Red Sparrow (2018)

An oddly awkward thriller. 

Manipulated by her evil uncle in the SVR (Matthias Schoenaerts), a former ballerina for the Bolshoi (JennIfer Lawrence) becomes embroiled in Russian intelligence and is assigned to entrap a CIA operative (an underwhelming Joel Edgerton) via methods of “sexpionage”. 

The plot is complicated, with countless twists, but just about hangs together if you don’t ask too many questions. What makes the film overwrought and even embarrassing to watch is the excessive violence, torture and rape. It seems to revel in all those things. Yet, incredibly, it’s still a “15” certificate. 

Jennifer Lawrence is unable to make much of her character because the part is so cold and robotic. The sections set in Sparrow School, with Charlotte Rampling as the Matron, border on the ridiculous and farcical – with a gratuitously pervy quality. It makes you wonder why an actress as well-established as Lawrence would have chosen to be associated with the film.

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