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Knight and Day

2010, Action/Comedy, 1h 49m

What to know

Critics Consensus

It's pure formula, but thanks to its breezy pace and a pair of charming performances from Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, Knight and Day offers some agreeably middle-of-the-road summer action. Read critic reviews

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Knight and day videos, knight and day   photos.

June Havens (Cameron Diaz) chats up her charming seatmate on a flight out of Kansas, but she doesn't realize that she will soon land in the middle of an international adventure. The fellow passenger, Roy Miller (Tom Cruise), is a covert operative who claims he has been set up to take a fall. Now his reluctant partner, June must dodge bullets in Boston, leap rooftops in Austria and evade bulls in Spain, while she and Roy learn that trust is the most important survival skill.

Rating: PG-13 (Sequences of Action Violence|Brief Strong Language)

Genre: Action, Comedy

Original Language: English

Director: James Mangold

Producer: Cathy Konrad , Steve Pink , Todd Garner

Writer: Patrick O'Neill

Release Date (Theaters): Jun 23, 2010  wide

Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013

Box Office (Gross USA): $76.4M

Runtime: 1h 49m

Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Production Co: Pink Machine, Tree Line, Todd Garner

Sound Mix: Dolby, DTS

Cast & Crew

Cameron Diaz

June Havens

Peter Sarsgaard

Jordi Mollà

Viola Davis

Director George

Maggie Grace

April Havens

Marc Blucas

Celia Weston

Falk Hentschel

Lennie Loftin

Rich Manley

Frank Jenkins

Jack O'Connell

Trevor Loomis

James Mangold

Patrick O'Neill

Screenwriter

Cathy Konrad

Todd Garner

Executive Producer

Arnon Milchan

E. Bennett Walsh

Phedon Papamichael

Cinematographer

Andrew Menzies

Production Design

Michael McCusker

Film Editing

Quincy Z. Gunderson

John Powell

Original Music

Arianne Phillips

Costume Design

Sarah Katzman

Donna DeSeta

Supervising Art Direction

Jeffrey Wisniewski

Art Director

Set Decoration

News & Interviews for Knight and Day

Photos: 24 Most Destructive Movie Spies

Cameron Diaz’s 10 Best Movies

Box Office Guru Wrapup: Toy Story 3 Stays on Top

Critic Reviews for Knight and Day

Audience reviews for knight and day.

The over-the-top-ness manages to work well with the story's comedy. The Cruz-Diaz connection works well too.

Just Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz pretending to be younger than what they really are showing off their own 180° car stunts in a PG-13 fashioned "comedy" copying the formula of <i>Charade</i> (1963) with him pulling off his Ethan Hunt twists until she finally turns into a Mrs. Smith. 49/100

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz star in the action comedy Knight and Day. On her way to her sister's wedding, June Havens has her world turned upside down when she crosses paths with a secret agent. The action's pretty good and gives the film a lot of energy. The comedy however, is overdone. What starts out as clever satire starts to become a farce after a while. The score is also a problem, and undercut some of the energy of the action scenes. Still, Knight and Day is fun and entertaining, and the performances have a certain charm.

When the movie started, I thought it might have been unjustly panned - there were some flashes that suggested it was a spoof - but as it went on, it closed in on and eventually captured boring, Romantic Spy Comedy territory, retaining the cartoony bits but expecting us to take them at face value. I got the sense that somewhere along the way, the vision was compromised, and that maybe it was during test screenings, once the movie was already shot, meaning that the more marketable plot had to be pieced together from footage that didn't necessarily belong in that order, or in the film at all. It's wild speculation on my part, but I'm not sure how else to explain the way this one went off the rails - it was entertaining for a short while, maybe a half an hour, but then it suddenly seemed to not know what kind of film it wanted to be, and the result was something to which I was indifferent, in the end.

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Movie Review | 'Knight and Day'

Opposites Attract

• Share full article

By A.O. Scott

• June 22, 2010

Recently, I saw a charming little movie about two characters, opposites in temperament and outlook, hostile at the start, who gradually learned not only to find delight in each other, but also to appreciate how much they had in common. This film is whimsical, inventive, crammed with visual virtuosity and six minutes long. It’s called “Day and Night,” and it can be seen when you purchase a ticket for “Toy Story 3.”

I mention that lovely Pixar short — directed by Teddy Newton — because I didn’t have space for it in my “Toy Story” review , and also to avoid confusion with “Knight and Day,” a picture that is in every conceivable respect the opposite of “Day and Night.” A loud, seemingly interminable, and altogether incoherent entry in the preposterous and proliferating “action-comedy” genre, it stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz as a pair of hastily sketched cartoon characters hurtling from plane crash to car chase to further car, helicopter and motorcycle chases, one involving stampeding bulls.

