central intelligence agency (cia)sexual abusebudapest, hungarybased on novel or bookself sacrificespypatriotismseductiontrainingdouble agentchechnyahospitaltorturemolefemale spy
Prima ballerina Dominika Egorova faces a bleak and uncertain future after she suffers an injury that ends her career. She soon turns to Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people to use their minds and bodies as weapons. Dominika emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow after completing the sadistic training process. As she comes to terms with her new abilities, she meets a CIA agent who... see more
Prima ballerina Dominika Egorova faces a bleak and uncertain future after she suffers an injury that ends her career. She soon turns to Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people to use their minds and bodies as weapons. Dominika emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow after completing the sadistic training process. As she comes to terms with her new abilities, she meets a CIA agent who... see more
I've watched over 10 movies with Lawrence, which is nearly a half of her filmography to date, and her acting was the best in this one. The Russian accent she did was pretty accurate, making her sound quite different from her normal self.
Watching this the day after Atomic Blonde, another spy movie with a female lead, Russians and plot twists, and knowing Joel Edgerton's role in The Gift, I sometimes questioned the main character's allegiance (though I always leaned towards her hating the Russian past and thus choosing the Americans; I also guessed the person she'd give away).
There were some noticeable inaccuracies in the portrayal of the Russians, like in the beginning where the road patrol service ("DPS") were chasing a guy for something other than a traffic violation, and they were called militsiya, despite having been renamed to police a couple of years ago. I also don't think there are schools of the sort the movie showed, but I don't mind the idea, because I understand that it's not a documentary, nor does it even have a line that says "based on true events", and the gist of the plot is in line with how the Russian government sees its citizens. It's also true that women have been used to get in bed with and discredit the opposition there. Regardless, the movie isn't that political, and it's more of an emotional thriller about trust and betrayal that happens to revolve around Russia.