It’s thrills and chills in this week’s episode of Spotlight, with an intense revenge saga and a terrifying horror hitting cinema screens, and lots to choose from on Showmax.
Vengeance has no expiration date in Dev Patel’s (Lion, Slumdog Millionaire) directorial debut, Monkey Man, out in cinemas. Patel also plays the lead role, a gorilla-masked fighter called Kid, who spends years suppressing his rage in the bloody world of underground cage fighting. As his childhood trauma boils over, he unleashes a campaign of retribution against the men who took everything from him. Produced by Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us and Nope), the film also stars South African actor Sharlto Copley.
If you’re feeling brave, catch The First Omen, a prequel to director Richard Donner’s classic horror, The Omen, also showing at cinemas. Set in 1971, a nun starts to question her faith when she uncovers a conspiracy to bring about the birth of evil incarnate. Starring Bill Nighy, Nell Tiger Free and Ralph Ineson, the film is not for the faint-hearted.
Showmax is making sure no-one is bored this April. Look out for Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson as a streetwise detective down on his luck in this noir crime drama directed by award-winning Neil Jordan; the Oscar-nominated HBO short documentary When We Were Bullies, featuring filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt as he tracks down his fifth-grade teacher to explore their memories of a bullying incident 50 years ago; and Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece, The Fabelmans (from April 25).
Don’t miss the Spotlight segment of the advance screenings of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire and hear what South African fans thought of this blockbuster. Look out for a sneak peek of some of the exciting movies being released on the big screen this year, including Alien: Romulus (August), Bad Boys: Ride or Die (June) and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (September).
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