This week’s movie releases

It's been seven long years since Alfonso Cuarón directed his excellent London-set post-apocalyptic thriller Children of Men. But judging by the rapturous critical reception his latest move, Gravity, got at the Venice Film Festival, it has been worth the wait. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play a medical engineer and astronaut left stranded hundreds of kilometers above Earth after a wrecked satellite destroys their shuttle while they're out on a spacewalk. With only a limited oxygen supply, they must figure out how to get back down on solid ground before time runs out. The tense screenplay is by Cuarón and his son Jonas, while the fantastic visuals come courtesy of regular Cuarón collaborator Emmanuel Lubezki, the Mexican cinematographer behind the stunning images in Terrence Malick's latest work.

Thrown out of Princeton after losing his college money playing online poker, student Justin Timberlake flies down to Costa Rica to confront the internet gambling tycoon (Ben Affleck) he believes cheated him in thriller Runner, Runner. Once there though, he is seduced into becoming Affleck's protégé, though he soon realizes his new employer's extravagant playboy lifestyle masks some uncomfortable truths. Gemma Arterton co-stars.

Two of Spain's most enduring comic-book characters, impish blond and brunette twins Zipi and Zape, get the big-screen treatment in Zipi y Zape y el club de la canica. Played by Raúl Rivas and Daniel Cerezo, José Escobar's 1947 creations are pupils at a boarding school who defy a ban on games by setting up a clandestine "marbles club," only to uncover a hidden secret.

Awarded the Special Jury Prize at the recent San Sebastián Film Festival, La herida (Wounded) marks the feature debut of Blancanieves editor Fernando Franco. Marian Álvarez — who scooped Best Actress at the event — stars as a young woman suffering from borderline personality disorder.