This week's new films

Inception (12A) (Christopher Nolan, 2010, US) Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard. 148 mins Nolan pushes the mega-budget cerebral action thriller to its limits here, and possibly beyond, with a multilayered onslaught that could leave you exhilarated, exhausted, or possibly in need of a new brain. The fiendishly complex plot imagines a world where corporate spies can raid your dreams to steal, or plant, ideas. Thus, DiCaprio assembles his team and orchestrates a risky psychic heist involving dreams within dreams within dreams; something like Ocean's Eleven meets Synecdoche, New York, multiplied by James Bond. Even if it follows the logic of the Hollywood blockbuster more than an actual dream, this boldly goes where no blockbuster has gone before. And there's nothing your brain can do to stop it. Bluebeard (15) (Catherine Breillat, 2009, Fra) Lola Créton, Daphné Baiwir, Dominique Thomas. 80 mins Charles Perrault's wife-slaying fairytale has been rich territory for female artists and it's a natural fit with reliably confrontational Breillat. She injects sisterly rivalry and social/religious division into the mix, framing the 17th-century story with that of two modern-day girls reading the storybook, and conducting the proceedings with unshowy restraint. The Concert (15) (Radu Mihaileanu, 2009, Fra/Ita/Rom/Bel/Rus) Aleksei Guskov, Mélanie Laurent, Dmitri Nazarov. 123 mins Crowd-winning feelgood in which a deposed Russian conductor, now working as a janitor, assembles a mock Bolshoi orchestra from his old musicians for a Parisian concert. Cue culture-clash silliness and sentimental turns, washed down with Tchaikovsky-fuelled redemption, but the formula works much better than you'd expect. Rapt (15) (Lucas Belvaux, 2009, Fra/Bel) Yvan Attal, Anne Consigny, André Marcon. 125 mins Juicy, fast-moving dissection of a high-profile kidnapping that functions as both thriller and social critique, as revelations about the victim's private life and splits between his wife, his company and the police muddy the moral waters and raise questions as whether he is actually worth paying a ransom for. Rough Aunties (NC) (Kim Longinotto, 2008, UK/SA) 103 mins The veteran documentarian closely follows South Africa's Bobbi Bears – a multiracial women's group that deals with child abuse, and has its work cut out, apprehending offenders and healing the traumatised victims. At times it's unimaginably harrowing, at others, inspirational, if frustratingly sketchy. Mega Piranha (15) (Eric Forsberg, 2010, US) Paul Logan, Tiffany. 88 mins What's that? Homicidal fish big enough to leap out of the water and eat helicopters? An 80s pop princess in peril? The worst effects since Jaws? This is ironic action trash of the lowest order, and will be more fun to watch if you've bought it on DVD for a quid at a petrol station than paid to see it at the cinema. OUT NEXT WEEK Toy Story 3 Daycare nightmares for Pixar's playtime pals. Baaria Another Sicilian epic from Giuseppe "Cinema Paradiso" Tornatore. City Island Comical slice of Bronx family life led by Andy Garcia. Ivul British outsider Andrew Kötting returns with a strange French drama. Jasper Penguin Explorer German-made children's animation. Khatta Meetha Akshay Kumar leads an Indian anti-corruption satire. My Night With Maud Eric Rohmer's vintage "moral tale" reissued. The Rebound Catherine Zeta Jones attempts to bounce back, as a single mum looking for company. Splice Genetic hybrid thriller with Adrien Brody. COMING SOON In two weeks … A 1980s remake smackdown as The A-Team goes up against The Karate Kid … La vie en Serge in French biopic Gainsbourg … In three weeks … Tom Cruise crazies up action comedy Knight And Day … The fur flies in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore … In a month … Argentina's Oscar-winner The Secret In Their Eyes … Nicolas Cage leads Potter wannabe The Sorcerer's Apprentice …