None of this would be objectionable if the director, James Mangold — who has acquitted himself admirably in such pictures as “Heavy,” “Cop Land,” “Walk the Line” and “3:10 to Yuma” — demonstrated any flair for silly, breakneck action choreography. Instead, the stars grimace (Mr. Cruise), screech (Ms. Diaz) and crack wise (both of them, gamely enunciating lines from a drab script by the first-timer Patrick O’Neill) in front of a green screen onto which computer-generated images have been slapped together with the meticulous care of a high school yearbook staff wielding Photoshop on deadline.

Ms. Diaz is June Havens, a collection of alternately appealing and exasperating traits thrown together to satisfy market research data suggesting that audiences go for women who are tough but not aggressive, flaky but not nuts, sexy but not actually having sex, and willing to fall for a certain kind of guy without entirely losing their heads. That certain kind of guy — “I’m that guy,” is indeed one of his more memorable lines — would be, in this instance, Mr. Cruise, who tries to walk the dental-floss-thin line between good-humored winking and outright self-parody.

He plays Roy Miller (perhaps not his real name), a C.I.A. superassassin who collides with Ms. Diaz’s character at the Wichita airport. She is going home to Boston for her sister’s wedding, while Roy is either trying to steal or trying to protect a powerful and secret energy gizmo that will eventually allow the filmmakers to introduce Paul Dano as the nerdy sidekick. Mr. Dano is especially necessary because the romantic chemistry between the principals — not unpromising in theory — sputters out like the initial blind-date spark on an early episode of a matchmaking reality show.

Meanwhile, Peter Sarsgaard, equipped with a superfluous accent to show what a serious actor he is despite the numskullery surrounding him, plays the heavy, Roy’s intra-agency rival, with Viola Davis as their boss. Not a bad cast, you will have noticed. But alas, as they ricochet across the globe, from a South Pacific island to the streets of Seville, they all seem to run out of things to do. Yes, there is a glowering arms dealer (Jordi Mollà) and his thuggish minions. Yes, there are trains and choppers, knives and guns, dead bodies and stolen kisses and all the other traditional 007 accoutrements, updated ever so slightly to conform to present-day sexual mores, geopolitical confusions and technological fantasies.

So what is missing? Oh, I don’t know — wit, fun, sexual tension, risk, originality. Maybe one or two other things. But will anyone notice? It is just possible that “Knight and Day” will earn some admiration because it is not a sequel or a spinoff and employs two stars who refuse to act like or resemble teenagers. The same might be said for “Killers,” of course, which was pretty much forgotten the day after it arrived in theaters a few weeks ago. “Knight and Day” may do better because of its superior pedigree and its noticeably greater expense (All those locations! All that C.G.I.!), but “Killers,” which stars Ashton Kutcher as the superassassin and Katherine Heigl as the shrieking blonde, is a marginally better movie.

But back to the film at hand, though I would rather talk about almost anything else. (Have you seen “I Am Love” ? Wow! Tilda Swinton! Are those World Cup vuvuzelas driving you crazy yet?)

Sorry. “Sometimes things happen for a reason,” says Roy to June as he is about to board a fateful flight. It’s a statement — perhaps generally true — that applies to absolutely nothing about “Knight and Day,” including the making of the movie itself.

“Knight and Day” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). A high body count with very little blood and some half-hearted sexual innuendo with very little skin.

Knight and Day

Opens on Wednesday nationwide. Directed by James Mangold; written by Mr. Mangold and Patrick O’Neill, based on a story by Mr. O’Neill; director of photography, Phedon Papamichael; edited by Michael McCusker; music by John Powell; production designer, Andrew Menzies; costumes by Arianne Phillips; produced by Cathy Konrad, Steve Pink and Todd Garner; released by 20th Century Fox. Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes.

WITH: Tom Cruise (Roy Miller), Cameron Diaz (June Havens), Peter Sarsgaard (Fitzgerald), Viola Davis (Director George), Paul Dano (Simon Feck) and Jordi Mollà (Antonio Quintana).

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Knight and Day (2010)

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A Fan Spoke Out About Their Love For Tom Cruise And Cameron Diaz's Knight And Day. Director James Mangold Responded

A fan’s love for Knight and Day led to its director’s response.

Knight and Day is an example of a Tom Cruise movie you may not have seen . With a plot similar to Killers which also premiered in June 2010, Cameron Diaz plays a woman who accidentally gets caught up with a secret agent, played by Tom Cruise , who is on the run from the CIA. While it’s been 12 years since Knight and Day hit theaters, one fan spoke out about her love of the movie, and its director, James Mangold , had a response to her praise. 

