a mother but finds herself raising her terminally ill girlfriend’s (Serban) difficult daughters, all while housing other lost souls in her house in North Macedonia.  

 

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Civil War 

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Nick Offerman 

Director: Alex Garland  

Release Date: April 12th, 2024 

 

If watching the evening news wasn’t frightening enough, acclaimed writer/director Alex Garland is taking things a step further by providing audiences with a glimpse into a disturbing future where political warfare in the United States escalates past the point of no return. Civil War follows a group of war photographers led by Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura, making their way to Washington, D.C., in the middle of the Second American Civil War. The country has been divided between the American government plus its supporters and the separatist “Western Forces” headed by Texas and California. After having its world premiere at SXSW® just last month, Civil War received rave reviews from audiences and is now shaping up to be A24’s biggest film of all time.  

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Spy X Family Code: White 

Starring: Takuya Eguchi, Atsumi Tanezaki, Saori Hayami 

Director: Takashi Katagiri 

Release Date: April 19th, 2024 

Based on the mega-hit shõnen manga series Spy X Family and following the fan-favourite action-comedy television series adaptation, Spy x Family Code: White is the first feature-length story to spawn from the franchise. The story follows a traditional spy narrative: Loid, a Japanese spy, must create a fake family to accomplish his mission, Operation Strix. However, he quickly discovers his adopted daughter, Anya, is a telepath, and his “wife” is a highly trained assassin.  

In this brand-new cinematic adventure, which features the return of the beloved series voice cast, Loid gets word he may replaced in Operation Strix. To prevent his firing, he decides to help Anya win a cooking competition at Eden Academy by making the principal’s favourite dish. The family then travels to the region where the dish originated, igniting a chain of events that place the entire world in grave danger. The only way to find out how a cooking contest can lead to the end of the world is by watching Spy X Family Code: White in theatres later this month.  

 

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Abigail

Starring: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito 

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Guy Busick 

Release Date: April 19th, 2024 

 

The April thrills aren’t stopping anytime soon as Universal Studio’s next monster movie is coming out, and shaping up to be an instant horror classic. Everybody has heard of Dracula, but not as many are familiar with the 1936 film Dracula’s Daughter, until now since Abigail is a modern reimagining of the almost century-old movie. It explores what happens when a group of criminals wind up locked in a mansion with a little girl who turns out to be a phenomenal ballerina but also a blood-sucking monster. Abigail is directed by Radio Silence, the team behind the most recent Scream films; it stars Melissa Barrera, who also led those movies, and Euphoria’s Angus Cloud in one of his final films. 

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Irena’s Vow 

Starring: Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott, Andrzej Seweryn, Eliza Rycembel 

Director: Louise Archambault 

Release Date: April 19, 2023 

 

Set in Warsaw during the start of World War Two, Polish nurse Irena Gut (Nélisse) is removed from her home and sent to work for the Nazi Regime. After being assigned to run the home of a menacing Nazi commander (Scott), Irena enters a life-or-death situation when she decides to save as many Jewish refugees as she can, sheltering them within her boss’ house. The emotional film is  an adaptation of Dan Gordon’s acclaimed stage play and the powerful true story of Irene Gut Opdyke. The Canadian-Polish film had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, where audiences praised its impactful and relevant themes as well as Sophie Nélisse’s (Yellowjackets) striking performance. 

 

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Challengers 

Starring: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist 

Director: Luca Guadagnino  

Release Date: April 26th, 2024 

 

After its initial delay from September 2023 to April 2024 due to last year’s strike, Luca Guadagino’s (Call Me By Your Name, Bones and All) highly anticipated romantic tennis film, Challengers, is finally coming to the big screen. The film stars Zendaya, and that’s essentially all you need to know. However, if you must know more, Tashi (Zendaya) is a rising tennis champion who suffers a career-ending injury and is forced to become a coach. After taking on two hot-head players (O’Connor and Faist) that fall madly in love with her, she uses them to take back what should have been hers. Years later, the three reunite for a challenger competition, but tensions are much higher as Tashi has married one of them while the other has become a Grand Slam champion. This love triangle will become one for the history books. 

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Unsung Hero

Starring: Joel Smallbone, Daisy Betts, Kirrilee Berger, Jonathan Jackson 

Director: Richard Ramsey, Joel Smallbone 

Release Date: April 26th, 2024 

 

If wearing your heart on your sleeve could be a movie, it would be Richard Ramsey and Joel Smallbone’s new family drama film, Unsung Hero. While Smallbone co-directs, he also stars in it as his father, David, who moved his wife and seven children from Australia to Nashville in 1991. Told from the perspective of the Smallbone Matriarch, Helen, Unsung Hero follows her family’s harrowing journey settling down in America. To stay afloat, the entire family must work together which becomes even more necessary after their daughter garners attention for her singing abilities- their first sign of hope. Unsung Hero is an uplifting story about how faith and resilience inspired a struggling family to persevere, and that they did. Joel and Luke Smallbone became pop duo For King & Country, and their sister is Grammy-Award Winning singer Rebecca St. James.  

 

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The King Tide 

Starring: Frances Fisher, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Clayne Crawford, Aden Young  

Director: Christian Sparkes 

Release Date: April 26th, 2024 

 

The King Tide is a Canadian suspense-filled drama set within a fishing village on a small island off the coast of Newfoundland where strange occurrences start happening after an infant shows up in a shipwrecked boat. The town’s mayor and his wife (Crawford and Chorostecki) eventually adopt the child and quickly discover that she has the power to cure any injury or sickness. Other oddities like increased fish supply and financial prosperity on the island also occur resulting in her newfound parents using her for their own gains. A decade after the child’s appearance, a horrible incident occurs on the island that she isn’t able to prevent causing the town to spiral into chaos.