New movies to watch in April

Of all the new movies to watch in April, the as-unlikely-as-it-is-inevitable game adaptation A Minecraft Movie (April 4) promises a romp through the Overworld and the Nether, starring Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers, Sebastian Eugene Hansen and Jennifer Coolidge. Critical bomb? Box office smash? We shall see.

Other cinematic thrills in store this month include Drop (April 11), a high-concept thriller starring Meghann Fahy as Violet, a widowed mother who goes on her first date in years. Things are going well until she’s bombarded with anonymous threatening messages on her phone during their upscale dinner, leaving her questioning whether her charming date is behind the harassment.

Rami Malek, Michael Stuhlbarg and Laurence Fishburne star in The Amateur (April 11), a thriller about an introverted CIA decoder whose life turns upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack. When his supervisors refuse to take action, he decides to take matters into his own hands.

In his first post-Black Panther project, director Ryan Coogler reunites with Michael B. Jordan for Sinners (April 18). The horror-thriller follows twin brothers who return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back. Set in the Jim-Crow era South, the original film has surprising supernatural elements. It co-stars Delroy Lindo, Lola Kirke, Hailee Steinfeld and Jack O’Connell. 

Ben Affleck returns as Christian Wolff in The Accountant 2 (April 25), a crime action-thriller co-starring Jon Bernthal and J.K. Simmons. The sequel finds Wolff applying his brilliant mind and illegal methods to reconstruct the unsolved puzzle of a Treasury chief’s murder.

From Ground Zero (April 14) is a compelling project that brings together 22 short films created by talented filmmakers from Gaza. Launched by Rashid Masharawi, a notable Palestinian filmmaker, the initiative emerged amid the backdrop of conflict, aiming to provide a platform for young artists to express themselves through their craft. An ambitious and raw anthology project, most of the filmmakers involved have no prior filmmaking experience, but that does little to diminish the film’s enormous impact.

The Ballad of Wallis Island (April 4) is a musical comedy about an eccentric lottery winner, Charles, who lives alone on a remote island. He dreams of hiring his favourite musician, Herb McGwyer, to play an exclusive, private gig. Unbeknownst to Herb, Charles has also hired Herb’s ex-bandmate and ex-girlfriend, Nell, with her new husband in tow, to perform the old favourites. As tempers flare and old tensions resurface, the stormy weather traps them all on the island and Charles desperately looks for a way to salvage his dream gig. The film stars Carey Mulligan, Tom Basden and Tim Key. 

Using puppetry rather than CGI, The Legend of Ochi (April 25) is a family fantasy film set in a remote village on the island of Carpathia, where a shy farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an elusive animal species known as ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby ochi has been left behind, she escapes on a quest to bring him home.

A man (Bill Muray), a woman (Naomi Watts) and a Great Dane come together in The Friend (April 4), a story about a writer who adopts a dog that belonged to a late friend and mentor.

The latest film by great Québécois filmmaker François Delisle, Le temps (April 18), is a drama that unfolds across various timelines and locations, where the fates of four characters intertwine as they struggle to find connections and meaning in a world transformed by climate change. ■

For Montreal cinema showtimes, please click here. This article was originally published in the April 2025 issue of Cult MTL. 

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