April on Netflix is looking like the way to start your #Easter binge hot new shows, returning favourites and the biggest flicks to indulge in.
No need to do much work we have done it for you with our guide.
Cast Away
Netflix from Thursday 1 April
“Wilson! Wilson! WILSON!” If you feel like putting yourself through the ringer once again, this classic film has just washed up on Netflix. Tom Hanks delivers some of his finest work as Chuck Noland, the only survivor of a plane crash who’s now stranded on a deserted island. His only friend? A volleyball called Wilson.
Prank Encounters
Find season 2 Netflix from Thursday 1 April. Season 1 available now
Stranger Things’ Gaten Matarazzo hosts this hidden camera show, where the pranks are suitably scary. At least with Punk’d there weren’t zombies involved!
Shrek
Netflix from Thursday 1 April
No, this is not an April Fool’s joke. Watch the ogre (Mike Myers) with all the layers rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) with his trusty sidekick Donkey (Eddie Murphy) as you recite all your favourite quotes word for word. Shrek 2 and Shrek The Musical also arrive on Netflix on the same day, so settle down in your swamp and don’t plan on moving any time soon! Do you know the Muffin Man?
Worn Stories
Netflix from Thursday 1 April
Based on the bestselling book by Emily Spivack, this docuseries delves into how “what you wear speaks volumes” (if you wear clothes at all!). This insightful examination shows why we attach meaning to pieces of clothing, what they can represent and how they help us express ourselves.
Concrete Cowboy
Netflix from Friday 2 April
Philadelphia’s Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club is an organisation made up of Black urban cowboys who care for horses and also teach kids in the area how to look after them. The novel Ghetto Cowboy by Greg Neri, which is what Concrete Cowboy is based on, tells a fictionalised story of this extraordinary initiative. Idris Elba (Luther) and Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things) deliver masterful performances as a father-son duo attempting to reconnect.
Madame Claude
Netflix from Friday 2 April
Although there have been previous films dedicated to the French brothel owner (played here by Karole Rocher), this is the first time in almost 40 years that Madame Claude’s life has been depicted on screen. In 1960s Paris, Claude’s clientele included politicians, celebrities and members of the mafia. One day, her empire came under threat, as this French-language film shows.
Just Say Yes
Netflix from Friday 2 April
Along the lines of Isn’t It Romantic and Bridesmaids, Dutch film Just Say Yes follows Lotte (Yolanthe Sneijder-Cabau), who thinks her future is set. She has a loving fiancé… until she doesn’t. After being dumped, her sister gets engaged, which, let’s be honest, would be the last straw for anyone.
Family Reunion
Netflix from Monday 5 April. Seasons 1 & 2 available now
Georgia is known as the peach state, but is everything all peachy when the McKellans uproot their lives from Seattle, Washington to Columbus, Georgia? The sitcom, featuring Sister, Sister’s Tia Mowry, captures all the ups and downs of trading city living for life down south, all while living very close to family.
Coded Bias
Netflix from Monday 5 April
MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini made the discovery that facial-recognition algorithms don’t accurately recognise dark-skinned faces. This shocking discovery is charted in the film, as is her attempt to get legislation passed in the US that governs against this type of bias.
This Is A Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist
Netflix from Wednesday 7 April
Fancy a $10 million reward? All you have to do is find $500 million worth of missing art. From the producers of The Irishman comes this docuseries about the baffling case of 13 masterpieces that went missing in 1990 from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Two men dressed as cops tied up the night guard and stole works by such luminaries as Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, Edgar Degas and Édouard Manet. To this day, no one knows where they are… so you better take notes.
Thunder Force
Netflix from Friday 9 April
A female crime-fighting duo is absolutely something we can get behind! In a world full of supervillains, Emily (Octavia Spencer, The Shape Of Water) discovers a way to give superpowers to regular people. Her childhood friend Lydia (Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids) is accidentally given super strength, which, when combined with Emily’s invisibility, makes for a formidable fighting force. Written and directed by McCarthy’s husband Ben Falcone, Thunder Force is silly and fantastically fun.
Have You Ever Seen Fireflies?
Netflix from Friday 9 April
The highly intelligent Gülseren (Ecem Erkek) is at the centre of this Turkish film, adapted from a 1999 play of the same name. Born in Istanbul in 1948, she recounts stories from her life, from growing up and finding love to navigating a turbulent political landscape.
A Star Is Born
Find it in Apps & Games > Netflix from Sunday 11 April
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper bring serious star power with their heart-rending portrayals of Ally and Jackson in this fourth version of the story (which began with the 1937 original). Cooper also produced, co-wrote and directed. As famous musician Jackson embarks on a relationship with Ally, he skyrockets the waitress and aspiring singer-songwriter to fame, but it’s not long before his demons get the better of him.
Ride Or Die
Netflix from Thursday 16 April
Adapted from Ching Nakamura’s manga series Gunjō, Ride Or Die confronts the viewer with a difficult question: “Would you kill for someone you love?” When Rei (Kiko Mizuhara) finds out that Nanae (Honami Sato) is being abused by her husband, she doesn’t hesitate to act, but Nanae is conflicted about how she feels. As the pair’s feelings for one another grow, will their secret bond them forever or drive them apart?
Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!
Netflix from Friday 16 April
Jamie Foxx created and stars in this comedy that was inspired by his relationship with his own daughter, Corinne. He plays four characters, including single father Brian, a cosmetics company owner who is the ultimate cringeworthy father to Sasha (Kyla-Drew Simmons). Fans of In Living Colour will lap this one up!
Shadow And Bone
Netflix from Friday 23 April
Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse novels Shadow And Bone and Six Of Crows are brought to life in this new eight-part series. In a war-torn world, a dark barrier known as the Shadow Fold exists, where bloodthirsty creatures lie in wait.
Orphan and cartographer Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) discovers she has a power that could help save her country, but General Kirigan (Ben Barnes, Westworld) seems to be the only one willing to listen. David J Peterson, who created the fictional languages heard in Game Of Thrones and The Witcher, has been brought on board to craft the unique languages spoken in Shadow And Bone.
Things Heard And Seen
Netflix from Friday 30 April
This is billed as a horror, but Entertainment Weekly reports that writer-directors Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman call it a supernatural thriller, where the “real horror of the story lies in a marriage”.
Based on Elizabeth Brundage’s 2016 novel All Things Cease To Appear, the film revolves around a couple (Amanda Seyfried and James Norton) who move to a house with a history that’s as haunted as their own. Natalia Dyer (Stranger Things), Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul), Alex Neustaedter (Colony) and F Murray Abraham (Amadeus) also star.
