This week’s movie releases

In World War Z a zombie plague is sweeping across the planet threatening to wipe out humanity. Brad Pitt plays the former United Nations analyst charged with trying to arrest its march, trotting the globe from the US to Korea, Israel and Wales no less, to piece together the clues to find a cure. Based on author Max “son of comedian Mel” Brooks’ Studs Terkel-style mock oral history, it also features Mireille Enos, Matthew Fox and David Morse, while Monster’s Ball’s Marc Forster directs.

Another outbreak, this time of little blue men, hits the streets of Paris this week in The Smurfs 2, a sequel to the not-quite-as-bad-as-you-feared live action-animation original from two years ago. This time round evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria) creates a breed of nasty Smurf-style creatures called The Naughties, which he uses to kidnap Smurfette hoping to harness the blue guys’ magic. Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy and Vanity, plus human pals Patrick and Grace Winslow (Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays), set out to rescue her in the French capital.

From Argentina, El estudiante stars Esteban Lamothe as a listless college freshman in Buenos Aires drawn into the world of student politics by a beautiful young teacher. The recipient of prizes at several festivals, it’s directed by Santiago Mitre, co-author of the scripts of Pablo Trapero’s Carancho and White Elephant.

French Algeria-set romantic drama Ce que le jour doit à la nuit (What the Day Owes the Night) is based on the bestseller by acclaimed author Yasmina Khadra, the pen name of Mohammed Moulessehoul, the former Algerian army officer who disguised his identity to escape censorship. An epic tale spanning the 1930s to the present, it stars Fu’ad Aït Aattou, Nora Arnezeder, Anne Parillaud and Mohamed Fellag (Monsieur Lazhar) and is directed by Alexandre Arcady.