Sputnik (2020) | Film Review

The landscape of sci-fi and horror genre movies can be tricky terrain to traverse. Often seen as the most reliable ‘low cost, high return’ types of films – especially if you mash them together – there is usually no shortage of new product to be found, especially on your streamer or VOD provider of choice. Well, except maybe for Disney+. Ghosts and aliens aren’t usually their thing unless they’re cute, cuddly, and fit nicely on toy store shelves. Personally, I love a good genre flick. Hell, I sometimes like the bad ones a lot too; it just takes a certain mindset – usually triggered by a hangover – to spot a bargain basement creature feature with words like ‘shark’, ‘haunting’, ‘evil’, or ‘alien’ in the title and think, “that’s what I need right now”. That said, I’d been hearing good things about this new Russian science fiction movie Sputnik that just became available on VOD and in a handful of theaters (remember those?). 

Sputnik starts off with two Russian cosmonauts orbiting the Earth and nearing the end of their mission. It’s 1983, the Cold War is still on, and the two men are eager to return to terra firma and enjoy their new lives as heroes of Mother Russia. Then, as they prepare for re-entry, something happens. We do get a brief glimpse of that something, but it really doesn’t reveal much. Cut to a short time later, and a Kazakhstan local happens upon their capsule in a dark field. While the capsule looks to be in pretty good shape, the same can’t be said for its two passengers. One of the astronauts is staggering about in a daze, and the other is…well, if he ain’t dead, he’s certainly sporting the granddaddy of all headaches.

Before too much is revealed in that faraway field, the film cuts again and we are introduced to Tatyana Klimova (Oksana Akinshina), a famed psychologist who is in a bit of hot water due to her unorthodox treatment methods. With the demise of her career staring her straight in the face, she’s approached by Colonel Semiradov (Fedor Bondarchuk), a mysterious military official who promises to pull a few strings and save her job if she’ll help him with a problem of his. And what might that problem be?

Well, a Soviet capsule recently returned to Earth, things obviously went wonky on its return, and the commander of the mission, Konstantin Veshnyakov (Pyotr Fyodorov) can’t seem to remember what that wonkiness was. The Colonel needs her help – not to mention her lack of qualms at stepping over the line – to try and get through to him and find out what happened. She agrees and they are soon off to a hidden, secure base in the middle of nowhere. Upon arrival, things don’t seem overly weird, but it isn’t long before Tatyana discovers that the Colonel wasn’t completely open with her and this is much more than just treating someone with a case of amnesia. To say the confused cosmonaut may be harboring a dangerous secret is a real understatement.

And I’ll leave it at that. Right off the bat, I’ll just say I love this movie. Actually, right now, it’s probably my favorite movie of 2020. I know there hasn’t been a whole lot to rank it against, but trust me: this is a great little genre flick. Hell, it’s a great little flick regardless of its genre. Director Egor Abramenko and his writers have crafted a tight, satisfying thriller that, despite its at times slow burn, really ratchets up the tension from beginning to end and delivers some powerfully shocking and dramatic moments. I was really surprised to see this is Abramenko’s first full-length feature. He’s definitely a talent to keep your eye on.

The cast is spot on. Oksana Akinshina really grabs you and doesn’t loosen her grip. There’s something very captivating about how she brings her character to life. A lot of what she conveys is told through just her facial expressions and how she carries herself. With her words, she is often blunt and straight to the point. They do tell us things, but not near as much as her eyes. We can see this woman is driven and has been through a lot. We don’t need to be told.

Fedor Bondarchuk is stoic and emotionless throughout most of this, a textbook military man. Like the woman he has recruited, he is also not afraid to cross the line to get what he wants. The two make quite the pair, and it’s very interesting to see how their relationship evolves over the course of the movie. Finally, there is Pyotr Fyodorov as the befuddled cosmonaut. I don’t want to reveal too much about his predicament here, but I will say he does a great job at portraying a man who may or may not know what is really going on, and you really feel for the guy as he gets pulled through a variety of wringers, both physical and psychological. He is a man who wants nothing more than to be a hero to his country, no matter who or what he has to sacrifice to attain that goal.

The production design is exceedingly drab, and that is a good thing. Despite being a Russian production, they do not try to glamorize or put a shiny sheen on the era of this story. Sputnik takes place in the waning years of The Cold War, less than a decade before the dissolution of The Soviet Union. Everything has a gray tone to it – the buildings, the vehicles, the sky, the people themselves – and is colorless almost to the point of being a black and white film. The aged buses puttering along the almost empty roads, the tin coffee cups with flaking paint, the references to food shortages, and other visual and verbal cues all point to a society in its dying days. The dream of the communist utopia is on the verge of a rude awakening, a perfect mirror to the realization of the characters that their personal realities are about to be torn asunder.

The visual effects are very well done. The CGI looks stunning and has real weight and presence. This is not a sci-fier that relies on an abundance of action or ‘Wow’ moments, but when things do become more fantastical – again, trying not to be too spoilery – you really believe what you are seeing is real. Very nice work.

To end things off, I just want to say what it is about this film that really impressed me to the point of me calling it my favorite film of the year thus far. While many of the elements in Sputnik are ones we’ve certainly seen before, it was the way the filmmakers crafted their story around those elements that got me. I went in expecting one thing and got something else. With each key moment in the plot, I thought I knew for sure what was coming next. I didn’t. Characters I thought I liked or hated turned the tables on me and showed me there was a lot more to them than what I was convinced they were. Simply put, this is a movie of surprises. It was a real joy to experience a movie that kept me on my toes and kept me guessing right to the end. It is a rare feat these days.

Some will call Sputnik a horror film. It really isn’t. It may look like one, especially if you have seen the trailer, but I think it is a sci-fi drama more than a sci-fi horror. There are moments that will shock and disturb you, but they are not suddenly thrown in your face in an attempt to get your butt off your seat. The movie lets you know well in advance when these moments are coming, and it is the way the filmmaker builds tension as you’re led towards them that really gets under your skin. Looking back, I don’t think there were any jump scares in this at all. Those eventual moments of ‘horror’ were more in service to the drama of the tale rather than an attempt to scare your pants off. And that is where Sputnik really excels overall. As a drama. A very human drama.

Sputnik is a film I think is destined to become a science-fiction fan favorite. I am worried many will avoid it simply because it is a foreign language film. Please, don’t let the presence of subtitles scare you off. This is a fantastic movie that deserves to be seen. A stunning, engrossing, sci-fi tale with characters who are not only forced to come to grips with what might be ‘out there’, but also with what might be deep inside. Deep inside themselves.