Some may think of Knight and Day as a remarkably average movie that was made for fans who wanted to see Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz together on a whirlwind adventure. However, one person who felt Knight and Day was a great action-comedy romance was film critic Courtney Howard who tweeted everything she loved about this movie:

.@mang0ld ’s KNIGHT AND DAY rules so hard! Tom Cruise combines his leading man charisma w/ his love of adrenaline junkie stunts & Cameron Diaz gets a perfect screwball romcom for her impeccable timing. Walking through a hailstorm of bullets to kiss?! Hot! pic.twitter.com/pLCJtk7Dfp May 21, 2023

She brings up some great points as Tom Cruise has been known to dazzle audiences with his leading male status. Plus, we've come to know Cameron Diaz in part for the rom-coms she starred in during the 2000s-2010s with movies like The Holiday, What Happens in Vegas, and What to Expect When You’re Expecting on her resume. So, it’s almost like seeing two different worlds coming together. Howard made sure to post the scene when Tom Cruise’s character decides to walk through a hailstorm of bullets in order to kiss his leading lady. This is definitely, something an action lead like Cruise would be expected to do in this situation, and it was epic.

One thing that makes this film critic incredibly lucky is having her positive spin on the movie seen by Knight and Day director James Mangold himself. He made sure to respond positively to her glowing Twitter review by writing:

I love that scene too, Courtney. Thanks!

It’s such a great compliment to have your film appreciated over a decade later. This brought the opportunity for other Twitter users to recall their favorite scenes and quotes from the movie. 

While there are many who love the film like Howard, when Knight and Day first premiered, it only pulled in $3.8 million on opening day . This is partially due to the heavy competition of Toy Story 3 which was a box office hit that summer. Not only was Knight and Day considered a box office disappointment, but the reviews weren’t very good with many critics noting the lack of chemistry between Cruise and Diaz as well as their issues with the screenplay. However, there's clearly still a crowd that loves this fun movie. 

Knight and Day may not have been the most successful movie of 2010. However, it proves that a movie being a flop doesn’t mean everyone had harsh feelings about it. Courtney Howard sure was a fan of the action-comedy as well as many others, and James Mangold certainly appreciated the love. It just takes tweets like hers to remind us of that. 

CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER

Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News

While we won't be seeing this team together, all three have exciting movies on the 2023 movie schedule . These upcoming projects include: Mangold putting out Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny on June 30, Cruise releasing Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One on July 12, and Diaz making her return to acting in Back in Action which will likely come out later this year. 

Just your average South Floridian cinephile who believes the pen is mightier than the sword.

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Screen Rant

Cameron diaz’s upcoming netflix movie can finally redeem her 14-year-old box office disappointment with tom cruise.

Cameron Diaz coming out of retirement for 2024's Netflix spy comedy Back In Action means the star can redeem her and Tom Cruise's infamous movie.

• Cameron Diaz's upcoming Netflix movie, "Back in Action," has the potential to redeem her poor reviews from her last spy movie, "Knight and Day."
• Diaz's previous movies, such as "The Counselor," "The Other Woman," "Sex Tape," and "Annie," underperformed with critics, showing that her projects struggled in multiple genres.
• Diaz's earlier spy franchise, "Charlie's Angels," was a major box office success, showcasing her skillful balance of comedy and action that will benefit "Back in Action."

While Cameron Diaz hasn’t been seen on the big screen since 2014, her upcoming Netflix movie can make up for an infamous flop that co-starred Tom Cruise. Cameron Diaz has one of the most impressive blockbuster careers in modern cinema history. The star led both the Charlie’s Angels and Shrek franchises to box office glory in the early ‘00s, proving she could dominate the multiplex in both animated and live-action roles. Her parts in Being John Malkovich and Gangs of New York showed her dramatic chops, while There’s Something About Mary and The Holiday proved she had rom-com bonafides too.

Despite this, Cameron Diaz’s 2024 comeback is necessary because the actor’s box office dominance waned during the 2010s. Diaz’s four most recent movies, The Counselor , The Other Woman , Sex Tape , and Annie , all underperformed with critics upon release. What made matters worse was the fact that these movies ranged in genre from a dark thriller to a raunchy comedy to a children’s movie. This proved that Diaz’s projects struggled in multiple genres, a trend that began back in 2010 when the actor co-starred alongside Tom Cruise in a blockbuster that seemed destined for success, only to fail disastrously.

Back In Action Can Redeem The Poor Reviews Of Cameron Diaz's Last Spy Movie, Knight And Day

2010’s Knight and Day starred Cruise as a charming secret agent and Diaz as a hapless civilian who got caught up in his latest mission. This sounded like a perfect recipe for a blockbuster action comedy, but Knight and Day ’s largely negative reviews and disappointing box office return had a lasting negative impact on Diaz’s career. However, a chance to redeem the poor reception to Knight and Day is about to arrive via Back in Action, a movie that will put Diaz back in the familiar role of a co-lead in an action film.

