The 15 Most Anticipated Movies And Shows Of April 2022, Ranked

You should be very excited about the new Apple TV+ series "Shining Girls." That's a bold claim, but let's lay out the facts: The Lauren Beukes novel it's based on is the sort of high-concept thriller that there aren't enough of, one that's ambitious and gritty in equal measure. (It features time travel, murder, and time-traveling murderers.) Bringing the story to the screen is the team of Silka Luisa and Michelle McLaren, the latter of whom is a two-time Emmy-winning director. She's helmed some of the century's most gut-wrenching television, so if you're not stoked to see the woman who helmed the classic "Breaking Bad" episode "One Minute" to make a feminist sci-fi crime saga, check your pulse.

If that's not enough, "Shining Girls" is the latest in a growing collection of thrillers starring Elizabeth Moss. As a performer with the emotional depth to endure untold horrors and the fortitude to survive them, Moss is the genre's ideal heroine. She is both every woman and extraordinary. Joining her is a crackerjack ensemble that includes the incandescent Phillipa Soo and the grand Jamie Bell, so "Shining Girls" doesn't lack for star power, high stakes, or big swings for the fences.

Excited yet?

There's a fascinating new trend taking place on television that goes something like this: Produce a show as a limited series. Advertise that show as a limited series. Then, if the show does well, announce a second season ASAP. 

"Russian Doll" is coming back. "The White Lotus" is coming back. And, of course, "The Flight Attendant," based on a standalone novel by Chris A. Bohjalian, is coming back. Bohjalian has yet to write a sequel to the book, but that did not stop HBO Max from greenlighting season two of the series.

Seeing what sort of misadventures series creator Steve Yockey and his writing staff will devise for Kaley Cuoco's Cassandra Bowden is half the appeal of the forthcoming season. From the little we know, it appears that the people in charge aren't afraid of change. The show has relocated to Los Angeles. Cassandra is now sober. Her mom will show up, played by none other than Sharon Stone. All of this suggests that the show's second trip will be more than a spin on its initial offerings, meaning it should be more than worth making a reservation for "The Flight Attendant" on April 21.

When the pandemic kicked into high gear in March 2020, Hollywood shut down. Weeks later, it re-opened. "Songbird," a movie produced by Michael Bay and directed by Adam Mason, was conceived mere weeks into the shutdown and filmed just eight weeks later. It told the story of how COVID-19 became COVID-23 and ravaged a dystopian, quarantined Los Angeles. It was sincere, yet utterly distasteful. Most importantly, its existence begged this question: Was a film like "Songbird" worth risking peoples' lives to make?

That isn't what Judd Apatow's forthcoming comedy "The Bubble" is about, but it's hard not to think of "Songbird" when watching the trailer for "The Bubble." The latest film from the prolific comedy legend concerns a quarantined cast and crew who are trying to finish production on "Cliff Beasts 6," but it's really about the lunacy of the filmmakers and their ridiculous, ill-conceived efforts to make a blockbuster. Given that the cast is comprised of a murderer's row of comedic talent that includes Keegan Michael Key, Pedro Pascal, Maria Bakalova, and David Duchovny, it's hard not to be excited about that prospect. 

But COVID-19 continues to shape our lives, and that also makes "The Bubble" potentially quite cathartic. There's no telling where it will rank among the rest of either Apatow's work or 2022's already strong list of comedies, but it sounds like an idea we should be glad all involved saw through.

There is no more perfect release date for Jared Leto's "Morbius" than April Fools' Day. It's a movie that sounds like a "30 Rock" gag. Seriously. Sony Pictures decided to make their own Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring Venom and second-stringers like Madame Web and that skinny creep, Morbius the Living Vampire — and then they cast Jared Leto in the lead role.

