Good Morning Lovelies, 

Jennifer Lawrence has completely changed the roles she portrays in the aftermath of The Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen no more, her roles have become more focused on characters who are complex, troubled and passionate. Elements her character in Red Sparrow expresses throughout.

Teaming up with Catching Fire/Mockingjay director, Francis Lawrence and actors Joel Edgerton and Matthias Schoenaerts, Lawrence plays Dominika Egorova, a young woman whose dreams are ruined forcing her to become a spy for her criminal uncle.

After spending years as a ballet dancer, when an injury forces her career to come to an end, Dominika is forced into the dark underworld her uncle Ivan (Schoenaerts) runs to help her family survive. After undertaking horrific training and being forced into a violent realm she doesn’t really want to be in, Dominika meets Nate Nash (Edgerton, a CIA Agent who is seeking to find out what is really happening in Russia. More importantly what her uncle is up to.

Coming out at the same time as Black Panther meant that the film was overshadowed by a huge and incredible force. With audiences witnessing such a huge force, Red Sparrow needed to really clamp down and make its mark to be able to outshine it. But it in no way did and that is due to the downward spiral the film goes on. Starting out well and with a strong hold on audiences that reflects similar themes as Black Swan, the films script and thrills slowly fall into an epic blunder.

From trailers and clips, the film looks like it is going to be hard-hitting, but with modern elements that have made thriller TV series and films work. This, however, uses dark forces to give a dark story that doesn’t lead to any moments of release or comfort for audiences watching. There is sexual violence, pain and torture all mixed into the world of danger that has been written or made in the script to seem normal.

In the first 25 minutes, a sexual assault takes place and the characters play it off. Written as though Dominika has used her body as a ballet dancer to perform and now she should do the same in this situation. Something that should never be suggested, even if it is made out to be something challenging the norm. 

However, while the script and plot lack attention to detail, the actors – especially Edgerton and Lawrence – have studied their characters hard to give us incredibly remember able performances. Both providing something fresh and fierce, the pair team up to give a Russian feature that really packs a punch. It is their performances that give the film their heart. If it wasn’t them in the roles, in fact, Red Sparrow probably wouldn’t succeed at all.

Whilst the film doesn’t pay close enough attention to what audiences want in a modern-day thriller, the film manages to hook you in through performances and close up shots of emotions and raw elements that make it watchable. Both Lawrence’s have come together to show their trust in each other, but tough scenes tilt to close to the edge to make it come to a completely successful film balance.

There so, this Red Sparrow is flying away with this…