From the extraordinary artistry of Who Framed Roger Rabbit to the dead-eyed children of The Polar Express, there is perhaps no greater champion for paradigm-shifting visual effects than Robert Zemeckis. With Here, Zemeckis pushes the envelope again, telling the non-linear story of different generations inhabiting the same house over hundreds of years, all from the same static view of its living room. But although the unconvincing de-ageing of Tom Hanks and Robin Wright back to their Forrest Gump days has grabbed headlines, it’s the least of the film’s problems.

Here certainly begins boldly, with a herd of dinosaurs thundering past the camera through bubbling, primordial mud, only to be obliterated by that pesky asteroid. Focusing on that same patch of land, Zemeckis then rattles through a few million years, leaping forward to its inhabitance by Native Americans, a quick cameo by Benjamin Franklin, and the construction of a small town.