The best films to see in April: from the Michael Jackson biopic to ‘Mother Mary’

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson will be trying to buck the long-established trend of nightmarish on-screen weddings (The Graduate, Bride Wars, Kill Bill, Wedding Crashers et al) in this relationship tale… but don’t bank on it. Despite the title, A24’s esoteric marketing campaign and the choice of director – Dream Scenario’s Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli – does not point towards a straight drama, so much as a romcom with teeth.

In cinemas April 3

Three family dramas come marinaded in relatable discomfort in Jim Jarmusch’s triptych of unconnected domestic get-togethers. An unexpected Golden Lion winner at Venice last year, it draws on the auteur’s charismatic company of actors – Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett, Tom Waits – to tell little stories of dysfunction that touch on big themes: mortality, deceit, love and loss. It’s also full of Jarmusch’s wry wit and wisdom. 

In cinemas April 10 

James McAvoy’s directorial debut is one of these against-the-odds stories British cinema does so well (and, occasionally, quite badly). This time it’s the true story of two musically-minded Dundee scamps (Samuel Bottomley and Séamus McLean Ross) who passed off as US rappers and ended up touring with Eminem. It’s based on the book ‘California Schemin’: How Two Lads from Scotland Conned the Music Industry’, which gives an idea of the extreme levels of chutzpah involved. 

In cinemas April 10

Romance is in the air in a glossy travelogue that’ll be providing April’s dose of sunny escapism. The Little Mermaid’s Halle Bailey is the impetuous Anna, a cook who flies to Tuscany and finds herself squatting in an abandoned villa where she meets and falls hard for Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page. Cue mistaken identity capers, gorgeous landscapes, romantic shenanigans, and probably a rush to book flights to central Italy by smitten cinemagoers. 

In cinemas April 10

Camus’ ‘L'Étranger’ has inspired many great thinkers, The Cure and about a billion students but it hasn’t inspired too many filmmakers to date. Enter French director François Ozon with a stylishly sun-soaked adaptation that does the 1942 novella justice in its stark existential ruminations and adds a bit of extra sexiness to the mix for good measure. 

In cinemas April 10

This buzzy horror is billed as the ‘scariest film you’ve ever heard’. Which, as taglines go, is a total grabber. Newcomer Ian Tuason’s supernatural scarefest follows a podcaster (Nina Kiri) who is a carer for her dying mother by day and delving into the realms of the uncanny by night. Big mistake, it turns out, when she and her long-distance co-host are sent soundfiles of a young couple dealing with something very, very malign.

In cinemas April 10

Nothing against Lee Cronin, who made the defibrillating intense Evil Dead Rise in 2023, but the title of the Irishman’s latest horror is surely designer for emphasis rather than brand-building. Because this film has no connection with Universal’s short-lived Dark Universe franchise or the Egyptology capers of the Brendan Fraser classics. Instead, two parents (Laia Costa, Jack Reynor) and their daughter will be dealing with this fresh hell in a movie produced by horror luminaries James Wan and Jason Blum. 

In cinemas April 17

It’s a big month for Scottish actors making directorial debuts. Succession and Manhunter legend Brian Cox joins James McAvoy in stepping behind the camera for the first time in a Straight Story-ish yarn about two estranged brothers making their peace after a lifetime apart. Cox is Sandy and Alan Cumming is Donal, the sibling he wants to run the family distillery. Shirley Henderson and Alexandra Shipp co-star, along with some glorious Scottish landscapes.

In cinemas April 17

Anne Hathaway is a pop star in need of a new tour outfit, bringing her back into contact with a fashion designer (Michaela Coel) with whom she has a, let’s say, complicated past. If that doesn’t sound terribly thrilling on the surface, the trippy, enigmatic trailer shows traces of Vox Lux, Black Swan and maybe even a bit of The Craft. David Lowery, one of the more underrated current filmmakers, writes and directs, while Jack Antonoff and (who else?) Charli XCX provide the songs.

In cinemas Apr 24

Already mired in controversies, Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic seems to be moonwalking toward disaster. But then, what did anyone expect? The King of Pop is one of the most famous entertainers to ever live, but his life is a third rail that hardly seems worth touching, given that his most monumental moments are still vivid in the cultural memory, and the dark parts are among the most heinous things a celebrity of his stature has ever been accused of. In any case, the movie will be an event, if not for the best reasons.

In cinemas April 24