Curator Watchlist
A slick, chilly spy thriller with strong atmosphere and a committed lead performance, but it’s also weighed down by repetitive brutality, sexual violence, and a blunt approach to its politics and psychology. If you’re in the mood for a glossy, mean, Cold War-adjacent espionage story, it can work; if you want… Read more
Where to watch: Buy
Wed · 2h 20m
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts
Prima ballerina Dominika Egorova faces a bleak and uncertain future after she suffers an injury that ends her career. She soon turns to Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people to use their minds and bodies as weapons. Dominika emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow after completing the sadistic training process. As she comes to terms with her new abilities, she meets a CIA agent who tries to convince her that he is the only person she can trust.
Francis Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts
A slick, chilly spy thriller with strong atmosphere and a committed lead performance, but it’s also weighed down by repetitive brutality, sexual violence, and a blunt approach to its politics and psychology. If you’re in the mood for a glossy, mean, Cold War-adjacent espionage story, it can work; if you want elegance, emotional depth, or a cleaner treatment of its subject matter, it likely won’t.
Red Sparrow is a cold, glossy espionage thriller that wants to feel dangerous at every turn. It has the look of a major studio production and the mood of a grim exploitation film, with seduction, betrayal, and surveillance all treated as weapons in a brutal geopolitical game. The atmosphere is often the best thing about it: icy, controlled, and unpleasant in a way that clearly aims to be provocative.
The problem is that the film’s idea of danger is too often just repetition of abuse, humiliation, and coercion. That makes the story feel less like a sophisticated spy puzzle than a punishing endurance test, even when the performances and production design are doing real work. There are moments where the movie seems aware of its own sleaze, but not always in a way that deepens the characters or the stakes.
Still, for viewers who can tolerate its harsher impulses, there’s a certain pulp competence here. It’s a slick, mean piece of genre filmmaking that occasionally rises above its flaws through mood, craft, and a willingness to be ugly. The result is divisive, but not inert.
Sally Jane Black · 1579 likes
cw: rape One of the first things to happen is an act of intentional violence that destroys her dreams. Not long after, she is raped. Her rescuer (because she almost never operates fully of her own agency, but always propelled by men) saves her after the film has taken the time to linger on this act of despicable violence. Later, another man tries to sexually assault her, and she fights back. Her punishment is that the school she is in… more
davidehrlich (3.5★) · 1240 likes
I was legit shocked at how good RED SPARROW is (where the shit has *this* Francis Lawrence been hiding?) a delectably slow, incredibly violent, and seedy as hell spy movie for the current Cold War. the sexual power dynamics are Verhoeven-esque. audiences are gonna haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate it. in any event, I couldn’t possibly be more here for the “F- Cinemascore” portion of Jennifer Lawrence’s career.
Laurence Barber (1★) · 974 likes
hey siri show me a straight teenage boy's jerkoff fantasy that's been directed like an over-budget Starz rip-off of The Americans where literally nothing that happens is important but they've made sure you get to see plenty of sideboob while its star is being tortured
Hannah Strong (1.5★) · 762 likes
Some thoughts: - One awful rape scene is bad enough, two is a fucking insult- It's torture porn packaged as a spy film- Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Irons and Charlotte Rampling and Ciaran Hinds should all apologise for their TERRIBLE Russian accents- America is SO afraid of Russia- Has Justin Haythe ever heard a woman speak?- Matthias Schoenaerts deserves better I'm giving this 1 star for Matthias Schoenaerts and .5 for Trish Somerville's costume design and the rest of it can get in the fucking sea
Charlie (1★) · 727 likes
every male director ever: how do i give my female character tragic depth and sex appeal in a way that takes little to no effort? I’ve got it! RAPE.
A stylish, bruising espionage thriller with a similar mix of sex, violence, and geopolitical distrust, but with a more kinetic visual identity.
For a colder, more disciplined look at surveillance, state power, and the emotional cost of living under authoritarian systems.
A foundational bleak spy film that trades glamour for moral exhaustion and institutional cynicism.
A restrained, melancholy intelligence thriller focused on tradecraft, suspicion, and the human damage of espionage.
A classic noir-inflected seduction thriller where desire, manipulation, and criminal intent are tightly intertwined.
A glossy, provocative erotic thriller that similarly weaponizes sex, suspicion, and power games.
A political thriller about old secrets, compromised loyalties, and the long shadow of past actions.
A sly, cynical spy story that plays intelligence work as a web of lies, vanity, and opportunism.
For a serious, tense look at covert operations and the moral corrosion that comes with retaliation and secrecy.
A masterclass in restrained espionage atmosphere, even though it’s much quieter and more cerebral than this film.
A wartime spy thriller with a strong female lead, shifting loyalties, and a harsher sense of survival under pressure.
A more traditional but still tense Cold War thriller that delivers intelligence work with cleaner suspense mechanics.
espionage, Cold War paranoia, female agency, sexual coercion, state violence, betrayal, surveillance, manipulation
spy thriller, psychological thriller, Cold War, erotic thriller, political intrigue, dark tone, violent, surveillance, female-led, adult drama