New movies to watch in June

Among the new movies in theatres in June 2024 are a pair of sequels that could boost sagging box office numbers as we head into blockbuster season.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence team up again for Bad Boys: Ride or Die (June 7). A follow-up to the pandemic-era reboot Bad Boys for Life, directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Ms. Marvel) — and the fourth instalment overall in the Bad Boys franchise — Ride or Die finds Lowrey and Burnett trying to clear the name of their late captain, only to end up on the run themselves.

Pixar returns to the big screen with Inside Out 2 (June 14), the highly anticipated follow-up to one of their most beloved and critically acclaimed films. Riley is now a teenager grappling with some new emotions. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up — with company.

robot dreams — Robot Dreams (New movies to watch in June)

For animation fans looking for something a little different, be sure to check out When Adam Changes (June 7). A big hit on the festival circuit, this local film is about 15-year-old Adam. Whenever his body is mocked, it distorts to reflect the callous comments. His physical transformations are in some ways the least of his worries as he tries to navigate teenage life in late-1990s Quebec. Also be sure to see the Academy Award-nominated Robot Dreams (June 7). Set In 1980s New York City, Dog assembles Robot as a companion, and they become best buddies. On a Labour Day outing to Coney Island, Robot’s metal parts rust, and he can’t move. (Read our interview with Robot Dreams director Pablo Berger.)

M. Night Shyalaman’s daughter Ishana Night Shyamalan makes her feature debut this month with The Watchers (June 7). (Read our interview with her here.) Dakota Fanning stars as Mina, an artist who finds shelter after getting stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. She unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night. For more big screen spookiness, A Quiet Place: Day One (June 28) imagines the events before the first A Quiet Place film. Lupita Nyong’o stars as Sam, who must survive an invasion in New York City by bloodthirsty alien creatures with ultrasonic hearing.

bikerides new movies june 2024 — The Bikeriders

With films like Take Shelter and Mud under his belt, director Jeff Nichols has become a bit of an underappreciated cult phenomenon in the American indie scene. His latest, The Bikeriders (June 21), hits the big screen this month. Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Jodi Comer, Michael Shannon and Mike Faist round out the all-star cast of this 1960s-era dive into a Midwestern motorcycle club called the Vandals. A story of love and violence, Benny (Austin Butler) must choose between Kathy (Jodie Comer) and his loyalty to the club.

Dads and Yellowstone fans will be happy that Kevin Costner is back on the big screen with Chapter 1 of his epic Western, Horizon: An American Saga (June 28). Costner stars in and directs this multifaceted chronicle of pre- and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West over a 15-year period. Sienna Miller, Jena Malone, Luke Wilson, Thomas Haden Church and Danny Huston are just a few big names featured in the supporting cast. Chapter 2 is currently slated for a theatrical release in August of this year.

Less than a year after Poor Things was an improbable box-office success, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone reunite with Kinds of Kindness (June 28), a dark comedy triptych about a man who tries to take control of his own life, a policeman whose wife seems like a different person and a woman who searches for someone with a special ability. Margaret Qualley, Jesse Plemons, Hunter Schafer, Willem Dafoe and Hong Chau co-star. (Read our review of Kinds of Kindness here.)

One of the most critically acclaimed films from last year’s festival circuit, Banel & Adama (June 14) finally makes it to screens in Montreal. Described as a climate drama with touches of surrealism, the film follows a young married couple in a remote village in northern Senegal who must face the odds to survive.

Banel & Adama (New movies to watch in June)

And finally, with summer on the horizon, be sure to keep an eye on Cinéma Public x Livart, Cinéma sous les étoiles and your local park for the beginning of outdoor screening series.

This article was originally published in the June issue of Cult MTL.

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