''Red Sparrow'' is a 2018 American
spy
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
directed by
Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence (born March 26, 1971) is an Austrian-born American filmmaker and producer. After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the superhero thrille ...
and written by
Justin Haythe
Justin Haythe (born September 16, 1973) is an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his book ''The Honeymoon'', and the screenplay for the film ''Revolutionary Road'', directed by Sam Mendes.
Haythe liv ...
, based on the
2013 novel of the same name by
Jason Matthews. The film stars
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide to date. She appeared in ''Time''s 100 most influential people i ...
,
Joel Edgerton
Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his appearance in the ''Star Wars'' films ''Attack of the Clones'' (2002) and ''Revenge of the Sith'' (2005) as a young Owen Lars, a role he reprised i ...
,
Matthias Schoenaerts
Matthias Schoenaerts (; ; born 8 December 1977) is a Belgian actor. He made his film debut at the age of 13 in '' Daens'' (1992), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He is best known for his roles as Filip in ...
,
Charlotte Rampling
Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress, known for her work in European arthouse films in English, French, and Italian. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model.
She was cast in the role ...
,
Mary-Louise Parker
Mary-Louise Parker (born August 2, 1964) is an American actress. After making her Broadway debut as Rita in Craig Lucas' '' Prelude to a Kiss'' in 1990 (for which she received a Tony Award nomination), Parker came to prominence for film roles i ...
, and
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...
. It tells the story of a
Russian intelligence officer, who is sent to make contact with a
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
officer in the hope of discovering the identity of a
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
.
Matthews, a former member of the CIA, advised the production on the depiction of spying. Based on historic Soviet
sexpionage
Sexpionage is the involvement of sexual activity, or the possibility of sexual activity, intimacy, romance, or seduction to conduct espionage. Sex or the possibility of sex can function as a distraction, incentive, cover story, or unintended par ...
and contemporary Russian use of
kompromat
(russian: links=no, компромат, short for "compromising material") is damaging information about a politician, a businessperson, or other public figure, which may be used to create negative publicity, as well as for blackmail, often to ...
, filming took place in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
,
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.
''Red Sparrow'' premiered at the
Newseum
The Newseum was an American museum dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication.
The purpose of the museum, funded by the ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
on February 15, 2018, and was released in the United States on March 2, 2018. The film grossed $151 million worldwide, becoming a modest box-office success, and received mixed reviews from critics, who described it as having "more style than substance" and criticized the film's long runtime and over-reliance on
graphic violence
Graphic violence refers to the depiction of especially vivid, brutal and realistic acts of violence in visual media such as film, television, and video games. It may be real, simulated live action, or animated.
Intended limitedly for mature ...
and sex, although Lawrence's performance was praised.
Plot
In modern-day
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, beautiful Dominika Egorova is a famous
ballerina
A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...
who supports her ill mother. Following a career-ending injury, Dominika is approached by her uncle Ivan, the deputy director of the
SVR. She is tasked with seducing Dimitry Ustinov, a
Russian gangster, in exchange for her mother's continued medical care. Meeting at a bar, the two go to her private room, where he rapes her. During this act, he is killed by Sergei Matorin, an SVR operative authorized by Ivan. Ivan offers Dominika a choice: become an SVR operative, or be executed for witnessing Ustinov's assassination.
Nate Nash is a
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
operative working in Moscow. While meeting with an asset in
Gorky Park, they are confronted by the police. Nash creates a diversion to ensure his asset, a
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
in Russian ranks
code-name
A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...
d Marble, escapes unidentified. Nash is reassigned back to the U.S. but insists he is the only person with whom Marble will work. Since he cannot return to Russia, he is assigned to
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
to reestablish contact with Marble, which the SVR also deduce.
Dominika is sent to State School 4, a brutal specialist training school for "Sparrows"—SVR operatives capable of seducing their targets with
sexpionage
Sexpionage is the involvement of sexual activity, or the possibility of sexual activity, intimacy, romance, or seduction to conduct espionage. Sex or the possibility of sex can function as a distraction, incentive, cover story, or unintended par ...
. Dominika excels in her training, despite some friction with her trainer, known only as the Matron. Against the Matron's recommendation, Ivan and General Korchnoi decide that Dominika is ready for an assignment in Budapest—to gain Nash's trust and expose Marble's identity.
