5 Best New Movies to Watch This Weekend (April 17-19): ‘Roommates’ and More

Devon (Sadie Sandler) is a college freshman in need of a roommate— and on how to be popular. She thinks the cool and pretty Celeste (Chloe East) can help her out on both fronts, but as the two become roomies, Devon quickly realizes they’re more frenemies than friends. Can Devon navigate the highs and lows of college freshman life while also making Celeste like her?

Roommates is a winning comedy about all the crazy antics that occur when you move away from your family for the first time and take the first few steps as a young adult. For Devon, that means finding the confidence she needs to be comfortable with who she is — even if that means pushing Celeste away for good. The film is energized by a better-than-expected supporting cast of comedy pros like SNL’s Sarah Sherman, Nick Kroll and Poker Face’s Natasha Lyonne.

When you were a kid, did you ever wonder if there was a monster hiding underneath your bed?

For young Aurora (Sophie Sloane), there really is such a creature lurking beneath her mattress and it’s seemingly killed her foster parents. She’s next on the menu, and only her mysterious next-door neighbor, “5B” (Mads Mikkelsen), can help her. She’s in luck, as 5B is a hitman for hire and thinks Aurora’s family was killed by assassins looking for him. Together, they’ll face monsters real and imagined with bravery, humor and a lot of guns.

It’s no surprise Dust Bunny is weird — it’s directed by Bryan Fuller, who charmed and traumatized the world with such cult TV shows as Pushing Daisies and Hannibal. He does it again with this film, which is best described as a weird hybrid of kids fantasy and crime thriller. It shouldn’t work, but it does, and the imaginative visuals and lead performance by Mikkelsen as an unlikely avenger will make you want to watch it again.

Twelve years ago, Mia’s (Camille Sullivan) sister Riley (Sarah Durn) disappeared in Shelby Oaks, a ghost town rumored to be haunted. When she watches a video that indicates Riley is alive, Mia travels to the town to find her. But after interviewing several locals and witnessing strange visions of dogs with glowing eyes, she begins to suspect something more sinister — and supernatural — has taken her sister and might take her, too.

Shelby Oaks is an entertaining blend of found footage and haunted house movie subgenres, which is both its greatest strength and weakness. It tries too hard to be both without really excelling at either, but it has just enough scares and creepy visuals to stand out from other horror films. Directed by YouTube film critic Chris Stuckmann, Shelby Oaks heralds a promising new talent in the overcrowded horror space, and the open-ended climax suggests Shelby Oaks 2 could be on the horizon. 

Brad (Mark Wahlberg) and Elijah (Paul Walter Hauser) have the worst luck. Fired from their jobs as condom product marketers, they’re stuck in Rio de Janeiro during the World Cup, and they somehow accidentally blow the Brazilian soccer team’s chances at winning the tournament. Now public enemy No. 1, the duo are chased by angry soccer fans, killer drug cartels and horny environmentalists. All Brad and Elijah want to do is go home, but the way it’s looking, it might be in body bags instead of first class.

Balls Up isn’t for everyone — it’s rude and crude, with adolescent jokes about infected penises, malfunctioning condoms and other below-the-belt activities. Wahlberg and Hauser show an admirable eagerness to elicit laughs in any way they can, and they are successful enough to make this picture worth a stream. You’ll definitely feel guilty afterwards, but what can you expect from a movie called Balls Up?

What would you do if a Category 5 hurricane suddenly swept into your coastal South Carolina town and flooded all the streets, trapping you in your car? That’s the grim reality the very pregnant Lisa (Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor) and a few other poor souls find themselves facing as Mother Nature unleashes her worst. Their luck turns from bad to worse when they realize several bull sharks are swimming around the town and are hungry for their next meal. With the outside world stranded due to the storm still raging, it’s up to Lisa and some dedicated citizens to fend off these Jaws wannabes and escape with most of their limbs intact.

That’s the irresistible premise behind Thrash, Netflix’s latest shark flick that’s just as fun as their 2024 hit, Under Paris. Like Under Paris, Thrash is wackily improbable, but that’s part of the fun. I’ve never seen sharks terrorize humans in a suburban home, but Thrash somehow makes this happen, and it pulls it off through effective special effects, decent acting and a what-the-hell spirit.