Babygirl, One of Them Days, Mufasa

Keke Palmer and SZA’s infectious chemistry powered Sony’s comedy “One of Them Days” to a great $51 million at the worldwide box office earlier this year. The duo star as lifelong buddies whose friendship is tested over the course of a zany day where they are forced to come up with rent money or face eviction. From Variety’s review:  “The movie is a likably bent portrait of a community whose residents revel in their energized dysfunction, which is never so cartoonish that it can’t inspire an honest laugh.”

Nicole Kidman won best actress honors last year at the Venice Film Festival and the National Board of Review for her fearless turn in the erotic drama “Babygirl. She stars as a successful CEO whose life spirals out of control when she begins a steamy affair with an office intern. Variety’s Owen Gleiberman named “Babygirl” the eighth best movie of 2024, writing: “Kidman’s indelible performance earns comparison to Diane Lane’s in ‘Unfaithful.’ She plays this sick recklessness as something fully human: the expression of a woman too compartmentalized to put the different parts of herself together.”

Blumhouse’s “Wolf Man” reimagining arrives on Peacock this month after earning $20 million at the domestic box office and $34 million worldwide earlier this year. This new version comes from “The Invisible Man” director Leigh Whannell and stars Christopher Abbott as a family man seeking to protect his wife (Julia Garner) and daughter from a werewolf, only to become infected by the creature.

“Mufasa: The Lion King” technically started streaming March 26 on Disney+, but April will mark its first full month of availability and it’s sure to be a streaming blockbuster for the Mouse House after grossing a strong $719 million at the worldwide box office over the holiday season. “Moonlight” Oscar winner Barry Jenkins directs this “Lion King” prequel story that follows Mufasa as he rises to become king of the Pride Lands.

From Variety’s review: “Jenkins’ thoughtful and mostly satisfying ‘Lion King’ prequel reveals hidden depths to familiar characters… the helmer’s creative and cultural integrity remains clear in nearly every choice. Jenkins has not sold out; rather, the studio bought into his vision, which respects the 1994 film and recognizes the significance that its role models and life lessons have served for young audiences.”

“The Raid” filmmaker Gareth Evans returns to Netflix after “Apostle” with “Havoc,” a new original action movie starring Tom Hardy. From the streamer’s official synopsis: “Walker (Hardy) is a bruised detective fighting his way through the criminal underworld threatening to engulf his entire city. In the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong, Walker finds himself with a number of factions on his tail: a vengeful crime syndicate, a crooked politician, as well as his fellow cops. When attempting to rescue the politician’s estranged son, whose involvement in the drug deal starts to unravel a deep web of corruption and conspiracy, he is forced to confront the demons of his past.”

Viola Davis becomes an action star in Prime Video’s original movie “G20.” Directed by Patricia Riggen, the action thriller stars the Oscar winner as U.S. President Danielle Sutton, who becomes the target of an attack at the annual G20 world leaders summit. But this president can save herself. Move over, Secret Service.

“This is Viola Davis as you’ve never seen her — heroically kicking tons of ass in a global thrill ride,” Riggen said in a statement. “With ‘G20,’ I wanted to make the kind of classic, edge-of-your-seat action film that I’ve always been such a fan of, but one that draws on the high stakes of our modern and technologically advanced world we live in. I hope to give audiences an experience that will captivate them from start to finish.”

Justin Kurzel’s “The Order” is a riveting docudrama about the American white-supremacist movement in the 1980s. Jude Law plays an FBI agent investigating a series of crimes who stumbles onto the terrain of the Order, a scruffy band of right-wing racist terrorists in the Pacific Northwest who are funding an “army” to rise up against the U.S. government.

“The film’s cutting topicality is that it fills in how believing that the U.S. government is the enemy is inextricably linked, in its emotional and historical legacy, to the ideology of white supremacy,” writes Owen Gleiberman in his review.

Christopher Nolan is currently putting his stamp on Homer’s “The Odyssey,” but last year it was Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche who did the same. The actors reunited after “The English Patient” for this retelling of the final chapters of the Greek epic. Fiennes plays Odysseus as he washes up on the shores of his home island of Ithaca after 20 years of fighting in the Trojan War. Binoche plays Penelope, Odysseus’ wife who spent two decades defending the family’s legacy and now finds herself a prisoner in her own home.

“SNL” favorite Kyle Mooney directed the sci-fi horror comedy “Y2K” from a script he co-wrote with Evan Winter, while Jonah Hill served as a producer on the film. Per the official logline: “On the last night of 1999, two high school juniors crash a New Year’s Eve party, only to find themselves fighting for their lives in this dial-up disaster comedy.” The cast for this A24 comedy includes Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler and Julian Dennison.

In Asif Kapadia‘s latest documentary, “2073,” Ivanka Trump celebrates her 30th year as leader of a nightmarish fascist police state that was once America. The docudrama blends interviews with journalists and archival real-life news footage with a fictional story starring Samatha Morton to create a dystopic future that doesn’t feel too far off.

The film is inspired by Chris Marker’s 1962 featurette “La Jetée,” about a time traveler who risks his life to change the course of history and save the future of humanity. “2073” follows Morton, who plays a survivor of a near-future global catastrophe caused by AI, climate change, anti-democratic authoritarianism and technocratic mass surveillance. Morton’s character lives in a nightmarish America led by a fascist police state.

“Shin Godzilla” co-director Shinji Higuchi is behind the camera for “Bullet Japanese Explosion,” which Netflix is surely hoping becomes the latest streaming blockbuster from Asia. A riff on the action classic “Speed,” the movie centers on a high-speed bullet train bound for Tokyo that is threatened with a bomb that will detonate if the train slows down below 100 km/h. The train’s crew must race against time to deactivate the bomb.

Michael Mann just made news for saying he has delivered the script for “Heat 2” to Warner Bros., which means it’s a great time for the original “Heat” movie to arrive on Netflix this month. “Heat,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is a visceral thriller bolstered by a face-off between two explosive characters, an LAPD detective played by Al Pacino and a high-profile thief played by Robert De Niro. The film also co-stars the late Val Kilmer.

“Magpie” follows married couple Anette (Daisy Ridley) and Ben (Shazad Latif), whose lives begin to fracture when their daughter is cast in a film alongside a glamorous movie star, Alicia (Matilda Lutz). As Anette’s suspicions of Ben’s infatuation with Alicia intensify, their secrets and lies burst to the surface, culminating in a jaw-dropping finale.

The slasher hit “In a Violent Nature” became such a favorite among horror fans last year that a sequel is already on the way. Directed by Chris Nash, the movie puts a new spin on the horror sub-genre by telling a frightening cabin-in-the-woods horror story entirely from the perspective of the killer. The movie debuted on streaming via Shudder last year and will now be available to stream on Hulu later this month.

From Disney+: “‘Not Just A Goof’ is a documentary exploring the untold story of ‘A Goofy Movie.’ It follows a young creative team tackling their first Disney feature, its initial disappointment, and its surprising resurgence decades later. Featuring key interviews and rare footage, it reveals the film’s impact and why it remains a beloved classic for a generation.”

Even among James Cameron’s epic and frequently arduous productions, from “Titanic’s” nine months of filming to the three years spent on “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Abyss” was particularly difficult: The 1989 thriller was shot almost entirely underwater, requiring its crew and cast to learn how to shoot and act while using diving equipment with which many of them were completely unfamiliar. Starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn, “The Abyss” centers on a recovery team whose mission to recover a sunken U.S. submarine derails when they encounter an alien aquatic species.

“Pets” is the latest documentary from Bryce Dallas Howard. Per Disney+: “‘Pets’ is a documentary that explores the extraordinary relationship that exists between animals and their people all around the world. Highlighting dogs, cats, pigs, goats and even birds of prey, ‘Pets’ takes us on a hilarious and poignant journey that celebrates love, loss, and licks along the way.”

Christopher Nolan’s Oscar winner “Oppenheimer” returns to Peacock this month. The biographical drama earned $955 million at the worldwide box office in 2023 and won seven Oscars, including best picture, director, actor for Cillian Murphy and supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr.

The drama was named the best film of 2023 by Variety critic Owen Gleiberman: “Christopher Nolan’s mesmerizing drama became a testament to the promise that serious movies for adults can, and will, have a future in movie theaters…He stages ‘Oppenheimer’ as a coruscating light show of history, dazzling in every detail. It’s a film that draws you in with centrifugal force, even at it both celebrates and interrogates the fabled figure of J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy as a charismatic mandarin whose scientific genius is matched by his self-justifying insolence.”