Diaz has now come out of retirement for Netflix’s Back in Action , but Knight and Day ’s paltry 52% Rotten Tomatoes rating will cast a long shadow over this project. Even though Cruise and Diaz seemed like they were guaranteed box office draws in 2010, their last collaboration still underperformed both financially and critically upon release. Luckily, Diaz has another, earlier spy franchise that proves she can produce cult hits within the genre. Neither Charlie’s Angels and its sequel Full Throttle fared well critically, but they were major box office successes that are now viewed as cheesy, self-aware classics.

Back In Action Could Be Cameron Diaz's Best Spy Movie Since Charlie's Angels

The failure of 2019’s Charlie’s Angels reboot proves how hard it is to get the playful tone of the franchise right, and Diaz’s role in the early 2000s movies was central to their success. Back In Action can benefit from Diaz’s skillful balance of comedy chops and action prowess as the star emerges from retirement, reminding viewers what made her a force to be reckoned with at the box office back in the ‘00s. The Charlie’s Angels movies provide a blueprint for Netflix’s new Cameron Diaz movie to follow, while Knight and Day helpfully illustrated what not to do.

Back in Action

The 10 Most Underrated Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked

While a majority of his work has received both critical acclaim and commercial success, some of Cruise’s best work has become undervalued.

While the era where movie stars could single-handedly generate interest in an upcoming movie seems to be over, Tom Cruise remains one of the most compelling actors in Hollywood’s history. Ever since his breakout performance in the classic teen comedy Risky Business , Cruise has appeared in a wide variety of hits across many different genres. With very few misses in his filmography, Cruise’s name is itself an indicator of high quality.

Although he has earned a worldwide audience thanks to his appearances in the Top Gun and Mission: Impossible franchises, there’s much more to Cruise’s filmography than just action movies . With three Academy Award nominations to his name, Cruise often chooses challenging projects from idiosyncratic filmmakers . While a majority of his work has received both critical acclaim and commercial success, some of Cruise’s best work has become undervalued. Here are the ten most underrated Tom Cruise movies, ranked.

10 ‘The Outsiders’ (1983)

Directed by francis ford coppola.

Although he has worked with many great directors, Cruise got a great start to his career when he appeared in the coming-of-age drama The Outsiders . Directed by Francis Ford Coppola , the adaptation of the acclaimed novel by S.E. Hinton served as a breakthrough film for actors like Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, and Emilio Estevez . Cruise has a brief, albeit memorable role as the defiant greaser Steve Randle.

Cruise proved in The Outsiders that he could stand out within a packed ensemble , and managed to make the most of his limited screen time. While not always acclaimed as one of the best films of Coppola’s career , The Outsiders is a refreshingly grim take on adolescence that goes to surprisingly dark places in its final act. It set a precedent that Cruise wasn’t intimidated by intense stories or challenging material.

The Outsiders

Watch on Paramount Plus

9 ‘All the Right Moves’ (1983)

Directed by michael chapman.

Some films simply pop when the right actor is cast, and that was certainly the case with All the Right Moves . Although the story is vastly different from other films about high school football , All the Right Moves succeeds thanks to Cruise’s undeniable star power . Set in the highly competitive world of a small-town sports program, All the Right Moves stars Cruise as the Serbian American running back Stefen Djordjevic, who is desperate to attain a scholarship to maintain his star trajectory.

Although the story is not without clichés, Cruise’s sense of realism ensures that All the Right Moves does not become a melodrama . His strong romantic chemistry with Lea Thompson and commitment to the physicality of the football scenes allowed All the Right Moves to transcend the trappings of its genre and become a coming-of-age classic.

Rent on Apple TV

8 ‘The Color of Money’ (1986)

Directed by martin scorsese.

While the “term legacy” sequel can suggest some creative laziness, The Color of Money is a worthwhile sequel to the classic gambling film The Hustler . Set years after the pool shark “Fast Eddie” ( Paul Newman ) abandoned the game for good, The Color of Money introduces the iconic character to the new, younger hustler Vincent Lauria. Cruise’s inherent confidence and snarky attitude were perfect for the role of Vincent, as he managed to make the character cocky without being obnoxious.

Although Newman finally won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Color of Money, Cruise managed to hold his own against an acting legend . The two stars are on equal footing throughout the film and help elevate The Color of Money from “light entertainment” to a genuinely moving story about the ramifications of a life of hustling.

The Color of Money

Rent on Amazon

7 ‘Days of Thunder’ (1990)

Directed by tony scott.

