The 10 best things to watch on Netflix this April

Apr 4 2017, 2:53 am

Netflix is continuing to up the ante with original programming and it continues in the month of April.

The streaming giant said they would be investing $6-billion in original content in 2017 going from 600 hours of original programming to 1000 hours. They weren’t fooling around either because April has the most original content in their still relatively young history.

This month we mix comedy with science with a sprinkle of indie and get a pretty great list of old, new and original shows to digest.

Make sure to check out our full list of Netflix programming for the month of April and let me know what you’re looking forward to seeing.

Louis C.K. Standup Special

Release Date: April 4th

Synopsis: The stand-up comedy stylings of Louis CK will be taking the stage and his new special will be available on Netflix. The comedian is no stranger to the streaming site and with new material on the way, this is a must see.  Get used to seeing even more big comics coming to Netflix this year.

The Get Down  (Season 1 Part 2 )

Release Date: April 7
Creator: Baz Luhrmann
Cast: Justice Smith, Shameik Moore, Herizen Guardioloa

Synopsis: We are finally seeing part two of season one to the Netflix original hit The Get Down. Although this show got mixed reviews, a lot of people really dug the style, the story and most definitely the music. In part two, Zeke wrestles with what his future could hold, Mylene struggles to define herself as an artist, and Shao continues his journey down a risky path. I was pleasantly surprised with part one so I’m looking forward to seeing if part two takes the story to another level.

The Light Between Oceans

Release Date: April 17
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander,  Rachel Weisz

Synopsis: Based on a popular book written by M.L. Stedman, this film received mixed reviews from critics, but I  appreciated the slow burn of this intriguing story.

Tom (Fassbender) is a World War I veteran who takes on the job of being a lighthouse operator off the shore of Australia with his wife Isabel (Vikander). They both desperately want to have children but just when it appears it’s not in the cards, an infant washes up on shore in a rowboat. They rescue the baby and instead of going to the authorities they raise the child as their own.

Later they find out that a woman in town once lost her child and husband at sea, and it’s apparent that Tom and Isabel’s daughter was the missing baby. They now must make a tough decision that will forever affect the lives of four people.

Bill Nye Saves the World

Release Date: April 21
Cast: Bill Nye “The Science Guy”

Synopsis: We have never needed Bill Nye more than we do right now.  For every one person that doesn’t want to believe in science and facts, there are ten sane people who do.  Bill Nye “The Science Guy” is now getting his very own Netflix Original series.

This new Bill Nye show is done in more of a talk show format where he sits down with some of the world’s leading scientists to talk about a variety of topics. You can pretty much guarantee that Global Warming is one of those topics that will be discussed.

Big Eyes 

Release Date: April 24
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman, Terence Stamp

Synopsis: This was a film that came out back in 2015 and is a very different than Tim Burton’s previous work.  If you haven’t checked this film out yet, now is your time to give it a go. This is the true story of American artist Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) who became famous for her paintings of children as large-eyed waifs. Unfortunately, her husband (Christoph Waltz) took credit for her work and reaped all the awards and financial benefits.

Queen of Katwe

Release Date: April 25
Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, David Oyelowo, Madina Nalwanga, Martin Kabanza

Synopsis: This 2016 film is based on a true story about Phiona Mutesi who rose from extreme poverty in Uganda to become one of the world’s greatest chess players. Although it is based on a book, the story really got a lot of attention after ESPN did an article about Phiona, which prompted Disney to give it the biopic adaptation. The film went on to get great reviews and won many awards on the film festival circuit. This is definitely worth checking out.

American Honey 

Release Date: April 27
Director: Andrea Arnold
Cast: Sasha Lane, Riley Keough, Shia LaBouf, Raymond Coalson, Chad McKenzie Cox, Verronikah Ezell

Synopsis: This is another 2016 film that did the film festival circuit and opened to limited release across the country. It’s a coming of age story about a teenage girl named Star (Sasha Lane), who runs away with a traveling sales crew that drives across the American Midwest selling magazine subscriptions door to door. Star is instantly drawn to the groups hard partying and law-bending ways, but tensions flare when she falls for Jake (Shia LaBeouf). This is a fantastic film if you can sit for three hours. It’s a long one!

Dear White People (Season 1)

Release Date: April 28
Creator: Justin Simien
Cast: Brandon P. Bell, Logan Browning, John Patrick Amedori

Synopsis: When the trailer dropped for this new Netflix original series, people were upset, things were said, and 400,000 dislikes on the YouTube video were made. However, people who are not familiar with what this show is about probably don’t understand that this is a parody which turns stereotypes on its head.

Based on the 2013 film, this new series uses satire to tell a story about students of colour navigating through a predominantly white Ivy League college.

Small Crimes 

Release Date: April 28
Director:  E.L. Katz
Cast:  Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Molly Parker, Gary Cole

Synopsis: This is a new Netflix original film that features a fantastic cast. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones) stars as an ex-convict who struggles with moving on with his life and not falling back into the criminal pitfalls of his past. This has all the making of being one of the best films Netflix has done.

Casting JonBenet 

Release Date: April 28
Director:  Kitty Green
Cast:  Hannah Cagwin, Aeona Cruz, Liv Bagley

Synopsis: Anytime there is a documentary or crime drama based on real events, I’m sold and sucked right in. Netflix is releasing another crime documentary exploring the unsolved death of the six-year-old American beauty queen. This doc uses both fiction and non-fiction in their retelling of the tragic story which also includes accounts from the girl’s family. This is not one of those films that have a happy ending, but it’s the intrigue and mystery of it all that still pulls people to this unsolved mystery.

Trevor DueckTrevor Dueck

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