Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
The new Russian horror filmSputnikwhipsaws between suggested horror and schlock so furiously that it turns inconsistency into a virtue.
Its a creepy chamber drama that morphs regularly into an effects-laden ick-fest.
But transformation is in the films DNA.
Konstantin remembers nothing about what happened on his ship.
Whats more, the extraterrestrial and the man have started to mind-meld.
The general set-up ofSputnikisnt anything particularly new.
It has echoes ofAlien, andStarman, and any number of other sci-fi films.
Is it the alien?
Is it the military men?
Is it the dour, secretive Tatyana?
Abramenko also tweaks the usual character dynamics in interesting ways.
Much ofSputnikis built around Konstantin and Tatyanas conversations, and their interaction is the best thing about the picture.
Each is hiding something.
The psychological cat-and-mouse game between them makes the film.
So thats the suggested horror part.
But like I said, the film transforms.
Whenever the alien appears, the talk dies away and we get something more immediate and visceral.
