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This film is a throwback to the days of realism. No sound stages, green screen or cgi, Red Sparrow relies on good old-fashioned acting. Jennifer Lawrence plays the former ballerina Dominika Egorova whose on-stage accident(?) leaves her and her sick mother at the mercies of the State and her creepy Uncle. Threatened with the loss of her status, apartment and medical assistance for her mother, Dominika is persuaded by her Uncle, in return for security, to play 'Escort' to a man who is then murdered in front of her whilst he is raping her. Dominika is then given a choice, as there can be no witnesses, she must become an agent of the State or be eliminated. Reluctantly she joins the Sparrow School but during the torture and humiliation she is put through (her body has been nourished by the State and so it belongs to them) , she maintains enough of her sanity to use her body and her intelligence to exact revenge on the man who put her in this nasty situation. Eschewing the tired and worn tropes of recent 'espionage thrillers' Red Sparrow has no high-octane car chases, unrealistic kickass fight scenes or implausible stunts. Instead, what you get is a 'grounded in reality' adventure where the heroine feels pain and is tortured both physically and mentally. Jennifer Lawrence is fast maturing as an actress and in this film, we see her at her best. Much has been made of the so-called similarities between this film and the upcoming Marvel imitation, Black Widow (which probably wouldn't have happened if not for this film). This comparison is woefully laughable as Black Widow, like all its predecessors, will be a cartoonish film with no real peril whereas Red Sparrow leaves you with a sense that Dominika suffers real pain. In fact comparing this film to Black Widow is like comparing The Maltese Falcon to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. A magnificent film.