Sputnik (2020)
Directed by Egor Abramenko
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…
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7 films that influenced Sputnik
What critics say influenced Sputnik
This is partially due to an expertly crafted script from Oleg Malovichko ( Attraction , 2017) and Andrei Zolotarev, thanks to their ability to elevate the narrative’s B-movie trappings and create an intelligence which channels the isolated horrors of Carpenter’s classic remake of The Thing (1982).
Everything that’s not teased in a simplistic poster inspired by John Carpenter’s The Thing (tethered themes) makes Sputnik such a breathtaking beginning for what I’ll assume to be a lengthy and heralded career for Mr. Abramenko.
There’s a scene clearly borrowed from Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, as well as elements evoking John Carpenter’s version of The Thing, as the movie takes place on Earth rather than in space.
While many parasitic alien horror movies have come before, most notably the Alien franchise and whichever version of The Thing you like best, Sputnik takes the time to really explain the mechanics of the horror show.
At a time when another upcoming Russian film is drawing comparisons to The Thing, Sputnik is rightly drawing comparisons to Ridley Sott's Alien.
An alien brought to Earth or found on Earth is a narrative we’ve seen already in films like The Thing or Life , and what ends up being even more frightening in this new sci-fi flick is the horrific experimentation and government secrecy at this isolated facility where the film takes place.
Guillermo del Toro has had great success marrying sweeping love stories with the basic tenets of monster movies -- recall that his last film "The Shape of Water," won the Best Picture Academy Award -- but it requires both an adoration of romantic melodrama, and the vision of otherworldly creatures whose exotics read as movingly believable and thematically significant.
Finally, what elevates “ Sputnik” to more than just another IFC Midnight horror flick is the performance of Oksana Akinshina (“ The Bourne Supremacy” ), giving off a Carey Mulligan in “ Suffragette” meets Jennifer Lawrence in “ Red Sparrow ” vibe.
It has the appearance of an albino snake or similar to that of the Hammerpede from Prometheus .
The creature itself is, in design, beholden less to Alien than to the mutations of that film’s prequel, Prometheus , as it’s pale and amphibian in nature, suggesting a miniature manta ray or hammerhead shark, with little legs and a gelatinous tail that is, of course, so very phallic.
More “ Ex Machina” than “ Prometheus” , with the right expectations, “ Sputnik” provides quite an entertaining viewing experience at home.
Design-wise, the thing is hardly original – think of a bigger version of the vaginal-cobra monster from Prometheus with legs – but the execution is top-notch, especially given Sputnik’s relatively tiny budget.
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The comparisons between Venom and Daniel Espinosa’s 2017 film Life are warranted, but Sputnik absolutely has its own identity in comparison.
If they were arms, the creature would walk on its wrists with its hands/points curled backwards kind of like the MUTO from the 2014 Godzilla film.
There’s a scene clearly borrowed from Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, as well as elements evoking John Carpenter’s version of The Thing, as the movie takes place on Earth rather than in space.
Hailing out of Russia, its approach will call to mind Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) or maybe Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016).