Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of April’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)
New to Amazon Prime Video
‘Fallout’ Season 1
Starts streaming: April 11
This sardonic postapocalyptic action-adventure series combines elements from different games within the larger “Fallout” video game franchise, which since its debut in 1997 has delighted gamers with a mix of rich storytelling and wry wit. The series has Ella Purnell playing Lucy, an exemplary citizen in an underground bunker colony on an Earth ravaged by nuclear warfare. When circumstances force Lucy to the surface, the sunny optimism she learned from her father (Kyle MacLachlan) is tested by her encounters with scavengers, mutants and heavily armed soldiers in robotic armor. Developed by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (the team behind “Westworld”) with the showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet (the co-writer of “Captain Marvel”) and Graham Wagner (a “Portlandia” writer), “Fallout” aims to be the rollicking, irreverent counter to all the dour end-of-the-world TV shows.
Also arriving:
April 1
“House” Season 1
April 4
“Música”
April 5
“How to Date Billy Walsh”
“Alex Rider” Season 3
April 12
“Apartment 404”
April 18
“Dinner With the Parents” Season 1
“Going Home With Tyler Cameron” Season 1
April 25
“Them: The Scare” Season 1
New to Apple TV+
‘Girls State’
Starts streaming: April 5
The 2020 documentary “Boys State” followed a group of Texas high schoolers at a politics-themed summer camp. For this sequel, the directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine cover a similar camp from a different perspective, embedding with Missouri high school girls as they run for office, draft resolutions and hear court cases, emulating the functions of a state government. This particular edition of Missouri’s Girls State was held on the same campus as Boys State, inviting direct comparison between the programs (which differ in their levels of rigor). It also happened not long after the draft of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision was leaked. As with the earlier film, Moss and McBaine avoid turning their subjects into simplistic heroes or villains. Instead, “Girls State” honors these bright, concerned young ladies’ earnest interest in making friends and becoming better leaders.
‘Sugar’ Season 1
Starts streaming: April 5
Colin Farrell stars in this highly meta detective series, playing a private eye, John Sugar, who loves old movies and models a lot of his behavior after his Hollywood heroes. When he takes an assignment to find the missing daughter of a legendary film producer (James Cromwell), he uncovers some dark truths about show business that challenge his preconceptions about human nature. There is another layer to “Sugar,” revealed late in the season and best left unspoiled. But for the most part, this show is a stylish neo-noir exercise with a stellar cast, including Amy Ryan, Anna Gunn, Nate Corddry, Eric Lange and Kirby.
‘Franklin’
Starts streaming: April 12
Michael Douglas plays Benjamin Franklin in this historical drama, based on Stacy Schiff’s nonfiction book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.” Set during the years when Franklin served as the ambassador to France for the fledgling United States — and tried to turn his international fame into money for the new nation — the mini-series captures the complicated diplomacy of a radical era. Noah Jupe plays William Temple Franklin, the founding father’s grandson, assistant and protégé, who is overwhelmed by the courtly glamour of Paris. Co-written by Kirk Ellis (best-known for the mini-series “John Adams”) and Howard Korder (a playwright who worked on “Boardwalk Empire”), “Franklin” is at times a fish-out-of-water comedy and at times a political thriller, but it’s primarily about men and women struggling to steer the direction of a rapidly changing world.
Also arriving:
April 5
“Loot”
April 24
“The Big Door Prize”
New to Disney+
‘Bluey: The Sign’
Starts streaming: April 14
A typical episode of the beloved animated kids show “Bluey” is about 10 minutes long, capturing some small and often enchanting moment in the lives of a family of Australian dogs. The new special episode “The Sign” runs about triple that length, and tells a story about … well, actually both Disney in the United States and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation overseas are staying mum about the plot, though the commercials for the episode do imply that Bluey and Bingo and their parents and friends are headed toward some sort of celebratory event. More important for American “Bluey” fans: “The Sign” will be available stateside on the same day it airs in Australia, sparing us the usual multi-month wait.
Also arriving:
April 3
“Wish”
April 22
“Tiger”
“Tiger on the Rise”
New to Hulu
‘The Greatest Hits’
Starts streaming: April 12
In this unusual romantic drama, Lucy Boynton plays Harriet, a woman who loves music so intensely that when she hears certain songs her consciousness is transported back in time, to relive moments she spent with her boyfriend Max (David Corenswet), who died. This makes it hard for Harriet to live her life, since at any moment a song in a coffee shop or wafting out of a passing car could knock her into the past. And it’s especially hard for her to pursue a new relationship with David (Justin H. Min), a grieving guy from her support group. Written and directed by Ned Benson (making his first movie since 2013’s well-reviewed but distribution-challenged “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby”), “The Greatest Hits” takes a fresh approach to a common story, about people having trouble letting go of their pasts.
