What's the plot of Sputnik?

Soviet Union. 1983. A space mission returns home, but something happens when they enter the Earth's atmosphere. An astronaut survives, but is taken to a military base, commanded by Colonel Semiradov. The people wait to receive their space hero, but he is kept under observation because a mysterious creature is with him. Semiradov will seek the help of Dr. Tatyana Klimova, a doctor who is not afraid to take initiatives, even against her superiors. She believes that the mission is to help the astronaut by separating him from the creature, which seems to use him as a vessel, while adapting to the human environment, but Semiradov's real intentions are different. Tatyana will discover horrible things happening at the base, so she will have to make a risky decision.

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When a science fiction movie is released with a dangerous creature, we will always remember and garem comparisons to the movie Alien. It is something that cannot be avoided, Alien has been copied thousands of times, for more than forty years.

I thought it would be a movie like that, in the promotional poster there is a woman as the main character. I imagined that she would spend most of the film escaping from the alien creature, while the other characters were devoured. But the story took another path, taking references from other productions, which I ended up liking, despite their shortcomings.

The film begins very well, showing the astronauts entering the Earth's atmosphere and with them comes a mysterious creature from outer space. The first half of the film, is very well filmed, with the common clichés but they work wonderfully. We watch what happens and discover with the main character, this Alien on Soviet soil.

The setting in the former Soviet Union in 1983 gives it that touch of greater intrigue. American films have always shown us that grey world of the Soviets, but this is a Russian production, which uses that same visual style, to represent that society full of indoctrinated communist bureaucrats and with the rigidity of the military.

The military base where much of the action takes place is one of those that instills fear, with those Soviet soldiers in gray uniforms, ready to sacrifice themselves for the country and above all, to instill lies in their people, in order to maintain an image of a nation full of heroes and supermen. Great lies instilled and accepted by fear.

It is fear that feeds the creature. Although it is an absolutely commercial and entertaining production, it has its share of criticism of the system. The fact that the creature feeds on the fear of the people it devours is a clear reference to how the whole society of the Soviet Union felt. It was the perfect place for a fear-feeding eagle to feast.

The main character is a woman doctor, who is being evaluated by a committee because she skipped protocols when saving the life of a young man. She is a woman with ideas and initiative, something deadly in a communist regime where thought is forbidden. It is difficult to completely believe this character, a rebel like her, in that year, besides being a woman, it was almost impossible, but for the purposes of the story it works. Moreover, she can be framed as a character who represents the future political changes that would come later, with the collapse of the union.

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The film's director is Egor Abramenko. Sputnik is his first feature film. But he has proven experience, has made short films, written screenplays and worked as assistant and second director to the well-known Russian filmmaker Fedor Bondarchuk, who is an important character in this film. You have to keep an eye on his upcoming productions, to be his first film and to deal with a story that has been seen many times, the result is outstanding.

Filmmaker Fedor Bondarchuk, the director's mentor, plays the villain of the story, Colonel Semiradov. A patriot, willing to do everything possible, to take control of the creature and use it as a weapon of destruction, to make the Soviet Union, the greatest power. The presence of the actor/filmmaker in the film, has served to draw the attention of the Russian viewer. Bondarchuk is known in his country, for directing many films made for mass consumption, 100% commercial cinema. Several of his films have been big commercial hits.

The beautiful Russian actress Oksana Akinshina plays the hero of the film, Dr. Tatyana Klimova, a noble woman, who is the opposite of the evil Semiradov, although in one scene she tells him that they are the same. Her motivation is to save lives. Her character is forced to lose his fear. The actress's face was familiar, but I couldn't remember what other films I'd seen her in, so I had to look up her filmography on IMDB. I saw her about 18 years ago in director Lukas Moodysson's film, Lilya 4-ever. She received awards in Europe for that film.

Trailer

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