What to Watch on Peacock: Top 5 Movies You Shouldn’t Miss in April

Peacock is owned by NBC Universal Pictures and has a plethora of movies released by the firm. However, Peacock has a variety of other flicks from all over the world that you can binge anytime. 

Whether you are to watch any movie for the umpteenth time or something from the ’80s and ’90s, a recent indie hit, or a low-budget masterpiece, Movie Insiderz is here to help you decide what to watch on Peacock this April. 

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

It is this movie that has just come with a live-action remake of the 2010 gem.  The story revolves around Hiccup, a young Viking boy, who is against his own tribe’s tradition of hunting dragons. 

He befriends a dragon named Toothless and breaks the decades-long enmity between men and the dragon world. Their friendship erases the confusion and fears lingering between the two sides.

Genre: Animation, sword and sorcery, fantasy, action, adventure  

IMDb rating: 8.1

Rotten Tomatoes: 99 percent on Tomatometer (critics’ score) and 91 percent on Popcornmeter

Cast: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill

Directors: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders

Producer: Bonnie Arnold

Writers: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders, William Davies

Release date: March 26, 2010

Movie runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes

Shrek (2001)

Shrek 1 was the ultimate entertainer in 2011 that is engraved in our memories forever, and certainly, we do not want to erase it. Shrek 5 is coming to theatres on Christmas 2026, and we are still waiting like a child for it. 

Once upon a time, in a far, far away land, there lived an ogre whose privacy was invaded by fairytale creatures, and a talking donkey [how could we forget him!] He sets on a mission to take their land back from Lord Farquaad, who again puts a condition in front of Shrek.

Shrek has to rescue Princess Fiona with the help of a donkey. And guess what? The princess is cursed. The rest of the film is all about their journey of self-acceptance, filled with jokes and witty adventures that are enough for you to be convinced to give it a watch again this April. 

Genre: Animation, comedy, fairy tale, quest, adventure 

IMDb rating: 7.9

Rotten Tomatoes: 88 percent on Tomatometer and 90 percent on Popcornmeter

Cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow

Directors: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson

Producers: Aron Warner, John H., Williams, Jeffrey Katzenberg

Writers: William Steig, Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio

Release date: May 18, 2001

Movie runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes

Face Off (1997)

Face Off is one of the most emblematic movies of its time, which gave a fresh perspective of the ‘idea’ portrayed in that era. The storyline advances as an FBI agent, played by John Travolta, wants to track down a terrorist, played by Nicolas Cage. 

A plane crash happens, and an FBI agent decides to remove his face and replace it with that of the terrorist. Danger awakes when the terrorist awakes from a coma after the crash and coerces the doctor to perform the same operation and give him the face of an FBI agent as revenge.

The film is a hard-boiled action magnum opus as the most bizarre idea of a face-off is presented in an insane manner that the audience has loved in any time period. The Guardian reviewed it like this:

“Woo built his reputation with an incredible filmography that includes straight-up masterpieces such as The Killer and Hard Boiled…but Face/Off is the greatest hit of his trademark style.” [Source]    

Genre: Action, Gun Fu, crime, thriller, sci-fi 

IMDb rating: 7.3

Rotten Tomatoes: 93 percent on Tomatometer and 82 percent on Popcornmeter

Cast: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola, Gina Gershon

Director: John Woo

Producers: Terence Chang, David Permut, Barrie M. Osborne

Writers: Mike Werb, Michael Colleary

Release date: June 27, 1997

Movie runtime: 2 hours 18 minutes

The Exorcist (1973)

Five decades after its release, this one is still a hair-raising work of art. It is equally frightening as it was on day one of its release. It is rumored that the story is based on actual events. 

The story is simple. A girl is possessed by a demon, and after getting medical assistance, her mother calls for the help of two Catholic priests. The priests suggest that an exorcism must be performed in order to save the child’s life.  

The movie is capable of making an emotional assault on the audience since a small girl is the victim of a demon’s spells and is in a hopeless condition when modern medicine cannot handle an apparent illness. The scares throughout the film are hard to handle to date- thanks to the special effects of that time, which did quite well in making the furniture fly, banging the bed just right, and welling the vomit out when needed.  

Genre: Horror, supernatural, thriller

IMDb rating: 8.1

Rotten Tomatoes: 78 percent on Tomatometer and 87 percent on Popcornmeter

Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn

Director: William Friedkin

Producer: William Peter Blatty

Writer: William Peter Blatty

Release date: December 26, 1973

Movie runtime: 2 hours 2 minutes 

Shutter Island (2010)

The movie is based on a novel of the same name, published in 2003. The story proceeds as US Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels and his partner travel to a hospital for mentally challenged people. 

They are there to investigate the disappearance of Rachel Solando. She was one of the patients of the hospital who drowned her three children. The inhospitable Shutter Island is not a home to anyone coming to it. And that is why the story takes a turn when one of the investigators turns out to be something entirely unexpected. You have to see that for yourself if you still haven’t been able to watch it. We don’t want to ruin the fun for you [winks].  

Genre: Psychological thriller, suspense, mystery, drama 

IMDb rating: 8.2

Rotten Tomatoes: 69 percent on Tomatometer and 77 percent on Popcornmeter

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow

Director: Martin Scorsese

Producers: Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Bradley J. Fischer, Martin Scorsese

Writers: Laeta Kalogridis, Dennis Lehane

Release date: February 19, 2010

Movie runtime: 2 hours 18 minutes

What to watch on Peacock in April 2025 (Other top favorites streaming right now)

Dark River (2018), Monsters (2010), Big Fan (2009), Black Christmas (1974), Bruce Almighty (2003), Better Watch Out (2017), Taken (2009), The Fighter (2010)