In Budapest, Dominika lives with another sparrow named Marta Yelenova, and is supervised by SVR
station chief
A station chief is a government official who is the head of a team, post or function usually in a foreign country. Historically it commonly referred to the head of a defensible structure such as an ambassador's residence or colonial outpost. In G ...
Maxim Volontov. Dominika makes contact with Nash, who quickly determines she is a Russian intelligence operative and attempts to convince her to
defect
A defect is a physical, functional, or aesthetic attribute of a product or service that exhibits that the product or service failed to meet one of the desired specifications. Defect, defects or defected may also refer to:
Examples
* Angular defec ...
.
Dominika inspects Marta's room and realizes that Marta has been assigned to buy classified intelligence from Stephanie Boucher, the
chief of staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
to a
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
. When Ivan pressures Dominika about her slow progress with Nash, Dominika claims to be helping Marta with Boucher as well. Marta is brutally killed by the SVR for apparently sharing her classified mission with Dominika who is warned what will happen to her if she fails. Dominika contacts Nash, agrees to become a
double agent
In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...
in exchange for protection for her and her mother, and has sex with him. Under Russian orders, Dominika travels to London with Volontov to meet Boucher and complete the trade, but covertly switches out the intelligence Boucher supplies with CIA-supplied disinformation.
When she leaves the meeting, Boucher realizes that she is being observed by American intelligence agents; she panics, backs into traffic, and is struck and killed. Russian agents observing Boucher realize their mission has been compromised. Suspected of tipping off the Americans, Dominika and Volontov are recalled to Moscow where they are tortured and interrogated for days. Volontov is executed, but Dominika's claims of innocence are eventually believed by Ivan, and she is allowed to return to Budapest to continue her original mission of extracting Marble's identity from Nash. Instead, she convinces Nash to relocate her and her mother to America.
After spending the night with Nash, Dominika awakes to find him being tortured by Matorin for Marble's identity. She initially assists Matorin with torturing Nash until Matorin lowers his guard and she kills him, but is badly injured while doing so. She wakes in a hospital where General Vladimir Korchnoi, a high-ranking official working with Ivan, reveals himself as Marble. He explains that he was initially patriotic, but became disillusioned by Russia's corruption when a bureaucrat he had once offended refused to allow an American doctor to operate on his sick wife. He fears he will be caught soon and, instead of dying in vain, instructs Dominika to expose his identity to Ivan. Doing so would make her a national hero, and allow her to replace him as a mole passing critical intelligence to the CIA. But when Dominika contacts her superiors, she frames Ivan as the mole instead, using evidence she had been fabricating since she first arrived in Hungary, and blaming him for the botched exchange in London. Ivan is killed and Dominika is honored in a Russian military ceremony attended by Korchnoi.
Back in Russia, Dominika lives with her mother, and receives a phone call from an unknown person who plays
Grieg's piano concerto, which she previously had told Nash was the piece to which she danced her first solo performance.
Cast
Production
Development
After Jason Matthews' book ''
Red Sparrow
''Red Sparrow'' is a 2018 American spy thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Justin Haythe, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Jason Matthews. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, ...
'' was published in 2013,
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
purchased the film rights, and signed
Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence (born March 26, 1971) is an Austrian-born American filmmaker and producer. After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the superhero thrille ...
to direct.
Matthews said the idea of "sparrows" and a "sparrow school" was based on
State School 4 in the Soviet Union, though Russian "sexpionage" is now done by women contracted outside of spy agencies.
The Russian concept of
kompromat
(russian: links=no, компромат, short for "compromising material") is damaging information about a politician, a businessperson, or other public figure, which may be used to create negative publicity, as well as for blackmail, often to ...
was also influential.
Francis worked on adapting Matthews' book in 2015, and has said that at the time, he had reservations about the timelines of a
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
story.
Screenwriter
Justin Haythe
Justin Haythe (born September 16, 1973) is an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his book ''The Honeymoon'', and the screenplay for the film ''Revolutionary Road'', directed by Sam Mendes.
Haythe liv ...
reduced the number of narrators and shifting perspectives in the novel, concentrating on Dominika.
Russian President
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, who appears in the novel, was also cut from the adaptation, due to Francis Lawrence's belief that it would be a distraction to have an actor play the highly public figure.
Matthews, who said he based his book on his experiences in the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
,
was also hired as technical advisor, to supervise the accuracy of the depiction of espionage.
