Rent Sputnik (2020)

FORWARD TO THE PAST - Sputnik review by Frank Talker™

Unusual film-genre hybrid which looks like it might be an ordinary horror-movie, given the general cinematographic and psychological doom-&-gloom of the entire proceedings, but which is actually a suspenseful science-fiction conspiracy thriller.

The conspiracy here is that old movie-chestnut about any government automatically-desiring to weaponise a recently-discovered alien creature, à la mode de The Andromeda Strain (1971) or Alien (1979).

The well-titled "Sputnik" (Russian for 'travelling companion') is shot-through with references to the main characters' past and is even set in the Soviet Russia of 1983. In this way, the Soviet Union becomes a metaphor for a past which must be laid-to-rest in order to ensure any kind of viable future, but which is often stubbornly not allowed to die in its very-real affect upon the film's present.

From a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-stricken cosmonaut abandoning his son in an orphanage to join the Space Race; a brilliantly-intuitive psychiatrist raised in an orphanage, herself; &, an extra-terrestrial symbiote unknowingly-brought back to Earth, the physical and emotional connectedness of these characters is shown in a low-key manner; eschewing jump-scares and focusing on their inter-relationships, value to each other, their personal weaknesses & their intellectual strengths.

The psychiatrist here actually develops a somewhat-maternal relationship with her cosmonaut patient and even with the creature, itself; despite it literally needing the bodies of other animals to survive, thrive & grow - and in spite of the cortisol produced in human brains (resulting from a quite natural fear of the sputnik's behaviour) being its sole form of gory nourishment.

The birth (& rebirth) scenes are superior to the one in an obvious movie-progenitor like Alien (1979), since the idea isn't just immediately thrown away and is actually central to the underlying theme of healthy parenting.

The male host survives each rebirth and we are left with a salvageable-yet-substitute family-unit; albeit one presented as a recurring nightmare since the creature only appears while its paralysed host sleeps. And yet this particular family is as ultimately- and as potentially-destructive of all families as is the child-murdering convict briefly seen at the secret military-facility early-on in the film; hinting at what usually goes wrong in dysfunctional families.

The structural problem with this movie is that the flash-backs to the psychiatrist's orphaned childhood are unclear. She had difficulty walking, was inevitably obsessed with running shoes & yet somehow now walks fine. Her cure is implied to be the result of a spinal operation; while her being in the orphanage in the first place is never explained.

These flash-backs conflate the son of the cosmonaut she is treating with herself as a child, since the former has been abandoned in an orphanage by his guilt-ridden father. This subjective dramaturgical-confusion somewhat spoils an otherwise subtle and clever drama by partly-disturbing its suspense and pacing.

As always, Oksana AKINSHINA is a standout performer, surrounded by men whom are either quite cowardly or extremely cynical, à la Sigourney WEAVER's situation in Aliens (1986). She heads a talented cast whom make the most of admittedly-underwritten roles, yet all of whom help to create the moodiness of the oddly-dank, curiously-underlit & dungeon-like atmosphere of a secluded scientific/military-facility deep in the middle of nowhere.

AKINSHINA's feminine charisma helps propel the narrative in the way that a male character could not, since she is not prone to much leaping-into-action, but to intellectual introspection and emotional nurturing, instead - especially in being the only character to attempt to form an emotional bond with the alien.

A somewhat bleak yet satisfying ending makes this movie about good, responsible parenting a winner.

Good psycho-sci-fi - Sputnik review by RCO

The narrative develops well as Tatyana, and we, uncover the truth of what is going on, and has to deal with it. The special effects of the Alien (reference intended) very good. As often with aliens HP Lovecraft has a lot to answer for - tentacles and slime! The three lead characters all very solid.

Also interesting to see a Russian film looking back to the late Soviet period - bare corridors and lightbulbs, paranoia and little rebellions against pervading authority - so different to Russia today, and more like England today.