Russian prima ballerina Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) gets hurt and her dancing career is over. Her uncle Vanya Egorov recruits her into Russian intelligence with a threating offer of help for her sick mother. Her mother warns her but is powerless to help. She is trained by a cold-hearted matron (Charlotte Rampling) at a spy school. CIA agent Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) is working on an important Russian asset. Vanya sends Dominika to uncover the identity of the Russian traitor.

This is trying to be dark realism and also stylish sexy thriller. The blending is not easy and it struggles between the two genres. I would rather it go full dark and realistic. Lawrence is doing her best but she is being pulled around in this. It's hard to see the chemistry with her and Edgerton. They are both a step away from true romance which always left me wondering about their true intent especially her. That's par for the course for spies and in one pivotal scene, she's asked to play both sides. That does keep me for truly embracing for the pairing. There are also questions of logic. It's hard to imagine the Russians trusting her which does go back and forth. That part of the ending is the most problematic. It would have been better to kill Nash after torturing the name out of him. That would be a great dark ending but again, the movie struggles to straddle that divide. It wants the darkness but also the happy ending. This has the makings of a good espionage thriller but it fails to excel.