Red Sparrow, based on the best-selling book Red Sparrow by retired CIA agent Jason Matthews, immerses you into the secret and sadistic world of human intelligence gathering in current day Russia. Jennifer Lawrence plays the lead role of Dominika, a young woman whose career as a Ballerina is abruptly cut short due to injury.
Left in desperate need of money to care for her mother and pay her medical bills, she is forced into a disturbing world of espionage where she must complete “sparrow school,” learning skills that will help her lure targets into trusting her and divulging the secrets the Russian government is trying to uncover.
In today’s world of online technology, most people expect cyber espionage as the tactic of choice in a current spy movie, yet Red Sparrow brings us back to the tried and true world of human intelligence gathering. While I thought the movie started off confusing and a little disjointed, trying to develop the background stories of main characters whose lives would intersect later in the film, the movie kept me guessing right up until the shocking final scenes, and I left the theater satisfied. Expecting more of an action packed, hand-to-hand combat spy movie with a strong female lead, I was surprised to find this was more sexual exploitation, mind games and torture, making it uncomfortable to watch at times. That said, Jennifer Lawrence did an amazing job throughout the movie, making you believe in her ability to read people in order to better manipulate them, while never showing her true intentions or alliances. Her ability to elicit emotion from her audience was readily apparent as I observed those around me in the theater.
Despite the fact that this wasn’t an action-packed, fast-paced film, I was fully engaged, trying to determine how the events would play out through the whole movie. With the explicit scenes during sparrow training, which Lawrence refers to as “whore school,” and the torture scenes interspersed, I wouldn’t recommend this movie for the faint of heart. However, the storytelling was clever, the acting superb, and many folks remarked when leaving the theater, “That was amazing,” “I didn’t see that coming,” “Wow, I really liked that.”
Movie times: click here
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Director: Francis Lawrence
Actors: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeremy Irons
Running Time: 2 hours 19 minutes
Rating: Rated R for strong violence, torture, sexual content, language and some graphic nudity
