A RARE gem comes to cinemas this week in Flow, a film from a Latvian animator named Gints Zibalodis.

In the aftermath of a great flood that has apparently wiped out humanity, a stray cat wanders the now empty cities and landscapes, bonding with a labrador, a capybara, a secretarybird and a lemur as they try to survive the rising waters.

This film is beautifully animated using “Blender” – open-source (free) software – and is a remarkable achievement in storytelling.

Disney attempts to crown a new live-action princess in Rachel Zegler with the release of Snow White.

Going back to the well of classics, this time the “live-action” remake is brimming with computer animation, as they attempted to lift entire sequences from the 1937 original.

Despite an earnest performance from Zegler, and a pretty perfect casting of Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) as the Evil Queen, the CGI does not convincingly bring the seven dwarves to life.

Coupled with additions to the plot to portray Snow White as a revolutionary leader, this adaptation falls a little flat.

The Alto Knights is an impressive effort to keep the “American Gangster” genre alive, teaming director Barry Levinson with screen legend Robert DeNiro.

DeNiro pulls double duty portraying two real-life figures, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello – once influential bosses in the Luciano crime family.

The film’s narrative focuses on the relationship between the two men, and particularly the circumstances surrounding the attempted murder of Costello at the order of Genovese.

A pair of staggeringly good performances are at the centre of New Zealand thriller The Rule of Jenny Pen.

Geoffrey Rush plays Stefan, a former judge who is forced to enter aged care respite following a decline in health.

Adjusting to his new life is complicated by Dave (John Lithgow), a long-term resident who seems to delight in the discomfort of others, and is never without his baby-doll puppet, “Jenny”.

Rush has never put in a poor performance – neither has Lithgow for that matter – but this film gives both men the chance to really show off their amazing capacity (and Lithgow’s accent is flawless).

Ralph Fiennes enters the ranks of middle-aged male actors capable of impressive violence with the historical drama The Return.

Based on the closing sections of Homer’s Odyssey, Fiennes stars as Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca and leader of the Greek victory in the Trojan war.

Two decades after that conflict, Odysseus washes up ashore his homeland to discover obnoxious and cruel young men court his wife, Penelope (Juliette Binoche), who still holds out hope of his return.

Ripe with philosophical pondering as well as sudden acts of violence, this is probably a good candidate for “Guys’ Movie of the Year”.

Locked is an honest-to-goodness, 90’s style high-concept thriller with modern polish.

A remake of a 2019 Argentinian film, 4×4, Bill Skarsgard stars as Eddie, a down-on-his-luck lawbreaker who thinks he’s scored easily when he finds a car sitting unlocked.

His joy turns to terror when the car’s owner (Anthony Hopkins) locks him inside and controls the vehicle remotely, intending to teach the young thug the consequences of his actions.

The film is a string of one nail biting sequence after another, all set to the dulcet tones of Sir Anthony’s voice.

By Lindsay HALL