The Vibe Check
Listen, we love Connor Storrie. After he ate and left no crumbs in the queer hockey phenomenon Heated Rivalry, he’s officially a main character. But his new film April X? Lowkey, the vibes are off. Directed by Michel K. Parandi, this sci-fi thriller was filmed before Storrie hit it big, and you can tell he’s just waiting for a better gig to come his way. No cap, he’s basically just doing a Harrison Ford Blade Runner impression for the entire runtime.
The Plot Thickens (Not Really)
Set in a gritty, concrete-heavy future filmed in Bucharest, the story follows twins Baxter (Storrie) and April (Lilly Krug). Baxter is out here trafficking organs on the black market, while April has a unique talent: she has super vivid dreams that she sells to people who can't dream anymore. It’s a concept that’s been done better in movies like Strange Days, and honestly, April X just doesn't do enough with it. After April goes missing and Baxter gets in deep with a local gangster named Klein (Serban Pavlu), we jump five years into the future. The plot pivots to a wild existential search involving clones, but it’s hard to care when the characters have zero personality.
Why it matters
While the movie’s production design and cinematography actually look pretty clean, the script is a total L. It’s basically a mashup of every sci-fi trope we’ve seen before, resulting in a dystopia that feels more boring than devastating. Unless you’re a die-hard Storrie stan who needs to see everything he’s ever touched, this one is a skip. It’ll likely be forgotten by the time the next season of Heated Rivalry drops.
