May has an interesting list of upcoming movies from a variety of genres, and some of these, along with some released in April, can be enjoyed in theaters right now. After a couple of tough years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2023 was a big year for cinema, with massive box-office successes like Barbie and Oppenheimer, and critically acclaimed stories like Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. 2024 also has various highly-anticipated movies coming up, of which some can be currently enjoyed in theaters.
May started strong with the release of the action comedy The Fall Guy, the horror movies I Saw The TV Glow and Tarot, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the latest installment in the ever-expanding Planet of the Apes franchise. Joining these and more this week are a fantasy movie with imaginary friends, a horror movie from a disturbing franchise, and the story of a beloved British singer.
IF is a fantasy comedy live-action and animation movie written and directed by John Krasinski. IF follows Bea, a young girl who unexpectedly gains the ability to see other people’s imaginary friends, referred to as “IFs”, this after going through a troubling experience. Bea learns that the IFs have been abandoned by the kids they once helped as they have now grown up, and when she discovers that her neighbor, Cal, can also see them, they team up to reunite the IFs with their former kids.
You can read Screen Rant’s IF review here.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 is a horror thriller directed by Renny Harlin. The Strangers: Chapter 1 centers on Maya, who, along with her boyfriend, Ryan, drives across the country as they are about to start a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Oregon, Maya and Ryan are forced to spend the night in an isolated AirBnB, where they become the target of three dangerous and murderous masked strangers.
You can read Screen Rant’s The Strangers: Chapter 1 review here.
Back to Black is a biographical drama based on the life and career of Amy Winehouse. Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, Back to Black explores different parts of the life of Amy Winehouse (played by Marisa Abela), from the beginning of her music career to the peak of it and her complex and toxic relationship with her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil.
You can read Screen Rant’s Back to Black review here.
Set nearly 300 years after the events of War of the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes sees ape civilizations that emerged from the oasis to which Caesar led the apes – meanwhile, humans have regressed into a primitive, feral state. When ape king Proximus Caesar perverts Caesar’s teachings and enslaves other clans and uses weapons forged from lost human technologies, chimpanzee hunter Noa teams up with feral human girl Mae to determine the future of apes and humans.
You can read Screen Rant’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes review here.
The Fall Guy is an action comedy directed by David Leitch and loosely based on the 1980s TV series of the same name. It’s the story of Colt Seavers, a stunt performer who works as the stunt double for famous action star Tom Ryder. Colt retires after an injury during a stunt gone wrong, but a year later, he’s contacted by film producer Gail Meyer as Tom has disappeared, and she needs Colt to find him before the movie they’ve been working on is canceled. What follows is an action-packed adventure as Colt finds himself in the middle of a sinister plot.
You can read Screen Rant’s The Fall Guy review here.
Tarot is a supernatural horror movie directed by Spenser Cohen and based on the 1992 novel Horrorscope, by Nicholas Adams. Tarot centers on a group of college friends who break the sacred rule of tarot readings: never use someone else’s deck. Because of this, they unleash an unspeakable evil that was trapped in the cursed cards, and they start dying one by one in ways related to the fortune in their tarot readings. The survivors of the group find themselves in a race against the clock to uncover the mystery and find a way to save themselves from a gruesome death.
Challengers is a romantic sports movie directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes. It’s the story of Tashi, a tennis player and now coach who turned her husband, Art, from a mediocre player into a world-famous grand slam champion. To take him out of a losing streak, Tashi makes Art play a challenger event, where they come across Patrick, Art’s former best friend and tennis partner and Tashi’s former lover. Challengers was originally set for a September 2023 release.
You can read Screen Rant’s Challengers review here.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is Guy Ritchie’s latest project. Based on the 2014 book Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII by Damien Lewis, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare follows the Special Operations Executive, a covert British World War II organization formed at the instigation of Winston Churchill to conduct espionage and sabotage in Nazi-occupied Europe. This one-of-a-kind crew of rogues and mavericks is then sent on a daring mission against the Nazis, using the most unconventional and “ungentlemanly” fighting techniques.
You can read Screen Rant’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare review here.
Abigail is a monster horror movie and a reimagining of the 1936 horror classic Dracula’s Daughter. As such, Abigail follows a group of kidnappers who capture Abigail, the young daughter of a powerful underworld figure. The group holds Abigail for a $50 million ransom, but they soon realize it was all a huge mistake, as Abigail is hiding a dark and deadly secret, and she’s not an ordinary girl at all.
You can read Screen Rant’s Abigail review here.
Civil War is a dystopian action movie. As such, Civil War follows a team of journalists who travel across the United States during the Second American Civil War, a conflict between the American government and the separatist “Western Forces” led by Texas and California, which has engulfed the entire nation. The government becomes a dystopian dictatorship and partisan extremist militias regularly commit war crimes, pushing these journalists to fight for their lives.