We're officially over a quarter of the way through 2021. It's been a weird year for movies, but one positive of slowly easing out of lockdown will be the reopening of cinemas in May. But before that happens there's still plenty of great movies and shows going straight to streaming that we can enjoy from the comfort of our own homes.
It's felt like a far more subdued industry than we've ever been used to of late, but hopefully this will be the last list of streaming-only movies hitting the blog. So here are what might just be the 5 best movies and shows releasing in April and why you should watch them before we prepare our return to cinemas.
Godzilla vs Kong - Sky Cinema/Prime Video - 1st April
Easily the most super-epic Hollywood movie on this list, Godzilla vs Kong promises a titanic brawl between two beastly movie legends: Godzilla and King Kong. What's more is that director Adam Wingard has promised that there will definitely be a clear-cut victor between these two godlike beings in a popcorn movie that promises all the brain-numbing action and destruction you could ever need.
It's a sequel that's been promised by Warner Bros. ever since 2012's franchise-sparking Godzilla movie. It stars Millie Bobbie Brown and Alexander Skarsgård as a follow up to Godzilla: King of the Monsters and, personally, my money's on Godzilla. But if you want to see who reigns supreme then you'll have to see for yourself. Even if there is a winner, it's written in the wind that they'll end up joining forces. Possibly to fight some bigger, badder mechanised foe?
Godzilla vs Kong will be released to VOD on April 1st
Run - Netflix - 2nd April
Netflix seems to release movies every month at a mind-boggling rate. But so far this year they've lacked a little in the realm of absolute quality when it comes to feature films. Even that of the Oscar-nominated variety has let audiences down when compared to that of the past. The concepts and casting of their content is promising, but it's now time to start delivering a little more bang for our buck.
Maybe, just maybe, Run can do it. It's a new psychological thriller starring Sarah Paulson as a mother that does almost everything for her homeschooled teenage daughter, totally controlling Chloe since the moment she was born and keeping a deeply dark secret from her. It's another promising premise that could easily be an extremely gripping thriller. It also has the capacity to disappoint on a large scale.
Considering this was released in the US a few months ago only to become Hulu's most-watched original film in the platform's history, it's safe to say that there might well be something special here.
Run will be released to Netflix on 2nd April
Stowaway - Netflix - 22nd April
Netflix again, and here we have Stowaway. It's a sci-fi movie starring Toni Collette and Anna Kendrick as astronauts on their way to Mars who encounter a stowaway 12 hours into take off. What's the catch? He's damaged their life support of course, and they've only got 20 days to survive unless they off some of their crew. It's a moral dilemma of catastrophic proportions, certainly enough tension to set the scene for what could be a great movie.
It's yet another Netflix film with a big cast and a big concept that we can only hope does justice to another promising endeavour. Toni Collette is easily one of the best actors around so maybe she and a few other cast-mates can carry this to glory? Either way, it certainly looks like a thrilling bit of space escapism for your April.
Stowaway will be released to Netflix on April 22nd
Things Heard And Seen - Netflix - 30th April
Based on the novel All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage, this Netflix movie stars Amanda Seyfried and James Norton as a married couple who move to the Hudson Valley and slowly begin to suspect a sinister darkness surrounding their new home’s history.
It's a third star-studded Netflix movie making an appearance on the list, but this one seems to have a bit of punch about it. As a horror movie you'd expect it to, but there's a mystery to it too. The book has been described as part murder mystery, part ghost story and it’s also an intrinsic look at how guilt can inform our future. Not only houses can be haunted, but people as well. Hopefully the movie can deliver on those fundamentals too.
I like a bit of mystery, and Things Heard And Seen looks to deliver on that, so here's hoping that Netflix can deliver something with both scare-factor and emotional resonance.
Things Heard And Seen will be released to Netflix on April 30th
Tom Clancy's Without Remorse - Prime Video - 30th April
Michael B. Jordan, Guy Pearce and Jodie-Turner Smith round out April's essential viewing, starring in Without Remorse, an Amazon Prime original about a US Navy SEAL who "loses everything" so must seek justice for his murdered loved ones and uncover an international conspiracy along the way. Because why not?
It's based on a 1993 novel of the same name by Tom Clancy all about international espionage and stopping a real life genuine cold war. It looks corny, it looks predictable; but it also looks action packed, cool and maybe a bit of fun. Sure it's certainly no James Bond, but if it can deliver on all those things and provide a few awesome action set pieces then what more can you ask from such a film? Without Remorse could fill that John Wick shaped hole in your life. That's cool with me.
Tom Clancy's Without Remorse will be released to Prime Video on April 30th
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