Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeremy Irons, Mary-Louise Parker, Charlotte Rampling

Directed by Francis Lawrence

20th Century Fox, out now

When ballerina Dominika Egorova can no longer dance following an accident, her life spirals out of control and she’s given the choice of death or enrolment in Soviet ‘Sparrow School.’

Jennifer Lawrence has certainly made an interesting career choice with Red Sparrow, and one wonders whether she’d have chosen to appear in Francis Lawrence’s sordid spy story if ‘Me Too’ had already been a thing. Having played the strong Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games series, she now plays a beaten, blackmailed, raped and tortured victim, and it’s tricky viewing.

Clearly not intended for the Hunger Games demographic, there will be plenty of young fans wanting to catch the next J-Law flick, and this doesn’t feel very progressive for the actress, whose character is forced to undergo some extreme challenges across the 140 minutes. It’s a shame, because there’s a good story here, with plenty of twists, double twists and Le Carré espionage intrigue. Just a little more discretion in the filming would have made this more entertainment and less misery porn. More tasteful framing or pulling away at the right time wouldn’t have diluted the drama, and instead would leave something to the imagination.

In the UK, the BBFC has given this movie a 15 certificate, which leaves you to wonder what exactly it takes to merit an 18 nowadays. Lawrence’s character is essentially pimped out by the Soviet secret service to identify a mole who is feeding information to the CIA. There’s a number of candidates and some great supporting roles for Jeremy Irons, Douglas Hodge and Ciaran Hinds, all with Russian accents. Matthias Schoenaerts is cheekily made up to be as Putinesque as possible and Joel Edgerton is fine as the CIA agent caught in the crossfire.

Verdict: An old fashioned spy story that’s saddled with outdated sexual politics, some arguably misogynistic violence and a murky, questionable message. 6/10

Nick Joy