Evil Does Not Exist, Challengers and Monkey Man are among the 15 new films in UK cinemas this month! Read our list of April 2024 new releases in the UK & Ireland!
April 2024 will be an exciting month for British cinema lovers! Among the new films in UK and Irish cinemas are some anticipated hits like Monkey Man, festival gems like Evil Does Not Exist and Elaha, and many more new movies to watch this month! We made a list of April 2024’s upcoming cinema releases, in order of release date! Check out our list of April 2024 movies coming to US theaters if you’re not based in the UK and don’t forget to take a look at the most anticipated movies of 2024! Enjoy, and come back soon for our reviews!
1. EVIL DOES NOT EXIST (5 Apr.)
Director: Ryūsuke Hamaguchi
U.K. & Irish Release: 5 April
U.S. Release: 5 May
Ryūsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) returns with a second movie that much more subtle than his first gem, but that’s just as haunting and affecting. This time, it’s an exquisitely layered environmental drama about a community living in the Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, two company representatives from Tokyo arrive to reveal that a “glamping” site is about to be built there which will have a huge impact on their lives, starting from the local walter supply. The film mainly revolves around Takumi and his daughter Hana, who live in the village, as they navigate this difficult situation, but it also shows us the perspective of everyone else involved, from the company employees to nature itself. Not to be missed.
2. THE FIRST OMEN (5 Apr.)
Director: Arkasha Stevenson
Global Release: 5 April
A young woman (Nell Tiger Free) arrives in Rome to start a new life in service to the church, but she discovers a dark secret. A conspiracy is trying to bring evil incarnate to the Earth, and she is the only one who can stop them.
3. MONKEY MAN (5 Apr.)
Director: Dev Patel
Global Release: 5 April
Dev Patel’s feature debut as a director has just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is already making everyone talk! Patel plays the titular Monkey Man, a man who gets beaten up anonymously in an underground fight club in exchange for cash. His ultimate goal is getting vengeance against a powerful organisation that murdered his mother. Will he get the retribution he yearns for?
4. SEIZE THEM! (5 Apr.)
Director: Curtis Vowell
U.K. & Irish Release: 5 April
This comedy road movie takes place in the dark ages, following the selfish and lonely Queen Dagan (Aimee Lou Wood) as she escapes her kingdom when it is taken over by the charismatic Humble Joan (Nicola Coughlan) and the mischievous Leofwine (Jessica Hynes). With a bounty on her head, the Queen must try not to be caught while plotting to get back her throne, with the help of enigmatic castle worker Shulmay (Lolly Adefope) and, ahem, ambitious sh*t shoveler Bobik (Nick Frost).
5-11 APRIL, 2024: MORE MOVIES IN UK CINEMAS
- Io Capitano, Matteo Garrone: 5 April
- The Trouble With Jessica, Matt Winn: 5 April
- Yolo, Jia Ling: 5 April
- SUGA | August D TOUR ‘D-DAY’ THE MOVIE: 5 April
5. BACK TO BLACK (12 Apr.)
Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson
U.K. & Irish Release: 12 April
U.S. Release: 17 May
A promising Amy Winehouse biopic is coming, directed by acclaimed filmmaker and visual artist Sam Taylor-Johnson. Marisa Abela (Industry) plays the artist, in a film that focuses on her creativity, genius, and the honesty that defined her entire life. Also starring Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan, Juliet Cowan and Lesley Manville.
6. BLEEDING LOVE (12 Apr.)
Director: Emma Westenberg
U.K. & Irish Release: 12 April
U.S. Release: out now on digital and on demand! Watch Bleeding Love!
In his review of Bleeding Love, our writer Tom Spoors calls it “one of the scariest films [he’s] ever seen,” due to the depiction of this father-daughter relationship and how hard it is to be a parent while “balancing both our demons with those of our children”. And if this isn’t enough to watch this road trip movie – where a father is on a journey with his now-adult estranged daughter after she has an overdose – the fact that the protagonists are Ewan and Clara McGregor should. Bleeding Love was almost universally acclaimed at all the festivals where it was screened and we have very high hopes for this one!
7. CIVIL WAR (12 Apr.)
Director: Alex Garland
Global Release: 12 April
Ex Machina writer-director Alex Garland brings Civil War to cinemas, a film that promises to be just as thought-provoking and a lot bigger in scale. The film is set in a dystopian America, where a group of rebels are headed to the White House and it’s up to a team of military-embedded journalists to reach DC before they to and avert a catastrophe. Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno and Nick Offerman are in the cast.
8. CLOSE YOUR EYES (12 Apr.)
Director: Victor Erice
U.K. & Irish Release: 12 April
After The Quince Tree Sun, The Spirit of the Beehive, El Sur, director Víctor Erice bring us Close Your Eyes, which is mainly about identity, memory, and filmmaking. Cast members include Manolo Solo, José Coronado, and Ana Torrent. Read our review above to find out more!
