The best movies new to Netflix, Max, Prime and Hulu this April

Greetings, Polygon readers! April is here and you know what that means. That’s right: there are a lot of exciting new films coming to theaters this month, like the sci-fi drama The beast with Léa Seydoux and Alex Garland Civil WarDev Patel’s Monkey man, and more. This all looks great, but if you want to enjoy a fantastic movie from the comfort of your own home, there are plenty of great movies to watch on streaming in April.

This month we have Jonathan Glazer’s harrowing historical drama The zone of interestan underrated classic from the late, great William Friedkin, Bong Joon-ho’s terrifying monster movie The hostand more.

Here are the movies new to streaming services that you should watch this month.

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Editor’s Choice

wizard

Where to see: Criterion channel
Genre: thriller
Director: William Friedkin
Pour: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal

At the end of last month, director Julien Leclercq released his latest film: The reward of fearthe third remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s groundbreaking 1953 thriller. If you’re looking for a thrilling drama about a group of men who risk life and limb for a second chance at life, what film could you choose? look better? The Exorcist Director William Friedkin’s 1977 remake?

Named after Miles Davis’ 1967 album. wizard follows a group of four men: refugees, resistance fighters, outcasts and debtors, each of whom has sought refuge in a remote village in Colombia and cannot find a way home. Desperate to escape their predicament, each of them accepts a terrible job offer: transport a convoy of unstable dynamite through the jungle to put out an oil well explosion, in exchange for enough money to leave the country. As their journey progresses, each of the men confronts their own mortality and becomes shadows of their former selves due to the ruthless dangers of the jungle.

Friedkin’s film is a brutal, adrenaline-pumping experience, packed with moments that will keep the viewer on the edge of their seats. Do you want to see a man get impaled by a pile of trees while maneuvering a truck over an unstable bridge during a raging storm? Do you want to see the hope drain from a man’s eyes as he watches his last chance to return home explode in a cloud of hellfire? Boy, is this the right movie for you? –Toussaint Egan

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New on Netflix

Amadeus

Genre: Biographical drama
Director: Miloš Forman
Pour: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge

Look: there are biographical dramas, and then there are those Great Biographical dramas. Miloš Forman’s 1984 dramatization of the life and career of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart falls squarely into the latter category.

Told from the perspective of Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), the film chronicles the composer’s earliest encounter with Mozart, his intense jealousy of his rival’s obvious musical genius, his subsequent crisis of faith, and his inevitable plan to undermine him. It is both an epic about Mozart’s greatness and Salieri’s descent into madness. Amadeus is a lavishly opulent and gorgeous ode to the power of classical music, as well as a riveting portrayal of one of cinema’s greatest haters ever. F. Murray Abrahams Salieri ran so Robert Downey Jr.’s Lewis Strauss could fly. -THE

New on Hulu

The host

Genre: Monster horror
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Pour: Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il

Bong Joon-ho’s career is full of bangers from the thrilling serial killer drama Memories of murder to his Western breakthrough parasite. But my favorite film of his remains The hosta great example of exciting blockbuster filmmaking with a message.

After a member of the American military orders toxic chemicals to be dumped into the Han River, strange things begin to happen in the water. Years later, a young girl is kidnapped by a creature that emerges from the river, and it’s up to her bumbling father (Song Kang-ho) to try to save her. The bong is firing on all cylinders The host – it is exciting, exciting, funny and deeply emotional. It’s the best kind of blockbuster filmmaking, and if you haven’t seen it yet, now’s your chance to change that. —Pete Volk

New at Max

The zone of interest

Genre: Historical drama
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Pour: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hülser, Johann Karthaus

The further we get from 2023, the more convinced I am of this The zone of interest Is The film of this year and will live on as a defining piece of cinema of this time.

Jonathan Glazer turns his camera away from the usual, often exploitative way of making Holocaust films, eschewing gratuitous shots of suffering in favor of showing the simple, casual way in which people can commit atrocities. It is a triumph of storytelling and a major formal achievement, creating a new kind of cinema through the innovative and terrifying use of sound design. It’s a unique cinematic experience that will remind you of the power of art, and while it might not sound like a particularly fun time, I highly recommend it. —PV

New to Prime Video

Richard Jewell

Genre: Biographical drama
Director: Clint Eastwood
Pour: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates

One of many outstanding Clint Eastwood films of recent times that have been unfairly dismissed due to the perception of the director and his politics. Richard Jewell is a great adaptation of a true story that fully embraces the idea that those in power cannot be trusted.

Paul Walter Hauser is Richard Jewell, a quiet and awkward man who long dreamed of becoming a police officer but failed to do so and ended up as a security guard. While attending a concert during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he notices a suspicious package, drives people away and saves lives after the package turns out to be a bomb. After initially being hailed as a hero, Jewell becomes the target of an FBI investigation into the bomb and an ensuing media circus in which all parties portray the one man who saved the day as a villain.

The most interesting part of Richard Jewell is the discrepancy between Jewell’s views on law enforcement and the truth. He completely idealizes the FBI…until he’s confronted with the reality of their harassment. It’s a great performance from Hauser, best known for his work in the comedy genre and a very charming man in real life, who plays convincingly unconventional here. I’m still sorry he was left out of the Oscars. —PV