Illustration by Gina Ledor
“Humans are complicated puzzles of need. What would happen if you could be the missing piece to someone’s puzzle?”
That is the question that is asked in Red Sparrow, the new movie directed by Francis Lawrence. The movie takes place in modern day Russia. It is a spy movie, but with a twist. Instead of being trained in how to fight like in other spy movies, the spies are trained in sex and seduction.
The main character, Dominika, played by Jennifer Lawrence, is a talented, semi-famous ballerina when we first meet her. Because of jealous coworkers who sabotage her, she is left with no career, a sick mother, and no prospects. Her uncle, a high-up in the Russian agency, offers to help her, but only if she agrees to do something for him that involves the seduction of a government official. The end result is that she is raped, and ends up being a witness to the assassination of her rapist. Her uncle, the movie’s villain, gives her an ultimatum: Be executed or train in a ultra-secret service academy called “Sparrow”, that turns young women and men into weapons of seduction and sexual frustration. What comes from this is two hours and thirty minutes of gore, betrayal, and sexuality, all ingredients that you need for a good spy movie.
The movie had questions ingrained into it’s plot that leaves the viewer wondering about the answers. One question comes from the “Matron” of the Sparrow Academy, who asks, “What is love? A need to feel wanted or a need to finally not feel alone?” This is the movie in a nutshell; a lot of existential questions that go unanswered, all accompanied by stylistic sets and generic characters.
The idea was interesting but not new. The writing, which was the weakest link in the film, was confusing and didn’t make a lot of sense. It left me with loose ends and ideas that weren’t fully explained, but Jennifer Lawrence’s performance saved it for me.
Lawrence was able to play a victim and a victor at the same time. The film is controversial because it objectifies women, while at the same time presenting sexuality and seduction as the source of women’s power. Additionally, the main protagonist is controlled by men. In the end, she is a play toy of the male characters’ sexual attention. A quote from Dominika’s fellow Sparrow roommate sums up the “role” of women in this movie. “We will always be their sluts.” However, Lawrence’s character becomes more than that. Dominika is able to take the male attention that she gets, and turns it on it’s head. Instead of being a sexual chess piece of the Russian government, she takes control of her life. While that may have been what the filmmakers were trying to achieve with this movie, in the end, almost every woman in the movie is simply a sexual object.
I recommend seeing this movie. Not only because it is a showcase of Lawrence’s talent as an actress, but because it is a very entertaining to watch on the screen. But not much more than that.