Red Sparrow

UK Release Date. 1 March 2018
Certification. 15
Running Time. 2 hours 20 mins
Director. Francis Lawrence
Cast. Joel Edgerton, Ciarán Hinds, Jeremy Irons, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlotte Rampling, Thekla Reuten, Joely Richardson, Matthias Schoenaerts.
Rating. 56%

Review.

When Dominika Egorova's (Jennifer Lawrence) promising ballet career is graphically cut short by injury, she is coerced by her uncle (Matthias Schoenaerts) into becoming a sexually manipulative 'sparrow' for the Russian intelligence agency.

The premise may sound somewhat familiar - a seductive female Russian secret agent with a background in ballet. But Red Sparrow was released three years before the Marvel Studios' stand alone Black Widow outing. In truth, Red Sparrow shares more DNA with an intricately-plotted John le Carré novel than any Marvel Cinematic Universe output.

Director Francis Lawrence offers an uncompromising attitude to graphic, mature content. For example, watching the 'sparrows' dehumanising training regime is not for the faint-hearted. Indeed, there appears a shocking willingness to go to the limit of what's acceptable in a contemporary studio output - there's full frontal nudity, violent rape, implied incest, graphic torture and a darkly sexual atmosphere throughout.

Whilst Red Sparrow occasionally threatens to reach the heights of other films of the genre, it ultimately lacks the style of La Femme Nikita or the kinetic energy of Atomic Blonde.

The film, based on Jason Matthews' trilogy of novels is surprisingly light in action and the fact that a second instalment has yet to be produced speaks volumes.