Including the latest Mad Max and Planet of the Apes films and Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy about Pop-Tarts – this month’s unmissable movies to watch and stream.
1. IF
What if children’s imaginary friends weren’t actually imaginary? What if they were real creatures who had to hang around in limbo after the children who used to play with them had grown up? That’s the premise of IF, a family comedy written and directed by John Krasinski. Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming star as two of the only people in the world who can see these obsolete IFs; Krasinki’s old co-star from the office, Steve Carell, provides the voice of a giant furry IF called Blue. Krasinski has said that he was inspired by his two daughters’ games, but also by his wife, Emily Blunt, who was pleased to see him move on from the doom and gloom of his directorial debut, A Quiet Place. “I remember Emily saying to me, ‘I’m really glad that you’re doing this,'” Krasinski said in Entertainment Weekly. “And I said, ‘Why?’ And she’s like, ‘Because living in that dark, dark place is really tough for too long.’ And coming from Mary Poppins, I thought, she must know what she’s talking about.”
On general release from 17 May
2. Robot Dreams
Pablo Berger’s Oscar-nominated Spanish-French cartoon, adapted from Sara Varon’s graphic novel, tells the delightful tale of a dog named Dog who lives alone in 1980s New York. His life changes when he buys a mail-order robot named Robot, and discovers how fun it is to have a best friend. But then the rusty Robot gets stuck on a beach, behind locked gates. Can Dog manage without him? Robot Dreams is packed with sparkling jokes, ingenious ideas and touching truths, and yet it’s all done with no dialogue. It is “one of the finest animations of recent years,” says Wendy Ide in The Observer. “There’s such tenderness to the storytelling, such empathy and emotional depth, that it broadens the film’s potential audience from kids, who will respond to the cute characters and gentle wit, to adolescents and adults, who will recognise the angst and awkwardness of trying to function alone.”
Released on 9 May in Germany and 31 May in the US
3. The Garfield Movie
One of the funniest moments in Zombieland comes when the mortally wounded Bill Murray, playing himself, is asked if he has any regrets. With his dying breath, he replies, “Garfield, maybe.” Murray may not have been a fan of the two live-action Garfield films in which he voiced the CGI cat, but the new film is a different kettle of lasagne. Directed by Mark Dindal (The Emperor’s New Groove), The Garfield Movie is an action-packed cartoon. Chris Pratt voices Garfield, although, considering that he also voices the main characters in The Lego Movie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, that’s not the most imaginative casting choice for a cartoon with the word “movie” in the title. Samuel L Jackson voices Garfield’s father, Vic; Nicholas Hoult is his owner, Jon; and Snoop Dogg plays a character called, yes, Snoop Catt. “There’s a physicality and curiosity and playfulness, a mischief at [Garfield’s] core,” said Pratt. “I lost myself in that. I literally just ate and napped, and the doctors were concerned… But I did make an authentic connection. I’m pretty sure audiences are going to feel it. And the Academy.”
On general release from 24 May
4. Back to Black
Amy Winehouse was one of the most important singer-songwriters of her generation, but she died in 2011 when she was only 27, after years of battling addictions and dodging tabloid photographers. In 2015, Asif Kapadia turned her life story into a heartwrenching documentary, Amy. Now comes the inevitable biopic, Back to Black, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and written by Matt Greenhalgh, the makers of a drama about John Lennon’s early years, Nowhere Boy. Marisa Abela stars as Winehouse alongside Jack O’Connell as her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, and Eddie Marsan as her father, Mitch Winehouse. Taylor-Johnson’s “gentle, forgiving film” is “easily her best work so far”, says Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. “There’s a thoroughly engaging and sweet-natured performance from Marisa Abela as Amy [that] conveys her tenderness, and perhaps most poignantly of all her youth, so tellingly at odds with that tough image and eerily mature voice.”
Released on 17 May in the US and Canada
5. The Fall Guy
At this year’s Oscars, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt introduced a video tribute to Hollywood’s stunt performers. As sincere as they might well have been, the actors had an ulterior motive: their new film is an action comedy that just happens to be about Hollywood’s stunt performers. Based on the 1980s television series, and directed by David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2), The Fall Guy features Gosling as Colt Seavers, a stuntman who is recruited by his ex (Blunt) when a movie star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) goes missing. “I truly had a massive grin on my face from start to finish watching The Fall Guy,” says Perri Nemiroff at Collider. “It’s an extremely well-crafted action movie that’s absolutely buzzing with energy and charm for all 125 minutes of its running time… Yes, it’s a crowd-pleasing romantic comedy thriller, but first and foremost, it’s one big-hearted ode to the artists responsible for movie magic.”
On general release from 3 May