He had the Gorky Park scene rewritten to depict espionage methods more accurately.
Casting
Francis Lawrence presented the screenplay to Jennifer Lawrence, who accepted the part.
She stated she admired the character and his direction, with her sole point of hesitation being the "really sexual" nature of the character.
They met to discuss the
nude scenes
In film, nudity may be either graphic or suggestive, such as when a person appears to be naked but is covered by a sheet. Since the birth of film, depictions of any form of sexuality have been controversial, and in the case of most nude scen ...
.
In 2014, Jennifer Lawrence had private nude photos stolen in the
iCloud leaks. However, she drew a distinction between the film and the leak based on her consent to the film, as opposed to the leak.
Lawrence explained: "The insecurity and fear of being judged for getting nude, what I went through, should that dictate decisions I make for the rest of my life?"
Matthews advised Lawrence that double agents from Russia feel "a dread of discovery, a dread of being arrested, a dread of going to prison."
Lawrence also studied
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
for four months. Kurt Froman of the
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...
coached her, as she had never studied ballet before, and spent four hours with her each day for five days per week.
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...
principal dancer
Isabella Boylston
Hildur Isabella Boylston (born October 13, 1986) is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT).
Early life
Boylston was born Hildur Isabella Boylston, named for an Icelandic great-grand ...
acted as Lawrence's dance double.
As a former member of the CIA, Matthews coached actor
Joel Edgerton
Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his appearance in the ''Star Wars'' films ''Attack of the Clones'' (2002) and ''Revenge of the Sith'' (2005) as a young Owen Lars, a role he reprised i ...
. Edgerton said it was difficult to consider having "an interpersonal dating-style relationship ...
ndThat fact that you would have to report any of those kinds of interactions with your bosses."
Matthias Schoenaerts
Matthias Schoenaerts (; ; born 8 December 1977) is a Belgian actor. He made his film debut at the age of 13 in '' Daens'' (1992), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He is best known for his roles as Filip in ...
and
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...
joined the cast by December 2016.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
started in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
and
Dunaújváros
Dunaújváros (; also known by other alternative names) is an industrial city in Fejér County, Central Hungary. It is a city with county rights. Situated 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Budapest on the Danube, the city is best known for its ...
in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
on January 5, 2017. Other filming locations include Festetics Mansion in
Dég
Dég is a village in Fejér county, Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the eas ...
, Hungary;
Bratislava
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
, Slovakia and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, Austria.
Post-production
In
post-production
Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments.
The ...
, Francis Lawrence offered Jennifer Lawrence the opportunity to view a cut of the film ahead of the studio and producers, so that she might request the deletion of any nude or sexual scenes. She declined to request any deletions.
However, the film was edited for the United Kingdom release to remove a
garroting
A garrote or garrote vil (a Spanish word; alternative spellings include garotte and similar variants''Oxford English Dictionary'', 11th Ed: garrotte is normal British English spelling, with single r alternate. Article title is US English spellin ...
and secure a
15 certificate from the
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...
.
For the soundtrack, the 1868
Piano Concerto
A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...
by
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...
was used.
James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, music producer and keyboardist. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores ...
wrote the
score, recorded in October 2017, citing
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
's ''
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
'' and
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
's ''
The Firebird
''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's ...
'' as influences. He commenced work before seeing a cut of the film.
Release
The film was originally scheduled to be released by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
on November 10, 2017, but in April 2017 it was announced that the film's release would be pushed back to March 2, 2018, because it was seen as a less competitive one.
The studio's adaptation of ''
Murder on the Orient Express
''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the U ...
'' was moved into ''Red Sparrow''s November slot. The first trailer for the film was released on September 14, 2017. The film premiered on February 15, 2018, at the
Newseum
The Newseum was an American museum dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication.
The purpose of the museum, funded by the ...
, and began a U.S. theatrical release on March 2.
''Red Sparrow'' screened at
FEST
Fest may refer to:
* Fest, Danish/German/Norwegian/Swedish/Breton for party
* Fest, a type of festival
* The Fest, music festival in Gainesville, Florida
* Joachim Fest (1926–2006), German historian and journalist
* ''Fest Magazine'', is an Edin ...
in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
on February 28, 2018. It was released in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2018.
Home media
''Red Sparrow'' was released on digital streaming platforms on May 15, 2018. It was released on
4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on May 22, 2018.
