What to Watch in April 2025

Your guide to all the best new films and TV shows arriving on UK screens this month...

FILM

 Mr. Burton (April 4)

Toby Jones stars in this biographical drama centred around the formative years of Welsh actor Richard Burton and his somewhat unlikely journey to becoming one of the big stars of Hollywood’s ‘golden era’ – although he’s perhaps remembered as much for his tumultuous relationship with Elizabeth Taylor as much as his performances in films like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Jones doesn’t appear as Burton himself, however – that honour is reserved for Harry Lawtey, who takes on the role of the young actor. 

Instead, Jones appears as the schoolteacher who proved so influential on Burton’s life and career that the actor took on the surname of his mentor and guardian. This touching drama tells the story of the elder Burton’s efforts to encourage and steer the talented but wayward young man towards his dreams. Directed by Marc Evans and also starring Lesley Manville, Steffan Rhodri, Aneurin Barnard and Daniel Evans, Mr Burton is in UK cinemas now and offers a fascinating glimpse into the rise of one of Hollywood’s most storied actors. 

 King of Kings (April 11)

With Easter just around the corner, this animated retelling of the world’s most famous story makes its timely arrival on April 11, but rather than taking its storytelling cues from the Bible itself, King of Kings is in fact loosely based on Charles Dickens’ posthumously published book The Life of Our Lord and utilises an animated rendering of the author (voiced by Kenneth Branagh) as he tells the story of Jesus to his son Walter (Roman Griffin Davies).

Directed by Korean filmmaker Seong-ho Jang and featuring an impressive voice cast that includes Oscar Issac, Mark Hamill, Uma Thurman, Ben Kingsley, Forest Whitaker and Pierce Brosnan, King of Kings is hardly aiming for detail or historical accuracy, but if you’re looking for an enjoyable, family-friendly take on a well-known tale - with a Dickensian twist thrown in - this might be right up your street.

 The Amateur (April 11)

After taking on Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody and the evil botanical genius that finally saw off Daniel Craig’s James Bond in No Time to Die, Rami Malek returns to screens this month for more espionage shenanigans in The Amateur, a new action-thriller from British director James Hawes. Malek plays Charlie Heller, a cryptographer working for the CIA whose wife is kidnapped and then killed in the midst of a botched arms deal. Although not a trained field agent, Charlie is determined to use all of the CIA’s resources to find his wife’s killers and exact his revenge. However, when the agency is less supportive of his plans than he had hoped, Charlie goes rogue and sets out to find them on his own – and proves to be surprisingly capable at killing people.

Also starring Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan, Michael Stuhlbarg and Catriona Balfe, The Amateur is in cinemas from April 11 and is well worth a watch for anyone who loves a good spy caper.

Sinners (April 18)

Every now and then, a partnership forms between a director and an actor that seems to produce box office magic. Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, Wes Anderson and Bill Murray… we could go on, but the latest of these creative partnerships has been steadily taking shape between director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan, whose collaborations have already produced some Oscar-nominated belters including two Creed films and, of course, Black Panther. 

Now they’ve reunited once again, only this time it’s for something quite different to their previous outings. Billed as a ‘supernatural horror’, Sinners has been shrouded in mystery  in terms of the plot, but what we do know is that Jordan tackles not one but two roles in Coogler’s latest film, playing twin brothers who return to their hometown to find that something very strange is going on – and is terrifying the local residents. To say more would spoil the fun, but if you’re not the squeamish type there’ll be plenty of thrills and spills on offer to enjoy here.

 The Accountant 2 (April 25)

Gavin O’Connor’s action offbeat action flick The Accountant was something of a sleeper hit when it landed in 2016, featuring Ben Affleck as Christian Wolff, an autistic accountant who specialises in ‘un-cooking’ the books of criminal organisations (usually to find the culprits when cash or illicit goods have gone walkabout) - and who happens to be just as gifted with guns and knives as he is with numbers.

Where there’s a surprise hit, a sequel is never too far behind, and so this month Affleck reprises his role as Wolff, only this time he’s been tasked with something a little different: solving a murder. To do so he’ll need to enlist the help of his estranged (and equally lethal) brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal), and as they get closer to finding out who is responsible, they begin to draw some unwanted attention from those who would prefer they stop looking. JK Simmons and Cynthia Addai-Robinson also return to reprise their roles, and while there are some notable absentees this time around (particularly Anna Kendrick and Jon Lithgow), there are instead some new additions, including Daniella Pineda and Andrew Howard. If you enjoyed the first film, you’ll find plenty to like about its follow-up too.

TV

The Last of Us – Season 2 (Sky Atlantic / NOW, April 14)

TV shows and films adapted from video game source material once had something of a sketchy conversion rate, to put it mildly, but that trend has been bucked in recent years by some highly enjoyable adaptations, particularly The Witcher and the first season of The Last of Us. The latter picked up a stream of awards and hordes of adoring fans – and deservedly so. But be warned: if you enjoyed the first series of The Last of Us without having played the video game or its sequel, there’s a good chance you are completely unprepared for what is coming. Those of you who have played both games will no doubt be looking forward to Season Two with a mixture of excitement and dread. 

We’ll leave the plot premonitions there, but suffice to say that the show’s excellent cast including Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Nick Offerman and Melanie Lynksey all return for the next chapter. If you still need to catch up on the first season, you’d better hurry up.

Black Mirror – Season 7 (Netflix, April 10)

Returning to Netflix for its seventh season this month, Black Mirror serves up another six episodes of sci-fi entertainment / deep psychological torment (delete as applicable) from the brilliant, twisted minds of Charlie Brooker and his partner-in-nightmares Annabel Jones. 

As ever, we are presented with six disturbing and absorbing cautionary tales of technological dystopia, with the list of guest stars this time around including Rashida Jones, Chris O’Dowd, Awkwafina, Ben Bailey-Smith, Pete Capaldi, Asim Chaudhry, Will Poulter, Paul Giamatti and Jesse Plemons, to name a few. In this season we’re treated to a truly terrible subscription service, an AI creation gone rogue, and the return of the USS Callister for another fateful voyage. Anyway, sweet dreams…

 Your Friends and Neighbors (Apple TV+, April 11)

The ever-brilliant John Hamm stars in this highly enjoyable tale of a wealthy and successful hedge fund manager whose life rapidly spirals out of control following a divorce and the loss of his job, leaving him at a loss as to how to pay the maintain his lavish lifestyle. The solution to his problems? Crime, of course! After all, those affluent neighbours of his probably wouldn’t even miss the odd pearl necklace or diamond ring if they went missing, would they?

What begins as a spree of petty crime, however, soon becomes much more serious – as becomes very apparent from the show’s opening scene. What follows is a detailed examination of ‘how it came to this’, and you have to say: it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. 

Alongside Hamm is a cast that includes Olivia Munn, James Marsden, Amanda Peet and Lena Hall. Available on Apple TV+ from April 11, this is a very enjoyable watch for anyone who loves to see awful people get their comeuppance. 

Ransom Canyon (Netflix, April 17)

If ever said aloud the words “I like Yellowstone, but it needed more romance”, then Ransom Canyon might be just what you’re after. Starring Josh Duhamel, Minka Kelly, Lizzie Greene and James Brolin, this new western from series creator April Blair is set in Texas and follows the exploits of three ranching families, all of whom are vying for control of the land. 

The series centres around Duhamel’s stoic cowboy Staten Kirkland, whose recent bereavement has left him heartbroken and on a quest for revenge. When a stranger rides into town, dredging up the past as he goes, Kirkland must take increasingly desperate measures to protect the land he loves. Starting on Netflix just in time for the Easter weekend, Ransom Canyon is a worthy addition to the increasingly long list of neo-western adventures you need to watch.

 The Stolen Girl (Disney+, April 18)

Our final pick this month is surely the stuff of every parent’s nightmares. The Stolen Girl stars Denise Gough as a mother whose daughter makes a new friend and is invited to their home for a playdate by her new friend’s mum, Rebecca (Holliday Grainger). When she arrives to collect her, however, she is met by a cleaner who informs her that the house is just a holiday rental and nobody actually lives there. Her daughter is nowhere to be seen. She contacts the police and a search for the girl is initiated – soon stretching all the way across Europe.

Available on Disney+ from April 18, The Stolen Girl has enough charm to be enjoyable and if you’ve been getting into Harlan Cobden’s various thriller series over the last couple of years, this taut thriller will feel very familiar.