Red Sparrow is an intense thriller that follows Dominika Egorova, played by Jennifer Lawrence, on her journey from prima ballerina to Russian Intelligence officer. Dominika is a very driven woman focused on caring for her mother and creating her own fate.
Red Sparrow begins by focusing on Dominika's very successful career as a talented ballerina, however, when she obtains a major injury her life is forever changed. Persuaded by her Uncle, Dominika takes on a role she thinks will help provide the care her mother needs. After Dominika is a witness to a gruesome murder, she is sent to the Sparrow School, where the students are taught to use their bodies and minds as a weapon. Dominika is taken out of the school earlier than expected, and sent on a mission to gain the trust of American CIA operative, Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton). This sends Dominika on her dangerous but thrilling path to use her power to finally benefit herself.
I think the theme of this movie was all about the Dominika finding her power after being betrayed, and the sacrifices she had to make to put that power to use. I think it is safe to say that Dominika was mistreated many times in the duration of this film, but she seemed to come out stronger in the end. Dominika used the training, that had been basically forced upon her, in a way that would benefit herself and her mother in the future. Dominika was given the choice to be killed or to become someone she was not. Dominika was able to trick everyone in the end, and was able to get the justice she deserved from her Uncle. She tricked him into thinking she was working for him, but made her own path and power to change her fate.
Dominika did not leave her future up to anybody else, she was very smart in the ways she worked, and it was hard to tell which side she was truly on all of the time.When she helps torture Nate, she shows just how much in control of the situation she really is. She is always one step ahead, and uses her intelligence and power to control her own future.
The camera angles and sound effects help make the movie a lot more suspenseful. The scene where Dominika is being tortured the camera is often at a very close up shot to her face, and this helps the audience see the pain and fear in her eyes. The music in the movies is often added in at the perfect time in order to create more suspense.
The movie Red Sparrow has a very strong female lead, who seems to be very focused on setting her own future. The camera angles and sound add to the suspense of the movie. Red Sparrow is an entertaining thriller, that at times was maybe a little bit to graphic. Overall, this film did keep my attention, but not my favorite espionage thriller I have ever seen.
Review of Red Sparrow
