Connor Storrie moves from Heated Rivalry to sci-fi thriller April X

Connor Storrie has swapped TV ice rinks for a dystopian future in April X, his first film lead since Heated Rivalry.

The sci-fi thriller has secured a cinema release, according to Variety in a review published 3 October. It is Storrie's first film vehicle since the TV series made him widely known.

Storrie plays Baxter. Lilly Krug plays his twin sister April, and Serban Pavlu plays local gangster Klein. When April vanishes, Baxter searches a post-Soviet cityscape for her, a hunt that pushes him toward breakdown.

Variety describes the story as a tale of human cloning and trafficking set in a dystopian future. The earlier festival synopsis framed it the same way: a missing sister, a brother combing the streets, then a slide into psychological collapse.

Behind the camera is Michel K. Parandi. April X is his first feature as writer-director, co-written with Jack Coulter. The production shot on location in Bucharest, Romania.

Early press has centred on Storrie. Parandi has said the actor was "very comfortable and very natural" during his audition, in comments reported by Variety. Raindance founder Elliot Grove has separately called it an exceptional performance.

Reviews have placed the film firmly in genre territory. Variety characterised it as sci-fi filler drawing on Blade Runner, down to Harrison Ford's Blade Runner frown. The Guardian, in a review published 29 September, called it a dystopian dream-tech sci-fi thriller about the search for a missing twin. The New York Times, under the headline "Before He Was Ilya" on 1 October, described Storrie's character as a grifter looking for his disappeared sister.

For fans, this means a short wait with plenty of Storrie in view. He and Heated Rivalry co-star Hudson Williams reunited for an ice-skating sketch on SNL, as reported by Variety. He has also signed with CAA for representation, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Heated Rivalry itself is moving ahead. Season two was scheduled to film over the summer of 2026, with an April 2027 release eyed.