Although the racing movie concept is by no means an original one, Days of Thunder served as a way for Cruise and director Tony Scott to repeat the success of their work on Top Gun . Cruise stars as the NASCAR driver Cole Trickle, whose relationship with his neurosurgeon Dr. Claire Lewicki ( Nicole Kidman ) is rested by a particularly competitive arm of the racing circuit.

While it didn’t become a popular culture phenomenon in the same way that Top Gun did, the chance to see Cruise in a high-octane sports thriller is reason enough to watch Days of Thunder . The film is unabashedly silly, but Cruise’s self-seriousness helps ensure that the story never feels like complete camp. A thoroughly underrated example of pure pop entertainment, Days of Thunder feels like a type of Hollywood crowd-pleaser that the industry simply isn’t interested in making anymore.

Days of Thunder

6 ‘the firm’ (1993), directed by sydney pollack.

Although the Deep South legal thriller seems to have gone out of fashion, The Firm is one of the most richly intelligent films that Cruise has ever starred in. Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by John Grisham , The Firm stars Cruise as the hotshot Harvard Law graduate Mitch McDeere, whose skills gain the attention of the senior partner Avery Tolar ( Gene Hackman ). Despite his enthusiasm about his new job, Mitch begins to suspect that his employer may have insidious intentions; Cruise depicts this crisis of confidence perfectly.

While densely plotted and running over 150 minutes long, The Firm never fails to lose its momentum thanks to Cruise’s electrifying performance . While it didn’t receive the acclaim that other legal thrillers of the era received, The Firm was evidence that Cruise could work on prestigious material and fit within the dramatic parameters.

5 ‘Vanilla Sky’ (2001)

Directed by cameron crowe.

Although Cruise and writer/director Cameron Crowe made a perfect romantic comedy with Jerry Maguire , their follow-up collaboration, Vanilla Sky, is one of the most ambitious science fiction films ever made. With multiple plot twists and several alternate endings, Vanilla Sky maps the complex story of the publisher, David Eames (Cruise), whose life is uprooted by a car crash. Amidst his recovery, Davis is forced to question the nature of his reality as he’s questioned by the psychologist Dr. Curtis McCabe ( Kurt Russell ).

Although it's a film that’s nearly incomprehensible on an initial viewing, Vanilla Sky is a film that gets better with each rewatch. Interlaced within the film’s jumbled narrative structure is insightful commentary on the nature of stardom, the challenges of body image, and the plight of morality. It’s much better than the toxic reputation it landed and features one of Cruise’s most earnest performances.

Vanilla Sky

Watch on Prime Video

4 ‘War of the Worlds’ (2005)

Directed by steven spielberg.

Although the novel by H.G. Wells has been fascinating science fiction fans since its release in the 19th century, the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds modernizes the source material to create a disturbing parallel to 9/11. Cruise stars as the neglectful father Ray Ferrier, who is forced to transport his son Robbie ( Justin Chatwin ) and daughter Rachel ( Dakota Fanning ) to safety when a Martian invasion threatens to level humanity’s infrastructure.

Similar to Cruise’s previous collaboration with director Steven Spielberg on the science fiction neo-noir thriller Minority Report, War of the Worlds is by no means a traditional summer blockbuster . It’s a disturbing analysis of how easily society can collapse that features Cruise in a rarely vulnerable performance; it’s a film that continues to hold more relevance with each passing year and deserves to be considered on the level of Cruise’s other blockbusters.

War of The Worlds

3 ‘valkyrie’ (2008), directed by bryan singer.

Although the last two decades of his career have been mostly spent making action movies, Valkyrie served as proof that Cruise could still make compelling historical epics. Set during the final days of World War II , the film follows the German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) as he leads a resistance group that plans to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Despite a somewhat shaky accent, Cruise perfectly embodies the persona of a proud military leader who takes action to ensure the future of his nation.

Given how popular his films tend to be, Valkyrie indicated that Cruise was interested in exposing audiences to underrepresented stories from history . While it wasn’t necessarily a major critical or commercial success, Valkyrie took decidedly edgy material and turned it into the basis of a great thriller. The attention to detail in crafting the climactic rebellious endurance makes Valkyrie worth watching by Cruise fans and history buffs alike.

Watch on Tubi

2 ‘Oblivion’ (2013)

Directed by joseph kosinski.

Although they would reach an unprecedented level of success with their collaboration on Top Gun: Maverick , Cruise and director Joseph Kosinksi first teamed up for the underrated science fiction mystery Oblivion . Based on the graphic novel of the same name, Oblivion follows the technician Jack (Cruise) as he operates a remote base on the ruins of an uninhabited Earth. After discovering a human survivor of a space crash, Jack discovers that the basis of his mission may have been a deceit.

