6.5
At the height of the Cold War, a Soviet spacecraft crash lands after a mission gone awry, leaving the commander as its only survivor. After a renowned Russian psychologist is brought in to evaluate the commander’s mental state, it becomes clear that something dangerous may have come back to Earth with him…
Oksana Akinshina
Tatyana Klimova
Fyodor Bondarchuk
Colonel Semiradov
Pyotr Fyodorov
Konstantin Veshnyakov
Anton Vasilyev
Yan Rigel
Aleksey Demidov
Kirill Averchenko
Anna Nazarova
Nurse
Albrecht Sander
Convict Seryj
Vitaliya Kornienko
Child in Orphanage
Vasily Zotov
Biologist
Aleksandr Marushev
Prisoner Ruben
Shamil Mukhamedov
Adjutant of Semiradov
Ruslan Dzhaybekov
Physiotherapist
Vitaly Kondrashov
Averchenko's Understudy
Irina Byakova
Nanny
Grigory Melikbekyan
Herdsman
Andrey Shvornev
Speaker
Oleg Makhin
Veshnyakov's Son
Andrey Smiryonnov
Ensign
Nikolay Starodubtsev
Soldier
Natalya Shvets
Pavel Ustinov
Convoy
Director
Egor Abramenko
Screenplay
Oleg Malovichko
Screenplay
Andrey Zolotarev
June 17, 2020
There's a genuine sense of creeping biological dread in "The Sputnik".
Obviously, the immediate point of gravity for this film is Ridley Scotts 1979 film "Alien". Let me start by saying the resemblance is only superifcal. This is very much its own film. Unlike "Alien" that ramps up the pace as the terror increases, The Sputnik is a slow burn sci fi. Yes, its an alien monster mash up but utlimately its as much psychological, as it is literal.
Does it work? Well, sort of. There's some moments of genuine tension and terror, as well as a sickening sense of what people are capable of doing, to each other. Who's the real monster is a question that sticks its ugly head up.
Action is on offer too but its very brief and over almost before it begins. Whats left is interesting but does not serve up enough "bite" on the action or psychological terror front, to really amount to more than a entree, when a main is called for.
6/10 from me.