Best films released in the UK this month: August 2024
Highlights include Trap, Alien: Romulus and Blink Twice.
After a huge opening week, Deadpool & Wolverine looks set to dominate the box office for the foreseeable future – but if the quippy MCU film isn't your thing, there are plenty more new releases to get excited about this month.
Perhaps the most intriguing new release – especially when it comes to blockbuster releases – is the latest film in the Alien franchise, which is directed by Fede Àlvarez and takes place between the events of the first two films in the iconic franchise.
Meanwhile, M Night Shyamalan fans have another thriller from the maverick director to look forward to in Trap, and gamers will be interested to see how Eli Roth fares when it comes to his star-studded adaptation of the hit game series Borderlands.
Elsewhere, Zoë Kravitz makes her directorial debut with the thriller Blink Twice, while there are plenty of buzzy independent titles to look forward to as well, from coming-of age film Didi to Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens horror flick Cuckoo.
To help you pick out the highlights, we've put together a selection of some of the best films to watch this month – check out the video above or read on for our choices.
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Didi
Release date: Friday 2nd August in cinemas
This coming-of-age film is the directorial debut of Sean Wang and follows a 13-year-old Taiwanese-American boy – played by Izaac Wang – as he learns how to skate, flirt, and love his mother.
It had it's premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival where it received rave reviews – and there have even been some whisperings that it could end up being a player during awards season.
Borderlands
Release date: Friday 9th August in cinemas
Eli Roth's adaptation of the hit video game series of the same name boasts a star-studded cast that includes the likes of Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Jamie Lee Curtis.
It follows the adventures of an unlikely team of heroes that is brought together by infamous outlaw Lilith (Blanchett), with the group doing battle with alien monsters and dangerous bandits as they search for a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power.
Trap
Release date: Friday 9th August in cinemas
M Night Shyamalan's latest thriller stars Josh Hartnett as a serial killer named The Butcher, who attends a huge pop concert with his daughter, unaware that the entire event is an elaborate trap set-up by authorities to catch him.
The writer/director's daughter Saleka Shyamalan plays the pop star Lady Raven and the film looks certain to contain plenty of his trademark suspense – but will there be a twist?
The Instigators
Release date: Friday 9th August in cinemas
Matt Damon and Casey Affleck team up for this heist comedy about two thieves who go on the run after a botched robbery – and take along one of their therapists (Hong Chau) for the ride.
Doug Liman directs while Affleck is credited as a co-writer and the supporting cast includes a number of familiar faces including Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones, Jack Harlow, and Ron Perlman.
Babes
Release date: Friday 9th August in cinemas
This comedy stars Ilana Glazer as Eden, a single woman who gets pregnant from a one-night stand and leans on her best friend Dawn (Michelle Buteau) – who has recently become a mother of two – for support.
Directed by Pamela Adlon, the film humorously explores not just the challenges and joys of pregnancy and being a young mother, but also how those things can alter and affect long-standing friendships.
Alien: Romulus
Release date: Friday 16th August in cinemas
Fede Álvarez directs the latest entry in the iconic sci-fi/horror franchise – which is set between the first two films in the series and finds a new crop of space explorers doing battle with a fearsome Xenomorph on a derelict space station.
The young cast is led by Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny, while there are also key roles for Isabela Merced (Madame Web), David Jonsson (Rye Lane, Industry), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (Tell Me Everything) and newcomer Aileen Wu.
The Crow
Release date: Friday 23rd August in cinemas
Bill Skarsgård takes on the lead role in this reinvention of the 1994 film of the same name – about a musician who is murdered along with his soulmate, only to be resurrected and become determined to exact vengeance against the killers.
In total, it is the fifth film in the franchise and has had a rocky road to the screen following a complicated production process that saw various directors, screenwriters and stars attached – so it will be intriguing to see what the final product looks like.
Cuckoo
Release date: Friday 23rd August in cinemas
Dan Stevens and Hunter Schafer star in this offbeat horror film that follows a teenager who goes to live with her father in the German Alps and becomes plagued by a series of bizarre occurrences that lead her to a shocking secret concerning her whole family.
The second feature from director Tilman Singer, it premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February and received some strong reviews from critics.
Blink Twice
Release date: Friday 23rd August in cinemas
Zoë Kravitz makes her directorial debut with this thriller about a cocktail waitress (Naomie Ackie) whose friend vanishes soon after she meets a billionaire tech mogul played by Channing Tatum and is invited to his luxury private island.
The impressive supporting cast also includes Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, Geena Davis, and Alia Shawkat.
Sing Sing
Release date: Friday 30th August in cinemas
Colman Domingo stars in this drama about a small group of prisoners inside Sing Sing Correctional Facility who attempt to stage an original production, which is directed by Greg Kwedar and tipped as a possible Oscars contender.
Based on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, the film's cast features several non-professional actors who are themselves former inmates who participated in the program while they were incarcerated.
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