9. ABIGAIL
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett
Global Release: 19 April
What happens when a group of inexperienced criminals kidnap a 12 year old girl and ask her wealthy family for a $50 million ransom, only to realise that this ballerina is no ordinary girl? This is the premise of Abigail, where the criminals in question are stuck in an isolated mansion for an entire night, as they wait to collect the money in the morning, and realise that the titular ballerina is not as harmless as she looks.
10. IF ONLY I COULD HIBERNATE (5 Apr.)
Director: Zoljargal Purevdash
U.K. & Irish Release: 19 April
Zoljargal Purevdash’s debut revolves around a family who lives in challenging conditions in the Ulaanbaatar district of Mongolia. It mainly centres on teenager Ulzii, who dreams of winning a physics competition in order to secure a scholarship. But life has other plans, as his illiterate mother finds a job in the countryside and Ulzii has to care for his younger siblings in the harsh winter – all while trying to prepare for the competition. If Only I Could Hibernate was the first ever Mongolian film to be selected for Cannes last year, and it was very well-received there.
11. FANTASTIC MACHINE
Directors: Axel Danielson & Maximilien Van Aertryck
U.K. Release: 19 April (limited)
How has our obsession with image grown and eventually changed the behaviour of our entire society? This is what filmmakers Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck explore in their film, looking at anything from the Camera Obscura and the Lumière brothers to YouTube and of social media.
APRIL 12-19, 2024: MORE MOVIES IN UK CINEMAS
- Opponent, Milad Alami: 12 April
- The Teachers’ Lounge, İlker Çatak: 12 April
- Tomorrow’s Freedom, Sophia & Georgia Scott: 12 April
- All You Need Is Death, Paul Duane: 12 April
- Beyond the Raging Sea, Marco Orsini: 12 April
- The Book Of Clarence, Jeymes Samuel: 12 April
- Butterfly Tale, Sophie Roy: 12 April
- I Could Never Go Vegan, Thomas Pickering: 12 April
- Jeanne Du Barry, Maiwenn: 12 April
- Sometimes I Think About Dying, Rachel Lambert: 12 April
- Swede Caroline, Finn Bruce: 12 April
12. CHALLENGERS (26 Apr.)
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Global Release: 26 April
Tashi (Zendaya) and Art (Mike Faist) are married, but they couldn’t be more different. Tashi is a talented, uncompromising former tennis prodigy who is now a tennis coach; Art loves to play but has been on a losing streak for a long time. One day, Tashi decides to train him and get him to win, but it turns out that his match will be against the washed-up Patrick (Josh O’Connor, of The Crown), Tashi’s ex-boyfriend and Art’s ex-best friend. And when the three of them meet, everything changes.
13. ELAHA (26 Apr.)
Director: Milena Aboyan
U.K. & Irish Release: 26 April
Kurdish-German young woman Elaha is about to be married, which means that the groom’s parents and her own strict mother will ask for proof of her virginity, as is tradition in her country. But Elaha is no longer a virgin, and she faces a dilemma. Should she undergo hymen reconstruction or should she continue to be herself? In her review of the film, our writer Claire Fulton calls it “a poignantly powerful drama about the complexities of culture versus choice,” and it’s one that’s bound to make you think.
14. I.S.S. (26 Apr.)
Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
U.K. & Irish Release: 26 April
U.S. Release: Out now on digital and on demand! Watch I.S.S.!
This Tribeca gem is finally coming to UK cinemas, and you don’t want to miss it. It takes place on the International Space Station, where the situation is getting more tense by the minute, as a worldwide conflict is happening on Earth. The orders from the ground are to take control of the station at all costs, which puts the astronaut in quite a dilemma. Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, Pilou Asbaek, John Gallagher Jr., Costa Ronin, and Masha Mashkova all star in this tense, high-stakes thriller from director Gabriela Cowperthwaite.
15. THAT THEY MAY FACE THE RISING SUN (26 Apr.)
Director: Pat Collins
U.K. & Irish Release: 26 April
Adapted from John McGahern’s final novel, That They May Face The Rising Sun is set in 1970s Ireland and shows us a year in the life of a rural, lakeside community, where Joe and Kate Ruttledge have just returned to from London. “It almost feels like a moment frozen in time,” writes Clotilde Chinnici in her review for us, and we cannot wait to experience it.
APRIL 20-30, 2024: MORE MOVIES IN UK CINEMAS
- Jericho Ridge, Will Gilbey: 25 April
- The American Society Of Magical Negroes, Kobi Libii: April 26
- Boy Kills World, Moritz Mohr: 26 April
- Kidnapped, Marco Bellocchio: 26 April
- Omen (Augure), Baloji Tshiani: 26 April
- On Resistance Street, Richard David: 26 April
- Ordinary Angels, Jon Gunn: 26 April
- Scarygirl, Ricard Cussó & Tania Vincent: 26 April
- Spy x Family Code: White, Kazuhiro Furuhashi: 26 April
- Stephen, Melanie Manchot: 26 April
