Our guide to the most exciting movies coming this April.
Words by Eric Hillis
April sees the release of acclaimed new movies from established auteurs like Pablo Larrain and Park Chan-wook, along with outstanding debuts from newcomers Julia Ducournau and Michael O'Shea, plus the return of Warren Beatty. We've taken a look at the UK/ROI release schedule for April and selected the 10 movies we're most excited for.
A Dark Song
Writer-director Liam Gavin delivers the most accomplished debut feature in the horror genre since last year's The Witch. The story of a grieving mother (Catherine Walker) who hires a gruff medium (Steve Oram) in an attempt to make contact with her dead son, it's one of the best horror movies to emerge from the British Isles in recent years. In cinemas April 7th.
City of Tiny Lights
Riz Ahmed has impressed in a variety of supporting roles in recent years and now gets a rare leading role in this adaptation of Patrick Neate's noirish novel, directed by Dredd's Pete Travis. Ahmed plays a London Private Eye investigating a missing person in a modern British spin on a classic Hollywood genre. Former Doctor Who assistant Billie Piper is the femme fatale. In cinemas April 7th.
Neruda
What a year for Chilean director Pablo Larrain. Following The Club and his English language debut Jackie, he now gives us this unconventional take on the story of controversial poet Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) and the cop (Gael Garcia Bernal) who pursued him in a 1948 manhunt. In cinemas April 7th.
Raw
One of the best movies we saw on the 2016 festival circuit finally arrives in UK/ROI cinemas. Julia Ducournau's directorial debut is a wickedly blackly comic tale of a young college student whose first taste of meat leads her down a path of cannibalism. Ducournau is a filmmaker to watch, as is her leading lady Garance Marillier. In cinemas April 7th.
The Handmaiden
Another movie British and Irish cinema-goers have had quite the wait to see. The latest from acclaimed Korean auteur Park Chan-Wook adapts author Sarah Waters' very British novel Fingersmith, moving the story from Victorian England to 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea. Chan-Wook's film has stoked controversy with its graphic sex scenes but drawn widespread praise for its twisty story-telling. In cinemas April 14th.
Clash
Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Diab's Clash is described as a claustrophobic and intense drama set during the turmoil of the Arab Spring. Diab confines his action to the back of a police truck, where detainees with opposing political views duke it out. In these divisive political times, this could be a highly poignant slice of drama. In cinemas April 21st.
Rules Don't Apply
For his first directorial outing since 1998's Bulworth, Warren Beatty spins a classic Hollywood romance between a young wannabe actress (Lily Collins) and the chauffeur (young Han Solo Alden Ehrenreich) of Howard Hughes (Beatty). The reaction of US critics was lukewarm, but a new Beatty movie is always an event. In cinemas April 21st.
The Belko Experiment
In 2016 Aussie director Greg McLean gave us both the awful feature The Darkness and the impressive TV spinoff of his Wolf Creek franchise. He returns with The Belko Experiment, a movie with a mouth-watering premise by which the staff of an office block are ordered to kill each other until only one survivor remains. Office Space meets Battle Royale is how this one has been described. In cinemas April 21st.
The Transfiguration
The best movie we saw at this year's Audi Dublin Film Festival was another standout directorial debut in the horror genre, writer-director Michael O'Shea's The Transfiguration. Like George Romero's Martin by way of Moonlight, it's a dark coming of age tale, the story of a young, socially isolated African-American teen (Eric Ruffin) whose obsession with vampires leads him down a murderous path until he becomes romantically involved with an equally troubled young girl (Chloe Levine). In cinemas April 21st.
Lady Macbeth
Not a biopic of the First Lady of Shakespeare, but rather a loose adaptation of a 19th century Russian novella, director William Oldroyd's Lady Macbeth is said to boast a knockout performance from young British star Florence Pugh, who impressed in Carol Morley's The Falling, in the titular role, as the story relocates from Russia to England. In cinemas April 28th.