Nine movies to watch this summer and five family films to catch up on
Summer movies to catch up on
Glen Powell shows us why he’s suddenly one of Hollywood’s most in-demand stars with a comic turn in this darkly funny thriller from Richard Linklater ( ). A teacher who moonlights as a fake hitman to expose potential customers, he’s thrown when a passionate romance with a potential customer (Adria Arjona) threatens to upend his fake persona.
Set in an undisclosed location - but actually filmed in Co Wicklow - this chilling and effective creature feature centres on a father (Nicolas Cage) and his teenage sons. They struggle for survival in a future world where ferocious creatures hunt everything in their path by night. Filmmaker Benjamin Brewer, working with an understated Cage, does a fine job of anchoring the thriller in a sense of reality.
Viggo Mortensen turns director for just the second time in his career, also starring opposite the excellent Vicky Krieps in this powerful Western. Told from the point of view of its female protagonist, the two leads form a passionate romance, as the violence and lawlessness of Civil War approaches.
Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine bring onscreen chemistry and a rom-com with an edge in an adaptation of the smash-hit novel. Hathaway is a single mother, turning forty and still wounded by her marriage break up, who catches the eye of a twentysomething. He also happens to be a member of one of the biggest boybands on the planet - but as with all the best onscreen romances, it’s complicated.
The always great Jodie Comer shines in this apocalypse movie with a difference. Set in London, it revolves around a young family bonding with their newborn as an environmental disaster approaches. But this is not an action-packed typical disaster movie - this is a film that focuses on intimate details in its survival battles. The movie is adapted by screenwriter Alice Birch from Megan Hunter’s bestselling novel.
Set in the high-stakes world of competitive tennis, Zendaya plays Tashi, a former pro who has turned to coaching following an on-court drama. She’s married to a tennis champion (Mike Fast) struggling with a lengthy losing streak. Things take a dramatic turn when he’s drawn to play Patrick ( ’s Josh O’Connor), who just happens to be Tashi’s ex-lover. is directed by Luca Guadagnino ( ).
West Cork filmmaker Pat Collins’ drama, both powerful and intimate, is adapted from John McGahern’s much-loved novel. Barry Ward and German actress Anna Bederke bring a warm spark as Joe and Kate Rutledge, a couple who came to a remote corner of Ireland a few years earlier to set up home near where Joe grew up. They’ve stayed the distance in their new home in 1970s Ireland, despite the skepticism of locals, some of who are quite the characters. The couple’s home serves as a meeting point for many of them in Collins’ moving film, which celebrates the joys and challenges of everyday life.
Killarney’s Jessie Buckley and Olivia Colman embark on the mother of all swear-offs in this foul-mouthed, fun tale set in 1920s England. The story revolves around a local scandal that follows when the somewhat dour Edith (Colman) becomes the victim of a poison-pen campaign. The prime suspect? The party-loving, large-living Rose (Buckley, having a blast in her own Kerry accent).
Eddie Murphy returns to the role that made him one of the biggest stars on the planet, thirty years after he last played smart-talking, witty and rebellious cop Axel Foley. As well as other original cast members, he’s joined by co-stars including Kevin Bacon and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as he returns to Beverly Hills to solve a very personal mystery.
The animation wizards at Pixar have revisited one of their most-loved films for this well-received sequel. It brings us back inside the mind of Riley, who is now a teenager, as she navigates a new period in her life. Havoc threatens when the already complicated blend of Joy, Sadness and Disgust are joined by new emotions.
Writer and director John Krasinski’s cute and likeable film revolves around a girl who discovers she can see everybody’s imaginary friends - and grabbles with what to do with her unusual superpower. Ryan Reynolds, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are among the movie’s starry cast.
Following the hugely successful trilogy that benefited from performance capture acting and other technology, the apes return to our big screens. Set generations following Caesar’s reign, the story is set in a modern world where the apes are the world’s most dominant species, and humans live in the shadows. Amid his fears that humans could one day again reduce his species to losing their hard-won freedoms, Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) rules with an iron fist - but not every ape agrees with his approach.
One of the better-looking animated movies of 2024 comes from the production company owned by Adam Sandler. The star makes it a family affair, working with his daughters in this tale of a couple of wisecracking school pets who live in a classroom. They are the jaded and witty lizard Leo and his best pal, a turtle named Squirtle. When he undergoes an existential crisis, Leo has to decide whether to make a run for freedom.
Orion (Room’s breakthrough star Jacob Tremblay) has a fear of the dark. One night, Orion is visited by the Dark, who’s tired of being perceived as a villain and offers to take him on an adventure to discover the wonders of nighttime, in this animated movie.
