Jennifer Lawrence never takes off

In addition to Rampling, there are fine turns from Jeremy Irons, Douglas Hodge and Mary- Louise Parker ( who nevertheless seems to be in a different film altogether.) On the other side, one of the worst casting decisions was making Joel Edgerton Dominika’s love interest. He’s a puppy dog next to her tiger and there are simply no sparks between them.

Red Sparrow takes place in the languid, rich air of old European capitals and it gains no energy from the mostly high- end restaurants, hospitals and swimming pools. There are gorgeous exteriors of Vienna, Budapest, London and lush hotel interiors. The soundtrack is Tchaikovsky and Mozart. It’s like an extended ad for Chanel, except for all the gore.

Gore? Oh yes. There are two rape scenes, several instances of torture, public and naked degradations, a gross garroting, a dead body in a tub with its head in a plastic bag, and more than a hint of incest. The bloodiness in juxtaposition with the bloodless high- end luxury is jarring — but not in a good way.

Courtesy of screenwriter Justin Haythe, the cliches are all here, from the matching sweatsuits the sparrows wear as they jog on their snowy campus to watching spies wordlessly pass packages in dark and empty parks.

This is a film in which interrogators coolly demand confessions in clipped European accents. It’s where a demented torturer lovingly unrolls his bag of evil tools like a contestant with a knife roll on Top Chef. Then he intones: “Do you know how long it takes to peel skin from a human being?”

Come to think of it, that might be more fun than sitting though Red Sparrow.