While not necessarily as action-packed as Cruise’s other sci-fi films, Oblivion presents a compelling mystery and speaks to deep questions about the fate of humanity and overreliance on technology . While it was considered a financial disappointment considering the talent attached, Oblivion is a far more interesting film than many failed blockbusters due to Cruise’s dynamic performance and its ambiguous ending.

1 ‘American Made’ (2017)

Directed by doug liman.

While it wasn’t the first time that he played a controversial historical figure, American Made just may contain the most audacious performance of Cruise’s career . Based on an unbelievable true story , American Made stars Cruise as the commercial pilot Barry Seal, who became a liaison to both the CIA and Mexican drug cartel. Seal was truly a larger-than-life character, and Cruise does a great job at fleshing out his idiosyncrasies.

Although director Doug Liman adds an undercurrent of dark humor to the film, Cruise conveys the traumatic effect that Seal’s actions had on his family’s livelihood. American Made is unafraid to engage with the dark side of the “American dream” and explore the complexities of the drug war; despite its fall release, the film failed to earn Cruise the Academy Award nomination for Best Actor that he certainly deserved for his daring performance.

American Made

KEEP READING: The 10 Most Underrated Mark Ruffalo Movies, Ranked

The Sympathizer, Ripley and Scoop: what’s new to streaming in Australia in April

Plus post-apocalyptic drama Fallout, season two of Heartbreak High and Ra Chapman’s moreish comedy White Fever

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TV, US, 2024 – out 4 April

A disquieting stillness permeates this excellent new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s classic page-turner The Talented Mr Ripley. The first thing you’ll notice is its crisp monochrome textures, which scream “classy” and “sophisticated” without being inaccessible or pretentious. The dapper, sociopathic protagonist Tom Ripley (played by Andrew Scott) travels to a resort town near Naples, after the father of Johnny Flynn’s Dickie Greenleaf asks him to try to entice Dickie to return home to New York. However, old mate Ripley isn’t exactly a subservient fellow dedicated to helping others.

Creator, writer and director Steven Zaillian opens with vision of him removing a corpse from a room, but maybe you still haven’t read the novel or seen the 1999 film starring Matt Damon – so mum’s the word on precise plot events. By playing Ripley as “normal”, Andrew Scott taps into what makes this character truly unsettling: he’s the ordinary, educated man; the well-dressed accountant; the dude never picked in a lineup. It’s a finely balanced performance in a series with an atmosphere as carefully manicured as a Japanese garden.

Film, UK, 2024 – out 5 April

Director Philip Martin and star Gillian Anderson helm a film centred around the BBC’s infamous 2019 interview between Prince Andrew and journalist Emily Maitlis, which was memorably described by the Royal Central website as less a train crash and more “a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion”. The film was adapted from the nonfiction book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews, and stars Anderson as Maitlis who, on the Newsnight program, grilled the Duke of York (Rufus Sewell) about his associations with Jeffrey Epstein and allegations he had sex with a 17-year-old girl.

Royal family controversies are catnip for dramatists, as the success of The Crown recently reminded us.

Heartbreak High, season 2

TV, Australia, 2024 – out 11 April

The second season of Netflix’s Heartbreak High remake begins with literal explosions, suggesting the underpinning logic is “louder, busier, noisier!” A new term at Hartley High returns key characters including students Amerie (Ayesha Madon) and Harper (Asher Yasbincek), and introduces freshies including “Rowan from Dubbo” (Sam Rechner) and the head of PE, Timothy Voss (Angus Sampson). The latter is a macho bloke perhaps inspired by Tony Martin’s rugby coach from the original 90s series , which dared to embrace a scuzzy streetside aesthetic – in stark contrast to the reboot’s highly polished perkiness.

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Honourable mentions: The Maze Runner 1-3 (film, 1 April), Beverly Hills Cop 1-3 (film, 4 April), Parasyte: The Grey (TV, 5 April), Our Living World (TV, 17 April), Bros (film, 18 April), Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (film, 19 April).

Such Brave Girls

TV, UK, 2024 – out 18 April

The genesis of this British sitcom was a phone conversation between writer/creator/star Kat Sadler and her sister and co-star Lizzie Davidson, during which the pair exchanged grim news about their lives – the latter having accrued a whopping amount of debt and the former having experienced a “complete mental health crash” and two suicide attempts. Sadler went to work on a script inspired by their conversation, and the resulting production has been generating rave reviews, sitting at the time of publishing on an impeccable 100% Rotten Tomatoes approval rating .

