Six To See April 1-5, 2024

1. Monkey Man: the new action thriller film directed by Dev Patel in his feature directorial debut. He also wrote the film with Paul Angunawela and John Collee and stars in it alongside Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Sobhita Dhulipala, Sikandar Kher, Vipin Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, and Makarand Deshpande. The film has been described as John Wick in Mumbai and follows Kid, an anonymous young man working in an underground fight club, so he can pay his bills. He sets out to exact revenge against a group of corrupt leaders, who are responsible for his mother’s death and also taking advantage of the poor and powerless people. Monkey Man was released in theatres on April 5.

2. Ripley: a new  psychological thriller series based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 crime novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. Starring Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf and Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood, the eight-episode limited series was created, written and directed by Steven Zaillian. Set in 1960s New York, we follow Tom Ripley who is hired by a wealthy man to convince his wayward son to return home from Italy. But Tom’s introduction to Dickie Greenleaf’s leisurely life abroad is the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder. Ripley was released on Netflix on April 4.

3. The First Omen: a new supernatural horror film directed by Arkasha Stevenson, and written by Stevenson, Tim Smith and Keith Thomas, from a story by Ben Jacoby. Serving as a prequel to The Omen that was released in 1976, the film follows an American woman sent to work at a church in Rome but uncovers a sinister conspiracy to bring about the birth of an Antichrist. It stars Nell Tiger Free, Tawfeek Barhom, Sônia Braga, Ralph Ineson, and Bill Nighy. The film was released in theatres on April 5.

4. Scoop: a new British biographical drama film directed by Philip Martin. It stars Gillian Anderson, Rufus Sewell, Billie Piper, and Keeley Hawes and is a dramatic retelling of the process of securing the 2019 BBC television interview of Prince Andrew by presenter and journalist Emily Maitlis and the production team at BBC Two news and current affairs programme Newsnight. The film is an adaptation by Peter Moffat of former Newsnight editor Sam McAlister’s book Scoops: Behind The Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interview. The film was released on Netflix on April 5.

5. Mary & George: a new British historical drama miniseries created by D. C. Moore and directed by Oliver Hermanus, Alex Winckler and Florian Cossen. It’s based on Benjamin Woolley’s non-fiction book The King’s Assassin and stars Julianne Moore as Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham, and Nicholas Galitzine as George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Also starring in the series are Tony Curran, Laurie Davidson, Nicola Walker, Niamh Algar, Trine Dyrholm, Sean Gilder, Adrian Rawlins, and Mark O’Halloran. The series was released on March 5 on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom and now, since April 5, it was also released on Starz in the United States.

6. Sugar: a new science fiction drama series created by Mark Protosevich and starring Colin Farrell who also serves as executive producer. Farrell stars in the lead role as John Sugar, a private detective in Los Angeles who has to find a missing girl. Also starring in the series are Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Amy Ryan and Dennis Boutsikaris. Sugar premiered on Apple TV+ on April 5.

2 bonus films:

• Música: a new romantic comedy film directed by Rudy Mancuso, who wrote it with Dan Lagana. Rudy Mancuso also stars in the film alongside Camila Mendes, Francesca Reale and J.B. Smoove. It follows a young man, plagued by the music in his head, who has to come to terms with an uncertain future while balancing love, family and Brazilian culture in Newark, New Jersey. Música had its world premiere at South by Southwest last month and was released on Prime Video on April 4.

• Parachute: a new drama film directed by Brittany Snow in her directorial debut. Snow co-wrote the script with Becca Gleason. The film stars Courtney Eaton in the lead role as Riley, an unemployed 20-something who just got out of rehab with an eating disorder. We follow her as she meets the amiable Ethan. Also starring in the film are Thomas Mann, Scott Mescudi, Francesca Reale, Gina Rodriguez, Joel McHale, Kathryn Gallagher, and Dave Bautista. Parachute had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival last month and was released in select theatres on April 5.

2 bonus series:

• Loot season 2: the second season of the comedy series created by Matt Hubbard and Alan Yang. The series follows newly single 40-year-old Molly Wells, whose divorce from her tech billionaire ex-husband has made her the third-wealthiest woman in the world, as she decides to run the day-to-day of the charitable foundation she forgot she founded, much to its employees’ chagrin. The series stars Maya Rudolph as Molly alongside Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Joel Kim Booster, Ron Funches and Nat Faxon. This second season of Loot premiered on Apple TV+ on April 3.

• Alex Rider season 3: the third season of the spy thriller series based on the novel series of the same name by Anthony Horowitz. Otto Farrant returns as the eponymous character, who is recruited by a subdivision of MI6 as a teenage spy to infiltrate places that others are unable to. Also back in this third season are Stephen Dillane, Vicky McClure, Brenock O’Connor, Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, and Marli Siu. They will be joined by new cast members Sofia Helin, Shelly Conn, Kevin McNally, and Jason Wong. This season, which will be the last one, is adapting the book Scorpia and follows Alex Rider who has to find the criminal organization known as Scorpia to learn the truth about his father. Season 3 of Alex Rider was released on Amazon Freevee on April 5.