What April is about: a doctor's conviction put on trial
April centers on Nina, an obstetrician-gynecologist whose professional life fractures after a newborn dies under her care. The film opens in the charged atmosphere of a medical community where trust is currency and suspicion spreads fast. As an official investigation closes in around her, Nina's every decision — past and present — is pulled into the light and examined without mercy. What makes the film's premise so arresting is not the investigation itself, but Nina's response to it: she keeps working. She continues to offer a specific, high-stakes form of reproductive care that other practitioners in her region refuse to provide, fully aware that every procedure she performs now carries doubled risk. April is a 2025 drama running 134 minutes, and it earns every one of them.
Behind the making of April and its awards recognition
April was written and directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili, the Georgian filmmaker who first drew international attention with her debut feature Beginning (2020), a film that won four awards at San Sebastián including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay — a near-unprecedented sweep. Her follow-up carries that same austere, patient visual language into even more contested territory. The film is a Georgian-French co-production, shot in the rural Georgian countryside with a largely non-professional supporting cast surrounding lead actress Ia Sukhitashvili, who returns to work with Kulumbegashvili after Beginning.
Sukhitashvili's performance as Nina is the film's spine. She trained with medical professionals during pre-production, and the procedural sequences — some of them long, unbroken takes — carry a clinical authenticity that is genuinely difficult to watch and impossible to dismiss. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2024, where it competed in the main competition and generated significant critical debate, exactly the kind of debate Kulumbegashvili seems to court deliberately.
On the awards circuit, April accumulated 4 wins and 13 nominations, a strong showing for a film operating outside the mainstream studio system. Its 95% Tomatometer score — certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes — places it among the most critically validated films of its release year. The IMDb audience score sits at 6.7 out of 10 from over 200 votes, a spread that reflects the film's polarizing emotional texture: critics respond to its rigour; some general audiences find its pace demanding. Both reactions make sense. Neither is wrong.
Why April resonates: craft, restraint and moral seriousness
What April does better than almost any film in recent memory is refuse to make things easy. Kulumbegashvili never positions Nina as a martyr or a villain. She is a woman doing a job she believes in, inside a system that is failing the people it was built to serve. The film's moral weight comes not from melodrama but from accumulation — long silences, held close-ups, landscapes that feel indifferent to human suffering. The Georgian countryside is beautiful and cold in equal measure, and cinematographer Arseni Khachaturan uses natural light in ways that make every interior feel like a confessional.
The procedural sequences are the film's most discussed element, and rightly so. They are explicit not for shock value but for insistence — Kulumbegashvili insists that the viewer remain present for what Nina does, because looking away is precisely the social habit the film is interrogating. Sukhitashvili carries these scenes with a stillness that reads as both professional detachment and profound internal cost. It is a performance built from subtraction rather than addition.
Thematically, April sits in conversation with films like 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Never Rarely Sometimes Always — works that treat reproductive healthcare as a lens through which to examine power, gender, and institutional cowardice. But Kulumbegashvili's approach is more formally austere than either of those films, closer in spirit to the Dardenne brothers or early Haneke. The 134-minute runtime is not padded. Every scene is load-bearing.
Where to stream April online
April is currently available on major OTT platforms, making it accessible to streaming audiences without a theatrical search. The Where-to-Watch widget at the top of this page on movieott.com shows the full, up-to-date list of every service currently carrying the film, including regional availability. Streaming rights for festival-circuit films like April can shift, so checking the widget before you sit down is always worth the extra second. The film's 134-minute runtime and quiet, deliberate pacing make it best suited to a home viewing environment where you can give it the full attention it demands — a large screen and no interruptions will serve you well here.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who directed April (2025)?
April was written and directed by Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili, whose debut feature Beginning won four major awards at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. April is her second feature film and premiered at the Venice Film Festival.
Q: What is April (2025) rated on Rotten Tomatoes?
April holds a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, earning the Certified Fresh designation. It has received 4 wins and 13 nominations on the awards circuit, making it one of the more decorated arthouse releases of 2025.
Q: How long is April (2025)?
April has a runtime of 134 minutes. The film's pacing is slow and deliberate by design, so viewers should expect a contemplative experience rather than a fast-moving thriller.
Q: Is April (2025) based on a true story?
April is not based on a single documented true story, but it draws on real conditions facing medical practitioners who provide reproductive healthcare in conservative or legally hostile environments. The film's authenticity comes partly from the lead actress's medical training during pre-production.
Q: Where can I watch April online?
April is currently streaming on major OTT services. The most reliable way to find exactly which platforms have it in your region is to check the Where-to-Watch widget at the top of the April page on movieott.com, which is updated in real time.
Final thoughts on April: who should watch this film
April is not a film for every mood, and it does not want to be. It is serious, slow, and morally unresolved in ways that linger well after the credits. If you respond to cinema that treats its audience as adults — that trusts you to sit with discomfort rather than resolving it neatly — this is essential viewing. Fans of Dea Kulumbegashvili's Beginning will find her vision deepened and sharpened here. We at Movie OTT consider it one of the most formally accomplished dramas of 2025, and a film that rewards patience with something close to revelation.
