Ousted from the Bolshoi and in desperate need of money to look after her sick mother, Dominika , is dragged into a world of international espionage by her uncle. Showing an aptitude for the work, she is sent to Russia's Sparrow program, which teaches recruits to honey trap potential targets. She is sent to retrieve information from Nate (Joel Edgerton) regarding a high ranking turncoat in the Russian government. However, when Nate offers her a chance to get herself and her mother out of Russia she agrees, but with the stakes so high, where do her allegiances really lie.

The trouble with "Red Sparrow" is that though competently shot and edited, it neither has enough to say to be an "issues" film nor enjoyable enough to be considered "entertainment". In fact, it can be a brutal slog at times, with Jennifer Lawerence's Dominika seriously injured in the opening scene, surviving multiple rape attempts and enduring several other scenes of humiliation and torture.

Further compounding the films problems is the fact that the plot is well worn material. Aside from the fact that all espionage films use the "who can you trust double triple cross" trope, last years "Atomic Blonde", not great itself, covered similar ground to a better effect, and the TV show "The Americans" has covered the sparrow program and the whole Russian Spy experience with greater depth and merit.

The films failure at the box office has left some pointing the finger at Lawrence herself as not being a box office draw. This seems harsh to me, as the films failing go way beyond her and her occasionally hilarious Natasha from Rocky and Bullwinkle Russian accent. I hope it doesn't discourage her from taking varied roles in the future.