Review of Red Sparrow (2018) by Rebecca H — 09 Mar 2018

This film was much better than the ratings here suggest. My suspicion is that some viewers expected car chases and Tom Cruise hanging from jet engines. This is a psychological spy thriller more in line with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Gorky Park, with a lot more blood and gore.

Jennifer Lawrenceâ??s performance is riveting. Sheâ??s stunningly beautiful as always but portrays the icy, terse strength of will of an artist and daughter caught in morally ambiguous circumstance that we havenâ??t seen from her before.

Also, she does a credible job as a prima ballerina with a Russian accent. This taut psychological thriller has a love story as a subplot and the suspense is a slow burn. Itâ??s character-driven and you have to pay attention, but the plot twists all make sense and are not predictable.

It is especially relevant right now and serves to remind us that there may be some fundamental differences between the Russian and American national identity.