Every month, Netflix adds 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.)
‘Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood’
Starts streaming: April 1
The director Richard Linklater applies the photo-realistic animation style of his cult film “Waking Life” to a Texas-centered memoir similar to his “Boyhood” and “Dazed and Confused” in “Apollo 10½,” a sweet dramedy about life in suburban Houston circa 1969. Jack Black narrates the story of a child named Stan, who gets a secret offer from NASA to be the first boy in space. Linklater’s lighthearted premise comes and goes from the picture as needed. The thin plot is more a way for him to thread together a succession of his personally meaningful memories. “Apollo 10½” is a reflection on what it was like to be a middle-class American kid a half-century ago, back when children were largely left unsupervised to watch dopey TV shows, listen to cool music and roam around their neighborhoods seeking adventure.
‘The Bubble’
Starts streaming: April 1
The director Judd Apatow parodies the complications of pandemic-era filmmaking in “The Bubble,” a comedy about a blockbuster action movie production that turns purgatorial when a series of mishaps keeps extending the shoot. Co-written by Apatow and Pam Brady, the film stars David Duchovny, Karen Gillan, Keegan-Michael Key and Leslie Mann as the core cast of the “Jurassic Park”-like franchise “Cliff Beasts.” When they reunite at a remote English hotel to shoot the sixth picture in the series, the actors slowly start to lose their composure because of quarantine-induced isolation and delays. The cast also includes Fred Armisen as a stressed-out director, Pedro Pascal as a serious actor seeking an easy payday and Iris Apatow as a TikTok influencer. “The Bubble” riffs on how the personality conflicts and professional pressures of showbiz become even more unbearable when the cast and crew can’t go home at the end of the day.
‘Our Great National Parks’ Season 1
Starts streaming: April 13
The latest Netflix project from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions is a docu-series executive produced by James Honeyborne, who previously worked with the BBC Natural History Unit on “Africa” and “Blue Planet II.” The five episodes of “Our Great National Parks” each explore the animals and plants nestled within protected reserves around the world. By examining what the lands have to offer, the series illustrates the potentially devastating dangers of habitat loss. But these images of majestic creatures and stunning landscapes are also meant to inspire awe and wonder — a sensation enhanced by President Obama’s mellifluous voice, delivering the narration.
‘Anatomy of a Scandal’
Starts streaming: April 15
This mini-series is adapted from a Sarah Vaughan novel about a British government minister whose promising career is derailed when an investigation into an inappropriate sexual relationship takes a grim turn. Rupert Friend plays the politician, James Whitehouse, and Sienna Miller stars as his humiliated wife, Sophie. Michelle Dockery plays Kate Woodcroft, a lawyer who prosecutes the case as a righteous cause.
‘Russian Doll’ Season 2
Starts streaming: April 20
In Season 1 of “Russian Doll,” Natasha Lyonne played the rough-edged software engineer Nadia Vulvokov, who was caught in a time loop on the night of her 36th birthday and kept dying and reviving on the same day. By the end of the season, she found a way out with the help of another looper, Alan (Charlie Barnett). Season 2 picks up their story four years later, just before Nadia’s 40th birthday. The premise this time moves away from the original’s “Groundhog Day” roots and instead encompasses time travel and other mind-bending science-fiction concepts. Lyonne (who also cocreated the series with Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler) once again brings her distinctive rasp and streetwise vibe to the main character: a quick-witted New Yorker who rides along with whatever the universe throws at her, trying to figure out how to turn it to her advantage.
Also arriving:
April 1
“Celeb Five: Behind the Curtain”
“Get Organized with The Home Edit” Season 2
“The Last Bus” Season 1
“Trivia Quest” Season 1
April 4
“Better Call Saul” Season 5
April 6
“Michela Giraud: The Truth, I Swear!”
“The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On” Season 1
April 8
“Dancing on Glass”
“Dirty Lines” Season 1
“Tiger & Bunny” Season 2
“Yaksha: Ruthless Operations”
April 12
“The Creature Cases” Season 1
“Hard Cell” Season 1
April 13
“Almost Happy” Season 2
April 14
“Ultraman” Season 2
April 15
“Choose or Die”
April 19
“White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch”
April 22
“Along for the Ride”
April 27
“Silverton Siege”
April 28
“Bubble”
“Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles” Season 1
April 29
“Ozark” Season 4, Part 2
