Oh, man, we really love the Alien movies. Their creepy atmosphere, that feeling of being alone in the infinity of space, the dark images that bring the coldness of the situation into our own body. But, overall, the creature. That perfect being the Xenomorph is the perfect hunter, a monster-size virus, almost indestructible. From its first appearance in that iconic masterpiece of horror and science-fiction as was Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), followed by the action superstar that was James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), and also including less impressive titles like David Fincher’s Alien 3 (1992) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection (1997). Even the unnecessary additions to the saga like the prequels Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017) have some of the magic, the creature, the atmosphere, the thrill. Well, if you agree with me in this initial speech keep reading because you might be interested in the Russian movie Sputnik (2020).
In the movie, 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. The lone survivor of that enigmatic incident hasn’t returned back home alone-hiding inside his body is a dangerous creature.
Sputnik (2020) is the debut feature film of director Egor Abramenko, who already got some recognition with his short film The Passenger (2017) (Passazhir in the original Russian language), in which the feature movie is based on. Oleg Malovichko and Andrei Zolotarev have been responsible for the screenplay. Oksana Akinshina, Fedor Bondarchuk, Pyotr Fyodorov, Anna Nazarova, Anton Vasilev, and Albrecht Zander form the main cast.
Sputnik (2020) was part of the line-up of the Tribeca Film Festival in April this year where it was nominated for the Best New Narrative Director award. The movie has already been out in Russia on Video on Demand, and it is going to be available in the USA on digital platforms on the 14th of August, 2020 via IFC Midnight and XYZ Films. Here you can watch the official trailer for Sputnik (2020), in original Russian language with English subtitles:
