Spy movies don’t get a lot seedier than Red Sparrow . The new thriller stars Jennifer Lawrence as a Russian woman coerced into joining a secret government program designed to train women and men to exploit the sexual desires of the enemy, by any means necessary, no matter how repugnant they may be.

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It’s a grotesque concept but it might have at least been interesting if the filmmakers had anything interesting to say about it. Instead, director Francis Lawrence’s film tries to operate as a slick, sensual spy blockbuster while also constantly acknowledging just how messed up every single thing about it really is. It’s hard to take the film’s critique of dehumanization seriously when it takes every opportunity possible to luxuriate in its prurience, and it’s impossible to enjoy the film as a superficial thrill ride when every single scene is built on a foundation of horrific abuse.Jennifer Lawrence plays Dominika Egorova, a promising ballerina who suffers a debilitating leg injury, and now has to find another way to take care of her ailing mother. Unfortunately, she has an uncle named, in a rare moment of Red Sparrow levity, Vanya (Matthias Schoenaerts), who works for the Russian government and has a job that needs to be done. Vanya tells Dominika to seduce one of her high-profile fans but, when her mark gets her alone, he brutalizes Dominika and then gets violently murdered, in one of the many scenes in Red Sparrow that is legitimately hard to watch.Dominika, now a witness to a political assassination, is given two options: death, or, since she is adept at seduction, a job. Picking the latter, she gets sent to a training facility where young women and men are taught to shut down their own humanity, give their bodies to the state, and learn to have sex with anybody, in any situation. It is a long and painful process of breaking down one’s free will, filled with many scenes of sexual violence, and by the time she leaves, Dominika is very much changed.Finally, Dominika is given her assignment: to seduce an American spy named Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), and get him to reveal the name of a mole within the Russian government. But Dominika has other plans, and a twisting-turning game of twisty-turny twists commences.And by this point it’s extremely hard to care about plot points like phony bank accounts, stolen computer files and double-agents. Red Sparrow spends so much time highlighting the sexism and violence at the core of its story that it’s hard to believe it actually expects us to be entertained by anything else that happens.It’s hard to find a movie appealing when every thing about it except the cinematography and production design is ugly and brutal. And by that point you might even start resenting the beautiful imagery for failing to read the room, and veering so far away from what should - by all rights - be the point.Jennifer Lawrence is a supremely talented performer, and the same could be said for most of the cast, but they seem trapped by this disturbing material. Lawrence, in particular, is victimized throughout the entirety of Red Sparrow, making it difficult to appreciate just how much effort she puts into creating a nuanced character between those overpoweringly uncomfortable moments.The film spends more time looking at Lawrence than giving us insight into her state of mind, treating her so much like an object of fascination that you start to wonder whether the filmmakers have any idea what the point of their own story is.