Revolving around a dysfunctional family unit – with Sadler and Davidson playing sisters Josie and Billie, and Louise Brealey playing their mother, Deb – Such Brave Girls was described by the Guardian’s Lucy Mangan as “singular, fresh, scabrous and unflinching”. Daniel Fienberg from the Hollywood Reporter suggested it could “be the most quotably cruel show since Succession” while Time’s Judy Berman called it a “female-fronted British traumedy that actually earns the inevitable comparisons to Fleabag”.

Dallas Buyers Club

Film, US, 2013 – out 19 April

Far into the future, extraterrestrials will fossick through the ruins of human civilisation and identify crucial historical turning points – the McConaissance of course being high among them. In the second decade of the 21st century, Matthew McConaughey altered the axis of the universe by spectacularly reinventing himself from dopey heart-throb to gravitas-weeping thespian. One of the crucial roles in this journey was his Oscar-winning performance as Ron Woodroof, who, after contracting Aids, created “The Dallas Buyers Club” to find and distribute drugs to help treat it.

McConaughey’s path towards a golden statuette involved, like many others before and after him, a striking physical transformation: he lost around 20kg, looking very sickly and scabby. Helmed by Jean-Marc Vallée, the film is intimately directed and moving.

There’s Something About Mary

Film, US, 1998 – out 20 April

One of the greatest Hollywood comedies of the 1990s united audiences with bursts of shocked laughter and “dear god, they went there!” disbelief. Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s outrageous classic is ultimately a sweet romantic story of an average guy (Ben Stiller) pursuing “the one that got away” – a radiant orthopaedic surgeon played by Cameron Diaz. Arriving at the eventual happy ending involves swimming through a cesspool of decorum-breaking jokes, including the infamous “frank’n’beans” zipper gap and the perhaps even more in famous “hair gel” joke.

Honourable mentions: A Single Man (film, 3 April), The Golden Girls seasons 1-7 (TV, 5 April), Taken 1-3 (film, 5 April), Godland (film, 9 April), Independence Day (film, 10 April), Independence Day: Resurgence (film, 10 April), Ghostbusters 1 and 2 (film, 12 April), Baywatch seasons 1-9 (TV, 12 April), Fantastic Mr Fox (film, 16 April), Chariots of Fire (film, 17 April), Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (film, 19 April), The Reef (film, 24 April), Pretty Woman (film, 26 April), Mud (film, 28 April).

The Jinx: Part Two

TV, US, 2024 – out 22 April

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst ended with surely the most legendary hot mic moment in documentary history: a gasp-inducing scene in which the titular subject appeared to confess to a string of murders. The production helped to convict Durst (who died in 2022) of murdering his friend Susan Berman in 2000. Arriving almost a decade later, the second season picks up immediately after the first concluded, its teaser trailer claiming “the confession was just the beginning”.

The Sympathizer

TV, US/Canada, 2024 – out 15 April

Legendary South Korean film-maker Park Chan-wook is the co-creator and co-director of this satirical espionage thriller featuring numerous performances from Robert Downey Jr as various antagonists. The trailer shows four of them back to back: first he appears in a blazer and tie, then a shaved head with glasses, then with wavy medium-length hair, then wearing a corduroy flat cap. The costume changes must’ve been fun. Adapted from Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel, the story revolves around the Captain (Hoa Xuande), a half French, half Vietnamese communist spy who flees his home country and relocates to Los Angeles.

Film, US, 2014 – out 6 April

In Richard Linklater’s 2014 masterpiece, the actors age along with the characters, the director shooting it over more than a decade. It begins with the protagonist (Ellar Coltrane) as a six-year-old Mason Evans Jr and ends with him as a drug-dabbling university student. Thus it’s a kind of non-documentary version of Seven Up! , filled with pockets of interesting drama revolving around Mason and characters including his parents, played by Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke. The central idea never feels remotely gimmicky; this film is deeply touching and beautifully layered.

Honourable mentions: 10 Cloverfield Lane (film, 3 April), Justice, USA (TV, 3 April), Blackberry (film, 4 April), Little Tornadoes (film, 4 April), Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (TV, 5 April), Godland (film, 6 April), 21 Grams (film, 6 April), Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter (film, 26 April), Master Gardener (film, 26 April), Past Lives (film, 26 April).

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Amazon Prime Video

TV, US, 2024 – out 11 April

After the critical success of recent adaptations of video games Halo and, especially, The Last of Us , the makers of Fallout (including executive producers Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, who created Westworld) will be hoping to pull off something comparable with their series based on the post-apocalyptic Fallout franchise. Based in a nuclear warfare-ravaged future America, the story involves the journey of Lucy (Ella Purnell), who emerges from a luxury fallout shelter into a world that, according to a press release , is “incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent”.

