Red Sparrow is a 2018 American spy thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Justin Haythe, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Jason Matthews. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker, Jeremy Irons, and Ciarán Hinds. It tells the story of a former ballerina turned Russian intelligence officer, who is sent to make contact with a CIA officer in the hope of discovering the identity of a mole.
Matthews, a former member of the CIA, advised the production on the depiction of spying. Based on historic Soviet sexpionage and contemporary Russian use of kompromat, filming took place in Hungary, Slovakia and Austria.
Red Sparrow premiered at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., on February 15, 2018, and was released in the United States on March 2, 2018. The film grossed $151 million worldwide, becoming a modest box-office success, and received mixed reviews from critics, who described it as having “more style than substance” and criticized the film’s long runtime and over-reliance on graphic violence and sex, although Lawrence’s performance was praised.
