Film Review: Red Sparrow

Directed by Francis Lawrence and based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Jason Matthews, Red Sparrow follows ballerina Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) who is recruited to ‘Sparrow School,’ a Russian intelligence service where she is forced to use her body as a weapon. Her first mission is targeting a C.I.A. agent (Joel Edgerton) who threatens to unravel the security of both nations.

Rating:

I think I was too distracted by the darker undertones of this story to enjoy anything else about it, but it really put me off that Jennifer Lawrence’s character was constantly being manipulated. Forced to believe that her body is no longer her own, she is convinced that her body can be used by others and by herself to either get something or just to say thank you. I didn’t see her character as powerful, but as exploited and vulnerable.

Aside from this, Lawrence gives a great performance but 140 minutes was far too long a run-time. Had it been more concise, I might have been better engaged with it.