In all sincerity, incredulity won't kill "Morbius." Against all odds, it appears that Sony and director Daniel Espinosa ("Safe House," "Life") have built a box-office powerhouse, stoking anticipation through an onslaught of continuity-teasing trailers and Leto's recent run of funhouse acting choices, such as the Wario-tinged theatrics of "House of Gucci." What's more, while the film doesn't necessarily look good, it looks increasingly fun, indebted to the b-movies of the '90s with preening villains like Matt Smith and tons of cheesy one-liners. Inexplicably, "Morbius" has earned the title of "event movie." Dread it. Run from it. On April 1, "Morbius" arrives all the same.

Casting Viola Davis as Michele Obama feels inevitable. This is a good thing. The first African-American first lady became a trailblazing icon during the late '00s and early '10s. Davis is an acting institution who broke through in 2008's "Doubt," and has been nominated for four Oscars since then, winning one. The two became powerhouses in parallel to one another. Their paths should meet. In Showtime's "The First Lady," they do.

Here's the thing, though: "The First Lady" isn't just about Michelle Obama. Yes, seeing Davis play Obama is the main attraction, but Showtime is pitching the series as a "revelatory reframing of American leadership through the lens of the First Ladies." That's intriguing. It also boasts Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt, which is thrilling because seeing those two women in anything is cause for celebration. Lastly, Susanne Bier is one of the project's directors, and her resume boasts smash hits ("Bird Box") and indie classics ("After The Wedding") alike. If "The First Lady" can blend provocative incisiveness with pop entertainment, it won't seem inevitable. It will feel genuinely new.

"Russian Doll" only gets better as time passes, which is really on-point considering its premise. The story of a video game developer named Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) who gets caught in a mysterious time loop in which she perishes every night, "Russian Doll" was a hit when it debuted in 2019. Then, the pandemic happened. Every day felt like a time loop that we could not get out of. As someone living in New York during the worst of it, I can attest that "Russian Doll" took on an eerie resonance when I rewatched it in April 2020.

I also questioned whether the show needed a second season, but based on the cryptic first look that Netflix has given us of the latest episodes, it appears that it does. What information can be gleaned from the teaser is scarce, but it looks like we're in store for more time loops, a menacing version of Charlie Barnett's character, Alan, and a stellar performance by comedic wunderkind Annie Murphy. If season 2 of "Russian Doll" can deliver the goods on April 20, expect it to age just as gracefully as its predecessor.

Few creators are more inexorably linked to a city than David Simon. Simon created "The Wire," and if you don't know what that is, there's a chance you're new to prestige television. The HBO crime saga ran for five golden seasons, searing its indelible portrait of Baltimore and the war on drugs into viewers' minds. It was more than a show. It was a sociological portrait of a major American city. To watch "The Wire" is to take a census of the metropolis it's set in, as well as the country at large. The show is one of the all-time greats.

Does that mean "We Own This City," which marks Simon's return to Baltimore, must meet the standards of its monumental predecessor'? Not necessarily. The six-episode miniseries is its own beast. What's tantalizing, though, is the possibility that it might. There's a serious chance that "We Own This City" might be an instant classic. Simon's last miniseries, "The Plot Against America," proves that he hasn't lost a step, and his return to the fertile ground of Baltimore doesn't suggest he'll stumble.

When previewing the final season of "Better Call Saul" it's tempting to write "Protect Kim Wexler at all costs!" and leave it at that. That's a reflection of how indelible the characters in Vince Gilligan's crime saga are. "Saul" has transcended its spin-off origins, becoming a thrilling and thoughtful work of art in its own right. While few would suggest watching it without catching up on "Breaking Bad" first, it's getting hard to fault those who might. "Better Call Saul" is essential television, full-stop.

It appears as though the show is going to finish strong, even though beloved characters seem destined to fall. Knowing that Bob Odenkirk suffered a heart attack on the set during production only infuses the program's life or death stakes with actual gravitas.

"Better Call Saul" has made us care about each of its lowlifes' lives, from Kim to Saul to Nacho. When the program reaches its end, it will be a kind of death, no matter who survives. Protecting Kim Wexler at all costs is impossible. One way or another, we'll have to let her — and everyone else — go, but seeing how that happens might mean witnessing a masterwork come to its conclusion. Hey, there are worse ways to say goodbye.