Honourable mentions: Pixels (film, 1 April), Constantine (film, 2 April), Música (film, 4 April), How to Date Billy Walsh (film, 5 April), Little Women (film, 8 April), Criminal (film, 16 April), Past Lives (film, 26 April).

White Fever

TV, Australia, 2024 – out 10 April

The title of this peppy comedy created by and starring Ra Chapman refers to the protagonist’s predilection for white men. She is Jane Thomas (Chapman), a mid-30s Korean Australian adoptee described by her bestie (Katie Robertson) as being “whiter than most white people” – so she embarks on a mission to date only Asian men. Chapman is a commanding lead presence, with an entertaining air of incongruity and outrageousness. The series is very moreish; I flew through the first couple of episodes.

Honourable mentions: Murder in Provence season 1 (TV, 6 April), The Suspect season 1 (TV, 6 April), Miriam Margolyes: Impossibly Australian (TV, 9 April), Creative Types With Virginia Trioli (TV, 9 April), Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius (TV, 9 April), The Luminaries (TV, 28 April).

SBS on Demand

Swift street.

TV, Australia, 2024 – out 24 April

Creator Tig Terera’s head-turning new series starts, well, swiftly, following the bicycle-riding protagonist Elsie (Tanzyn Crawford) moving like a bat out of hell through the backstreets of Melbourne. This is a crime-filled tale of bad debts and bad behaviour, Elsie frantically helping her trouble-prone father Robert (Cliff Curtis) to raise $26,000 to pay back goons. The show has sass to spare, sporting a hot-blooded, adrenaline-fuelled verisimilitude that doesn’t take the viewer’s attention for granted. Look out for my review later this month.

Blue Lights, season 2

TV, Ireland, 2024 – out 18 April

Set in rough and rowdy Belfast, the first season of this raw and gritty BBC series about new recruits to the police force is filled with moments that make you wince. It’s hard to innovate in the well-flogged police drama genre, but Blue Lights feels different, albeit with an at times Training Day-esque dynamic, pairing rookie cops with older and wearier colleagues. It feels very street, the sense of danger palpable.

The second season continues the stories of constables Grace (Siân Brooke), Annie (Katherine Devlin) and Tommy (Nathan Braniff) and introduces some new characters. The show was a big ratings earner for the BBC, which has already renewed it all the way to season four.

Honourable mentions: Shadow in the Cloud (film, 1 April), Deathproof (film, 1 April), Richard III (film, 1 April), Planet Terror (film, 1 April) Fallen (TV, 4 April), The Great Escape (film, 5 April), Of Money and Blood (TV, 11 April), The Stroke (TV, 11 April), Buried (film, 12 April), Faithless (TV, 15 April), While We’re Young (film, 19 April).

FX’s The Veil

TV, US, 2024 – out 30 April

The trailer for this spy thriller purportedly about “a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London” begins with Elisabeth Moss boasting that she “can change into anything, become a hundred strangers”. To which a voice responds: “Who are you?” As if this self-professed master of disguise is then going to say, “Oh, how rude of me, here’s my name and address.” Anyway. The trailer for The Veil is packed full of stagey dialogue (“We all have to make sacrifices!” … “Everybody works for us, sooner or later”) but maybe the show will impress more than the marketing materials.

Honourable mentions: Wish (film, 3 April), The Greatest Hits (film, 12 April), We Were the Lucky Ones (TV, 17 April), Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story (TV, 26 April).

TV, US, 2024 – out 12 April

Michael Douglas plays Benjamin Franklin in a series set during a specific historical window, during which the founding father is sent to France to convince the country to help assist the American revolution. The veteran actor is treated to spit-polished turns of phrase such as “Diplomacy must never be a siege, but a seduction” and “If the price is our lives, we’ll pay it.” Except elaborate costumes and production design, continuing Apple TV+’s reputation for high-end drama. The show is based on the book A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, from Pulitzer prize-winning author Stacy Schiff.

Honourable mentions: Girls State (film, 5 April), Sugar (TV, 5 April).

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One

Film, US, 2023 – out 10 April

The seventh Mission: Impossible has a truly great modern villain : a sentient AI program that has besieged all major global networks, making life very difficult for our hero Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). Will his mission briefing message self-destruct in five seconds or is the computer playing games with him? Director and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie exploits contemporary fears about invasive artificial intelligence and packages them into an exciting film structured around a small number of key set pieces, including a car chase through Rome and a climactic showdown onboard a steam train that Cruise naturally jumps on to after riding a motorcycle off a cliff .

Honourable mentions: Blackberry (film, 4 April), Ticket to Paradise (film, 7 April), Dicks: The Musical (film, 18 April), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (film, 25 April), Knuckles (TV, 27 April).

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