Red Sparrow

In modern-day Russia, Dominika Egorova is a famed Russian ballerina who supports her sick mother. Following a career-ending injury, Dominika is approached by her uncle, Ivan, who works in Russian intelligence. Dominika is tasked with seducing Dimitry Ustinov, a Russian politician, and covertly replacing his phone with a state-provided phone, in exchange for her mother’s medical care. As Dimitry rapes Dominika, he is killed by Simyonov, a Russian operative. After they escape, Ivan reveals that he intended to kill Ustinov all along, and Russian intelligence insists there must be no witnesses. Ivan offers Dominika a choice to begin working for Russian intelligence, or be executed.

Nate Nash is a CIA operative working in Moscow. While meeting with an asset in a park, they are confronted by the police. Nash creates a diversion to ensure his asset, codename Marble, escapes detection. Nash is reassigned back to the US, and Marble does not contact any other operatives at the CIA. Nash insists that he is the only individual whom Marble will work with, and is assigned to Budapest to regain contact with Marble.

Dominika is sent to train to become a Russian operative, known as a ‘Sparrow,’ capable of seducing her targets. Dominika excels in her training, despite resistance to some elements, such as refusing to strip in front of her class, and fighting off a classmate who attempts to rape her. Despite her issues in training, Dominika is assigned to Budapest. Russian intelligence has been tracking Nash, and hopes to find out the identity of Marble. Dominika’s assignment is to gain the trust of Nash, and reveal his contact.

Upon her arrival in Budapest, Dominika lives with Marta, another Sparrow. Dominika quickly makes contact with Nash, who correctly determines that she is a Russian intelligence operative. Dominika reveals her true identity to him, as well as her motive to find out Marble’s identity. While Marta is out, Dominika inspects her room, and realizes that she is working to gather information from Stephanie Boucher, a chief of staff for a US Senator. After a surprise visit from Ivan, Dominika reveals her intentions to gather information from Boucher, angering Marta, who believes Dominika is trying to steal her assignment. Upon returning home one day, Dominika finds Marta brutally tortured and murdered. Simyonov reveals that he carried out the murder as a warning not to betray Russian secrets.

Dominika offers her services to the CIA to work as a double agent. She carries out Marta’s assignment to meet Boucher, and covertly exchanges the supplied information for CIA-supplied floppy disks. However, the CIA operatives approach Boucher, who becomes spooked and is killed as she runs into traffic. Realizing that the mission with Boucher had been compromised by Dominika, Russian intelligence returns her to Moscow to be tortured and interrogated. She repeatedly denies compromising Boucher, and convinces Ivan that she is now credible with the Americans, as she has been tortured by her own people and not revealing information. Dominika returns to Budapest, and informs Nash that she wishes to defect with her mother to America.

After spending the night with Nash, Dominika awakes to find him being tortured by Simyonov, who is attempting to find the identity of Marble. Despite initially appearing to work with Simyonov, Dominika attacks and kills the Russian operative. At the hospital, General Vladimir Korchnoi reveals that he is Marble. He explains that he was initially patriotic, but grew to feel that Russia was corrupt. He informs Dominika that she should reveal his identity to Ivan; the promotion she will receive for outing a high-ranking mole will allow her to further their work by passing information to the CIA. Dominika contacts her superiors to reveal the identity of the mole, but frames Ivan rather than reveal Korchnoi. Back home in Russia, Dominika lives with her mother, and receives a phone call from an unknown person who plays music for her. During her affair with Nash, they had listened to this ballet together.

Classification: 15