‘Under the Bridge’
Starts streaming: April 17
Based on Rebecca Godfrey’s nonfiction book “Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk” — about teenagers accused of murdering a classmate in a small British Columbia town in 1997 — this mini-series stars Riley Keough as Godfrey, researching her book by getting close to the suspects. Lily Gladstone plays the local police officer Cam Bentland, who has her own reasons for wanting to get to the bottom of what actually happened and why. Created by Quinn Shephard — an indie filmmaker known for the dark, youth-oriented dramas “Blame” and “Not Okay” — “Under the Bridge” follows the lead of Godfrey’s reporting by offering an empathetic look at a culture of partying and bullying in an isolated community.
‘The Veil’
Starts streaming: April 30
The “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight returns to television for this six-episode mini-series, starring Elisabeth Moss as Imogen Salter, an MI6 agent called in to help with a tricky situation at a Syrian refugee camp. Yumna Marwan plays Adilah, a fugitive believed to be a notorious, mysterious terrorist commander. Josh Charles plays Max, a C.I.A. agent often at odds with Imogen over how to get the truth out of Adilah. As the two women travel across Europe, they talk about their lives — though both of them have ulterior motives behind every moment of candor. “The Veil” leans heavy on Knight’s two strengths as a writer: punchy dialogue and twisty action plots.
Also arriving:
April 1
“Don’t Worry Darling”
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods”
“Vanderpump Villa” Season 1
April 3
“U.F.O. Factory” Season 1
April 5
“Dinosaur” Season 1
April 6
“The Fable” Season 1
April 7
“GO! GO! Loser Ranger!” Season 1
“Mission: Yozakura Family” Season 1
April 10
“Blood Free” Season 1
“Curtain Call” Season 1
“Grand Cayman: Secrets in Paradise” Season 1
“The Incredible Dr. Pol” Season 24
April 11
“Immediate Family”
April 15
“The Stranger”
April 17
“Drain the Oceans” Season 6
“Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet” Season 12
“See You in Another Life” Season 1
April 20
“High Hopes” Season 1
April 22
“Hip-Hop and the White House”
April 24
“Wonderful World” Season 1
April 26
“Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story”
April 27
“Broken Horses”
New to Max
‘The Sympathizer’
Starts streaming: April 14
Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — adapted for television by the Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook and the Canadian filmmaker Don McKellar — this mini-series covers several years in the life of a Vietnamese immigrant with a complicated past. Hoa Xuande plays the protagonist and narrator known as “the Captain,” who lived a cosmopolitan lifestyle before the Vietnam War. Because of his familiarity with the West, he was drafted by the North Vietnamese to go undercover with the South Vietnamese. When Saigon falls, the Captain catches a transport to the United States, where he continues his spying, observing firsthand how his new neighbors are rewriting America’s history with the war. Robert Downey Jr. pops up throughout the series in multiple roles, reinforcing the theme of people caught between different identities.
Also arriving:
April 4
“Hop” Season 1
“The Synanon Fix”
April 5
“The Zone of Interest”
April 6
“Alex Edelman: Just for Us”
April 9
“Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion”
April 16
“An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th”
April 18
“Conan O’Brien Must Go” Season 1
April 21
“The Jinx: Part 2”
April 26
“We’re Here” Season 4
New to Paramount+
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 5
Starts streaming: April 4
In 2017, the first season of “Star Trek: Discovery” brought renewed interest to the TV franchise and helped establish the bona fides of the CBS All Access subscription streaming service (later rebranded as Paramount+). In the years since, other new “Star Trek” series — especially “Strange New Worlds” and “Lower Decks” — have built on what “Discovery” started, telling new and meaningful “Star Trek” stories while staying true to a long legacy. “Discovery” is coming to an end with its fifth season; but it’s going out strong, with a rollicking multipart adventure that sees the crews of multiple starships teaming up on a cross-galaxy chase, in search of a centuries-old treasure that may hold the secret to life itself.
Also arriving:
April 1
“Talk to Me”
April 10
“The Challenge: All Stars” Season 4
April 12
“Dora” Season 1
April 14
“The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden — The Greatest Arena Run of All Time”
April 16
“CTRL+ALT+DESIRE”
April 26
“Knuckles”
