24 Films to See in April

by Keith Kimbell, Metacritic Film Editor – April 3, 2023

While this April lacks the big-budget tentpoles that are typical of the season, it makes up for it with a diverse array of promising films, ranging from a Ben Affleck crowd-pleaser to festival hits to intriguing new titles from Ari Aster, Kelly Reichardt, Cristian Mungiu, David Lowery, and more. Oh, and did we mention that there's even a good new Nicolas Cage film? And a good Evil Dead sequel?

In the gallery on this page, our editors have selected the most interesting films debuting in North American theaters this month, listed in alphabetical order.

Additional content by Jason Dietz

11 of 24 photo by Amazon Studios

Two for Judy Blume fans (i.e., everyone)

▣ Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Drama/Comedy | Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig
Opens in theaters April 28
Watch trailer

▣ Judy Blume Forever (pictured above)
Documentary | Directed by Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok
Streams on Prime Video beginning April 21
Watch trailer

After demonstrating the rare ability to handle a coming-of-age story with a balance of candor and humor in The Edge of Seventeen, writer-director Kelly Freeman Craig returns to that milieu this month with an adaptation of Judy Blume’s beloved novel about sixth-grader Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson), whose mother Barbara (Rachel McAdams) is Christian and father, Herbert (Benny Safdie), is Jewish. As she explores her religious identity, she makes friends and forms a club called the Pre-Teen Sensations, where they all discuss boys, bras, and menstruation.

Originally published in 1970, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret has frequently faced censorship challenges, but as the title of this month's new documentary Judy Blume Forever by Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok indicates, a good story is timeless. Pardo and Wolchok use animation and interviews with Blume and her contemporaries to fill in the details of the author's own coming-of-age story and trace the impact of her work.

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