Horror, Romance, Action, and Beyond – Great

April is a bit of a slump month. For the previous months, I already knew of the big releases beforehand, either through friends or trailers that had been released. This month, with the exception of one truly big movie, is a quieter month. But hey, at least we get to spotlight films that may not have been on your radar.

Because Easter is soon approaching, we will get the prerequisite horror film. Once again, streaming platforms are still providing the bulk of the movies on this list. Theatres are slowly opening up, and people are heading back to the cinema (especially for the release of Godzilla vs Kong), but it will be a while before the cinema scene is up and running again.

In the meantime, there are plenty of new movies in April 2021 to enjoy online, or in the cinemas, if you so choose.

 

1. The Unholy | April 2nd, 2021

The Unholy is this Easter’s horror film, and very aptly releases on Good Friday, just in time for the holiest weekend of the month. The Unholy meets holy weekend – Sony Pictures certainly put a lot of thought into the marketing for this film.

The film follows Alice (Cricket Brown), a young hearing-impaired girl who, after a supposed visitation from the Virgin Mary, is miraculously able to hear, speak and heal the sick.

A journalist (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) hoping to revive his career pays her a visit to see if there’s more to the story. When terrifying events begin to happen all around (as it always does in these horror films), he starts to question if these phenomena are the works of the Virgin Mary or something more sinister. The Unholy is produced by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Evan Spiliotopoulos, written for the screen and directed Spiliotopoulos, and is based upon James Herbert’s best-selling book Shrine.

 

2. Mortal Kombat | April 16th, 2021

After years of waiting for a proper Mortal Kombat reboot, we now don’t have to wait any longer (well, just until mid-April, but you get the picture). The film’s trailer currently stands at ten million views (I have contributed heavily to this number) and with the release of an official restricted trailer, it seems that filmmaker Simon McQuoid is keenly focused on making a film that fans of the game will enjoy.

The film has a new protagonist, Cole King (played by Lewis Tan), an MMA fighter who is being hunted by Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung’s (Chin Han) best warrior Sub-Zero (Jose Taslim), and has no idea why. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) at the direction of Jax (Mehcad Brooks), who also bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with.

He finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, where he is granted sanctuary because he bears the mark. Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Kung Lao (Max Huang) and Kano (Josh Lawson), as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. So you know, pretty standard day to day battle for the universe stuff.

Mortal Kombat will be released simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max.

 

3. Stowaway | April 22nd, 2021

Another year, another space movie. After month’s of speculation on when the film would debut, we have our answer. It’s coming in April, and it will be available on Netflix. As much as I am skeptical about space movies, given that we haven’t really seen a good one for quite a while – The Martian is the first one that comes to mind, and that was in 2015.

Starring Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson and Toni Collette, this film does seem promising on the talent front. It follows a three-person team of astronauts on their way to Mars, when they discover a stowaway in the ship. Anderson’s character accidentally got stuck in the ship while working on it, and now, the three have to acquaint him with the details of the mission. It’s a gutting thing to suddenly be a part of a two year mission that you didn’t sign up for.

Things become complicated when they realise they only have enough oxygen for three people. Should they compromise their life’s work, or make sacrifices in the name of progress? The premise is certainly a unique one, so hopefully director Joe Penna pulls off a win with this one.

 

4. We Broke Up | April 23rd, 2021

We Broke Up made it onto the list because I love the lead actors involved, namely Aya Cash of The Boys and William Jackson Harper of The Good Place. With both actors being so good at comedy, I am hoping their presence gives this rom-com the necessary gravitas.

Lori (Cash) and Doug (Harper) are on their way to Lori’s sister’s wedding weekend when they decide to break up. After being together for ten years and expecting to be with each other for the rest of their lives, this is a difficult situation to come to terms with, especially when there is a wedding on the horizon to prep for.

The pair decide to keep mum about their break-up so as to not ruin Lori’s big day. Will they officially break-up when the wedding’s over, or figure out a way to make things work? The film will be released in theatres and on VOD if you want to find out.

 

5. Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse | April 30th, 2021

Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse was initially supposed to be released by Paramount in 2020, but because of the pandemic, was delayed to February 2021. Then Paramount entered negotiations with Amazon to consider a digital release, which went through, meaning that we will be able to stream this film on Amazon Prime on its release date.

The film centers around US Navy SEAL John Clark (Michael B. Jordan) uncovering an international conspiracy while seeking justice for the murder of his pregnant wife by Russian soldiers. The part was originally offered to Keanu Reeves, because who better to choose when crafting a revenge movie than Baba Yaga himself? Reeves turned it down, and eventually, Jordan stepped up to the plate.

When Clark joins forces with fellow SEAL Karen Greer (Jodie Turner-Smith) and shadowy CIA officer Robert Ritter (Jamie Bell), the mission unwittingly exposes a covert plot that threatens to engulf the U.S. and Russia in an all-out war. Usually when a movie studio sells a film to a streaming platform, this isn’t good news. If the studio feels that this a property they can let go of, it will most likely turn out to be an average film.

However, I have enjoyed most of Michael B. Jordan’s films, so even if this movie isn’t extraordinary stuff, I guess watching Jordan on screen will have to be enough. The trailer has over six million views, so it’s evident that many agree with me on this.

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