Stepping fresh out of awards season, with the Cannes Film Festival taking off in less than a month, the film industry is abuzz with new teases from the likes of Ari Aster and Wes Anderson and a fresh cinematic palette in the theatre. V tuned in to April’s theatrical releases, and with the lineup in full swing, it’s shaping up to be one for the thrill seekers and feel-gooders. And don’t worry, we won’t spoil!

Hell of a Summer

DIRECTED BY FINN WOLFHARD & BILLY BRYK

Releasing April 4th, 2025

Welcome to summer camp! Written and directed by Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard and his Ghostbusters: Afterlife co-star, Billy Bryk, Hell of a Summer plays out exactly how it’s titled. Cozying into the slasher genre, the film is nostalgic for the ‘90s masked killer renaissance, with stylistic nods to ’80s horror. It’s a classic summer’s nightmare—one of blood, guts, and gore—following a bunch of teen camp counselors’ encounters with ‘the killer.’

Starring alongside Wolfhard and Bryk are Fred Hechinger, Abby Quinn, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Pardis Saremi, Rosebud Baker, and Adam Pally. Though the film first premiered in 2023 at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), it’s only being officially released in US theaters this month. 

Now available for digital purchase and rental at home

A Minecraft Movie

DIRECTED BY JARED HESS

Releasing April 4th, 2025

V couldn’t round up this month’s movies without shouting out the theater’s fave. Gamers alike have gathered in the theaters to see the coveted 2000s video game, Minecraft, brought to life on the big screen. Four real-world misfits are pulled into the Overworld, leaving their daily practical issues behind for all-new creative—and cubic—ones. Steve, played by the infamous Jack Black, takes the bunch on an expedition through the pixelated world, coming face-to-face with creepers, zombies, and Piglans… oh my!

With Jared Hess at the helm in the director’s chair, and starring Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Sebastian Eugene Hansen, and Emma Myers, and the beloved Jennifer Coolidge. The new live-action flick is a silly and thrilling journey of nostalgia, where craft becomes essential for survival—could you endure the Overworld?

The Amateur

DIRECTED BY JAMES HAWES

Releasing April 11th, 2025

Based in Langley, an introverted Englishman working as a decoder for the CIA has his life turned upside down after his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack. His daily operations of accord and balance become engrossed with vengeance overnight.

Directed by James Hawes, starring Rami Malek, April’s second thriller of the month is a spybound mystery, as the film follows Charlie Heller (Malek) on his Jason Bourne-esque espionage hunt for justice.

Drop

DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER B. LANDON

Releasing April 11th, 2025

Worst. Date. Ever. Happy Death Day’s director, Christopher B. Landon, comes back this month with a new taste for vengeance. When Violet, played by the White Lotus breakout star Meghann Fahy, goes on a first date, the night goes awry after a series of silly messages dropped to her phone turn lethal.

The film taps into new-gen tech, channeling the atrocities that manifest from contemporary creativity. It’s a classic, it-could-be-anyone murder trope played alongside the high-stakes horror theme, ultimately posing the timeless trolley problem: what would you do?

Sinners

DIRECTED BY RYAN COOGLER

Releasing April 18th, 2025

Two Michael B. Jordans?! I’m sold. When two brothers (Jordan) attempt to flee their troubled lives by returning to their hometown in Mississippi, they find a greater evil awaiting their arrival.

Directed by Creed‘s Ryan Coogler, the double-Jordan spectacle unveils new fears as the month’s most mind-bending horror. Joined by Hailee Steinfeld, the release is an immersive, action-packed experience, peppered with themes of generational trauma, innocence, loss, love, and bloody malevolence.