Check out what's showing at cinemas across the region this April...

DROP CERT 15 (100 mins)
Released Fri 11 April
Starring Brandon Sklenar, Meghann Fahy, Violett Beane, Ed Weeks, Travis Nelson, Jacob Robinson 
Directed by Christopher Landon

If you think blind dates are nerve-wracking, spare a thought for Violet, a widowed mother who’s going on her first one in years. 

When it turns out that the man she’s meeting in an upscale restaurant is more charming and handsome than she’d expected, she relaxes a little. Until, that is, anonymous drops to her phone begin; personal memes that escalate from annoying to homicidal, pinged by an unnamed, unseen troll. 

And things soon go from bad to worse. Via her home security cameras, Violet sees a hooded figure. It’s made clear to her that the intruder will kill her young son and babysitting sister unless she follows her unseen tormentor’s instructions - the final one of which is to kill the man with whom she’s currently on a blind date...

A MINECRAFT MOVIE CERT PG (101 mins)
Released Fri 4 April
Starring Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, Jack Black, Jemaine Clement
Directed by Jared Hess

This first-ever big-screen, live-action adaptation of the best selling video game of all time finds four misfits - Henry, Natalie, Dawn and Garrett ‘The Garbage Man’ Garrison - suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. Their only chance of getting home is to master the strange new world in which they find themselves - while simultaneously protecting it from the evils of Piglins and Zombies. Teaming up with expert crafter Steve, the group find themselves needing to reconnect with the qualities that make them uniquely creative… the very skills, in fact, which each of them will desperately need if they are ever to thrive back in the real world.  

DEATH OF A UNICORN CERT tbc (104 mins)
Released Fri 4 April
Starring Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Téa Leoni, Will Poulter, Richard E Grant, Jessica Hynes
Directed by Alex Scharfman

As if accidentally hitting and killing a pedestrian isn’t bad enough, Elliot and his daughter, Ridley, find themselves faced with an even worse set of circumstances: they inadvertently run over a mythological unicorn. 

The pair, en route to the weekend retreat of Elliot’s billionaire boss, Dell Leopold (played by Richard E Grant), take the unicorn with them, and become aware of the creature’s miraculous curative properties - something which Leopold is eager to exploit for the purpose of financial gain. 

Problem is, the unicorn that’s been hit and killed is a foal, and its bigger and far more monstrous-looking parents are soon on the war path and hell-bent on revenge... 
Expect a winning blend of gore and humour. 

THE RETURN CERT 15 (116 mins)
Released Fri 11 April
Starring Juliette Binoche, Ralph Fiennes, Charlie Plummer, Claudio Santamaria, Roberto Serpi, Chris Corrigan 
Directed by Uberto Pasolini

Uberto Pasolini’s bland adaptation of the last sections of Homer’s famous epic poem, The Odyssey, sees its heavyweight stars, Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, teaming up for a third time in their illustrious careers.

Haggard and unrecognisable after 20 years away fighting in the Trojan War, Odysseus (Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca. But much has changed in his kingdom. His beloved wife, Penelope (Binoche), is a prisoner in her own home, hounded by corrupt suitors who are eager to take the crown.

Scarred by his experience of the Trojan war and no longer the mighty warrior he once was, Odysseus must quickly rediscover his strength if he is to stand any chance of winning back everything that he’s lost.

WARFARE CERT tbc (95 mins)
Released Fri 18 April
Starring Joseph Quinn, Noah Centineo, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Charles Melton
Directed by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza

Alex Garland’s previous offering, Civil War - released last year and set in a fractured near-future America in violent conflict with itself - met with waves of critical acclaim. So there’s plenty of excitement surrounding the release of this latest offering from the London-born filmmaker. 

Co-written and co-directed with Ray Mendoza -  an Iraq War veteran who acted as an advisor on Civil War - the film is a real-time recreation of an actual battle in which Mendoza was involved while stationed in Iraq.

“It uses the traditional grammar of cinema,” Garland told Entertainment Weekly. “Closeups, mids, wides, push-ins, shots wrapping around actors. It is a continuous action... so it’s not shooting everything in one take, but it is real-time. 

“It opened up the possibility, in a strange way, to stage something almost as if it’s theatre.” 

THE PENGUIN LESSONS CERT 12a (110 mins)
Released Fri 18 April
Starring Steve Coogan, Björn Gustafsson, David Herrero, Jonathan Pryce, Aimar Miranda, Nicanor Fernandez
Directed by Peter Cattaneo

The Penguin Lessons finds its inspiration in the true 1970s story of an emotionally constipated and thoroughly disillusioned Englishman (here played by Steve Coogan) who goes to work in a school in Buenos Aires in Argentina. 

Expecting an easy ride, Tom Michell instead discovers a divided nation and a classroom of privileged but seemingly unteachable students. 

But all is not lost... After rescuing an orphaned penguin from an oil-slicked beach, Tom’s life is turned upside-down, and he soon finds himself undergoing both a personal and political awakening...

SINNERS CERT tbc
Released Fri 18 April
Starring Jack O’Connell, Hailee Steinfeld, Michael B Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, Lola Kirke, Delroy Lindo 
Directed by Ryan Coogler

Creed star Michael B Jordan here follows in the footsteps of Robert De Niro by taking on dual roles (De Niro did so in last month’s The Alto Knights). 

Jordan plays twin brothers Smoke and Stack as they try to leave their troubled lives behind them. Returning to their hometown to start again, they discover a darkness far greater than ever they could have imagined.

Ryan Coogler - who here takes the directorial reins for the first time since helming Marvel’s Black Panther films - has revealed that, although Sinners will definitely feature vampires, the movie has plenty else to recommend it. 

“The film is very genre fluid,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “It switches in and out of a lot of different genres... 

“Yes, vampires are an element, but it’s not the only supernatural element in the movie. The film is about more than just that.” 

THE LEGEND OF OCHI CERT PG (96 mins)
Released Fri 25 April
Starring Helena Zengel, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Finn Wolfhard, Razvan Stoica, Carol Bors 
Directed by Isaiah Saxon

In a secluded northern village on the island of Carpathia, a farm girl named Yuri is taught to fear the reclusive creatures known as the Ochi. However, when she discovers a lost and injured baby Ochi, she sets off on a journey to return it to its family...

Premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, the movie has received a mixed reception from the critics. But if you’re in the market for a film that calls to mind fantasy-genre releases like The Dark Crystal and Neverending Story, it should definitely be worth an hour and a half of your time.