Red Sparrow (2018)

Red Sparrow parents guide

Heads up on strong sex and nudity. That is past what the R on the box suggests. Beyond that, strong violence and frequent strong language.

Scare

Mildly scary

A few tense or eerie moments.

Jump scares

A couple

One or two sudden jolts.

Gore

Light gore

Some blood or injury, briefly.

Violence

Strong violence

Violence is frequent or intense.

Sex and nudity

Strong

Strong means explicit or repeated sex, extended nudity, or sexual assault shown on screen, attempted or completed, even partly off screen. Any one of these is enough.

Language

Strong

Frequent strong profanity or slurs.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is Red Sparrow scary?

Only a little. Red Sparrow has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.

How gory is Red Sparrow?

Light gore and strong violence.

What is Red Sparrow rated, and is it OK for kids?

Rated R, and it earns it: strong sex and nudity, strong violence, and frequent strong language. Not one for kids.

What is Red Sparrow about?

Prima ballerina Dominika Egorova faces a bleak and uncertain future after she suffers an injury that ends her career. She soon turns to Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people to use their minds and bodies as weapons. Dominika emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow after completing the sadistic training process. As she comes to terms with her new abilities, she meets a CIA agent who tries to convince her that he is the only person she can trust.

Cast and crew

More like Red Sparrow

• Memento (2000)Suspenseful · light gore · strong violence · emotionally devastatingA man with no short-term memory hunts his wife's killer, piecing together a gritty, cerebral puzzle.
• Gone Girl (2014)Suspenseful · light gore · emotionally devastating · measuredA husband's missing wife ignites a media frenzy, revealing a darkly comic and intimate mystery.
• Se7en (1995)Properly scary · extreme gore · brutal violence · emotionally devastatingTwo detectives hunt a serial killer whose gruesome crimes are meticulously based on the seven deadly sins.
• Psycho (1960)Properly scary · light gore · strong violence · emotionally heavyA woman on the run finds a chilling, atmospheric motel where dread steadily builds to a shocking twist.
• Shutter Island (2010)Suspenseful · light gore · strong violence · emotionally devastatingA marshal's investigation into a missing patient unravels amidst chilling visions and a pervasive sense of dread.
• Basic Instinct (1992)Suspenseful · light gore · strong violence · emotionally heavyA detective navigates a web of seduction and murder where every answer leads to more dangerous questions.
• Zodiac (2007)Suspenseful · light gore · strong violence · emotionally heavyJournalists and an amateur cartoonist obsess over an elusive serial killer, even as the public forgets.
• Vertigo (1958)Suspenseful · emotionally devastating · measuredA detective's acrophobia intertwines with a dangerous obsession while investigating a friend's wife.

Red Sparrow is on our Spies list.

More like this feeling

Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.

• “a thriller with a twist, no spoilers”
• “a horror movie that's actually scary”
• “scary but not gory”