Movie Review—Red Sparrow

Theatrical release poster

by Peter J. O'Connell

Red Sparrow. Released: March 2018. Runtime: 139 mins. MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, torture, sexual content, language, and some graphic nudity.

In her rise to superstardom, Jennifer Lawrence has appeared in a diverse assortment of movies, including: rural thrillers (Winter's Bone), X-Men blockbusters, dystopian epics (The Hunger Games series), satires and comedies, (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Joy), offbeat allegories (Mother!). In Red Sparrow, directed by Francis Lawrence (no relation), she stars in a film that could be said to have been put together from several types of movies. 

At first Red Sparrow seems to be a movie about a dancer. Lawrence is Dominika Egorova, a ballerina in today's Russia. Dominika's beloved mother (Joely Richardson) is an invalid who requires frequent monitoring. Dominika's apartment and her mother's care are paid for by the ballet company. When treachery causes Dominika to have a career-ending injury and the ballet company cuts off aid, Dominika and her mother face a bleak and uncertain future. 

At this point Dominika is approached by Vanya (Matthias Schoenaerts), her sleazy uncle, who works in the Russian intelligence service. Vanya says that if Dominika carries out a seduction and some intelligence tasks, her mother's needs will be taken care of. Dominika reluctantly agrees and finds that she has entered into a world of political treachery worse than the personal treachery that ended her career as a ballerina. Brutal developments require her to take up a a career of intrigue, and the movie becomes a spy movie. 

Dominika is sent to “sparrow school” for training in espionage techniques, including how to use charm and sexuality to seduce subjects and gain useful information from them. As the icy headmistress (Charlotte Rampling) puts it: “Your body belongs to the state.” Dominika excels at much of the training, but she resists some of it, calling the school a “whore school.” Despite her defiance, she graduates with high marks and is given an important assignment. 

The scenes at the sparrow school involving the learning of spycraft and the interaction of Dominika and the headmistress are fascinating, but it must be said that at times in these scenes and some later ones, the movie's sexual content and graphic nudity move it from spy thriller to the so-called “erotic thriller” genre. (Some would even say “almost soft porn.”) But the character Dominika and the skillful actress playing her both succeed in retaining their integrity. 

In the meantime, Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), a CIA operative is working in Moscow with a “mole,” codename Marble, within Russian intelligence. Nate is the only person with whom Marble will work. A setback causes Nate to have to return to the U.S. for a time, but he then is sent to Budapest to regain contact with Marble.

The headmistress told her students that “the Cold War did not end; it merely shattered into a thousand pieces.” Dominika is sent to Budapest to try and gain the trust of Nate and learn the identity of Marble. Dominika deals with this piece of the Cold War assigned to her by setting out to establish a hot relationship with Nate, while the twists, turns, crosses, and double-crosses of a spy thriller take place around the two. The strong violence involved in these developments is dwelt on at such length and close up that the spy thriller at times takes on the aspects of a “slasher flick” or what is sometimes called “torture porn.” However, again, Dominika and Lawrence (Jennifer) retain their integrity.

Does the Dominika-Nate relationship move from maneuver to more? Is the identity of Marble discovered? The movie is worth seeing to find out (but pay attention to the MPAA rating first). The performances of Jennifer Lawrence and Charlotte Rampling are fine. It must be said, however, that though the relationship of Dominika and Nate becomes “hot” visually, there is not much personal “chemistry” between the two. Also, the film's overall form is somewhat misshapen. So much time is spent–interesting though it is—on backstory that the major story line, set in Budapest, seems foreshortened, despite the movie being longer than most. 

“Footnotes” to the film: (1) Francis Lawrence also directed Jennifer Lawrence in three films in The Hunger Games series. (2) Red Sparrow is based on a novel, well regarded for its “inside” detail, by Jason Matthews, a former CIA operative. Curiously, the novel contains a recipe in every chapter.