Red Sparrow Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

2. Mary-Louise Parker's Baffling Subplot

Nothing in Red Sparrow is more bizarre and unnecessary than the wildly over-extended subplot involving the brilliant Mary-Louise Parker, who plays the aide to an American senator.

Parker appears in the movie for a single 10-minute sequence set in London, where she gets wasted on Vodka and meets up with Dominika. Parker goes full ham for the entirety of her small role, which feels like it belongs in an entirely different movie and therefore sticks out like a sore thumb.

This whole subplot could've been cut from the movie without really affecting it, and while in isolation Parker's performance is amusing, it's ultimately totally off on a tonal perspective and just further bloats out an already padded movie.

Speaking of which...