About 35 percent of the 51 April movie theater releases are thrillers which is noteworthy given the many genres in the film industry. It’s hard to know if these movies will be a hit or a miss, so here is an evaluation of three of these April thrillers.
“Hell of a Summer”
Released to theaters on April 4, “Hell of a Summer” is a slasher movie starring Fred Hechinger. He plays Jason, a camp counselor who shows up to his summer job only to find that the camp directors have been murdered by someone who is still out to kill them all. A summer camp location was perfect for this movie because it made the characters disconnected from the real world, therefore they couldn’t call or run for help. Most of the characters’ personalities in this film should have added some humor, but they fell flat and didn’t add the dense comedy you expect in slasher films. Additionally, this movie lacked the fear factor. The jump scares weren’t successful, resulting in the movie being gratuitously gory, and the big reveal of the murderer was extremely underwhelming.
“The Amateur”
Action thriller movie, “The Amateur” was released on April 11 and stars Rami Malek as Charles Heller, who is determined to avenge his wife, played by Rachel Brosnahan, after she is killed in a terrorist attack. Heller is a CIA agent who is extremely intuitive when it comes to technology. Throughout the film, he uses this ability to find the attackers who killed his wife, which were some of the more interesting parts of the movie. Malek did a great job playing his character. The audience felt the sadness he was going through, despite him trying to mask it by getting revenge rather than feeling his grief. Unfortunately, Heller’s quest for vengeance became repetitive, resulting in the movie feeling much longer than two hours. By the end, it was exhausting and confusing because he had already been through the same cycle so many times.
“Drop”
Released on April 11, “Drop” stars Meghann Fahy as Violet, a mother who goes on a first date with her dream guy, played by Brandon Sklenar, only to receive an airdrop message that threatens to kill her son if she doesn’t kill her date. The majority of the film takes place in a quiet, luxurious restaurant, thousands of feet above the ground. Throughout this calm environment, Violet is scrambling to do whatever this anonymous airdropper tells her to, which would typically be annoying because it is a death trap for her date, but felt rational because her son’s life was on the line. The only caveat to this film is that the plot could be extremely triggering. There is an active killer alone inside Violet’s house with her son, which could be a very touchy subject, regardless if you like slasher movies or not.
Overall, these three April movies are thrilling enough to keep you seated from beginning to end. “Hell of a Summer” could be great if you scare easily but want to see a slasher movie with a great summer setting, “The Amateur,” although a bit dragged out, is great if you like action movies with a thriller aspect, and “Drop” will be a fun watch whether or not you like thriller movies!