Reception
Box office
''Red Sparrow'' grossed $46.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $104.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $151.5 million, against a production budget of $69 million.
[
In the United States and Canada, ''Red Sparrow'' was released alongside '' Death Wish'', and was projected to gross $20–24 million from 3,056 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $6 million on its first day (including $1.2 million from Thursday night previews) and $17 million over the weekend, finishing second, behind holdover '']Black Panther
A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
''. ''Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...
'' noted the opening was underwhelming given the film's $69 million budget, and that Lawrence's salary of $15–20 million was too much to spend on one star. It fell 51% in its second weekend to $8.15 million, finishing fourth.
Critical response
On review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of , based on reviews, and an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''Red Sparrow'' aims for smart, sexy spy thriller territory, but Jennifer Lawrence's committed performance isn't enough to compensate for thin characters and a convoluted story." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[
]Manohla Dargis
Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.
Career
Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...
of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' found the film to be "preposterously entertaining" and credited its success to Lawrence's performance, writing that "like all great stars, awrencecan slip into a role as if sliding into another skin, unburdened by hesitation or self-doubt." IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
's Eric Kohn, who graded the film a B, noted the performances of Lawrence and Rampling, stating that "the considerable talent on display is he film's
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
constant saving grace." However, he also found that the film "doesn't know when to stop, sagging into bland torture scenes and an underwhelming final showdown." Giving the film a B−, ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
''s Jesse Hassenger noted its methodical nature, with its minimal action and character exploration, and remarked that Francis Lawrence "brings to this material what he brought to ''The Hunger Games
''The Hunger Games'' is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel set ...
'': a sense of style that feels constrained by obligations to hit a certain number of plot points."
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde (born May 18, 1967) is an American film critic, author, and podcaster.
Personal life
Duralde was born in East Point, Georgia, the youngest of seven children born to Spanish immigrants. He attended Vanderbilt University and curre ...
of ''TheWrap
''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman
Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...
'' criticized the derivative story and the lack of chemistry between Lawrence and Edgerton, calling the film "neither intelligent enough to be involving nor fun enough to be trashy." Michael Phillips of the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars and said, "Half of the ''Red Sparrow'' audience will spend at least part of the running time fighting off memories of ''Salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
'' and ''Atomic Blonde
''Atomic Blonde'' is a 2017 American action thriller film directed by David Leitch (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Kurt Johnstad, based on the 2012 graphic novel ''The Coldest City'' by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart. The f ...
'' and the Black Widow storyline from '' The Avengers''. The other half, meantime, will wonder when spy movies became quite so punishing." Simran Hans of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' found the film to be sexist, writing that "it busies itself with the grim surface pleasures of ogling its central character as she is degraded in every way possible."
Emily Gaudette of ''Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' who call the film a "sadistic torture porn" and would go on to ask "how many naked women need to be assaulted in a film before a director has made his point" and "for Francis Lawrence, the answer is a pile so big it's impossible to tell the victims apart".
The average estimate of Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n publications was lower than the global average. According to Megacritic, the average score was 4.7 out of 10 based on more than 30 reviews.
Accolades
Historical accuracy
According to ''The Daily Telegraph'', "The espionage historian Nigel West
Rupert William Simon Allason (born 8 November 1951) is a British former Conservative Party politician and professional author. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Torbay in Devon, from 1987 to 1997. He writes books and articles on the subj ...
— whose ''Historical Dictionary of Sexspionage'' (Scarecrow Press) was originally written as a handbook for the intelligence community — questions the existence of such training schools".
Proposed sequel
Director Francis Lawrence and actor Joel Edgerton have been open to the possibility of a sequel based on either ''Palace of Treason'' or ''The Kremlin's Candidate''.
References
External links
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{{Francis Lawrence
2018 films
2018 thriller films
2010s spy thriller films
20th Century Fox films
American rape and revenge films
American spy thriller films
Chernin Entertainment films
Films about ballet
Films about the Central Intelligence Agency
Films about the Russian Mafia
Films based on American thriller novels
Films directed by Francis Lawrence
Films produced by Peter Chernin
Films produced by Steven Zaillian
Films scored by James Newton Howard
Films set in Budapest
Films set in London
Films set in Moscow
Films set in Virginia
Films shot in Budapest
Films shot in Hungary
Films shot in London
Films shot in Slovakia
Films shot in Vienna
Films with screenplays by Justin Haythe
Girls with guns films
Techno-thriller films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films