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Movie Scene: ‘Sputnik’ Spins Off Into ‘Alien’ What-Ifs


Oksana Akinshina and Fedor Bondarchuk in “Sputnik.”

“Sputnik” (113 min. (including 10-min. end credits), Rated R for sci-fi violence and terror, and some suggestive material). Rating: 7 out of 10.

Taking its queue from Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi classic “Alien” comes a terrifying take on an alien popping out of an astronaut’s body after returning from space. The film is called “Sputnik” (an interesting but odd title), a Russian-made with English subtitles film being released on various virtual streaming services, including VOD, on Aug. 14. Though the basic premise and some of its structure borrows from “Alien, “ “Sputnik” veers off into areas that were subliminally implied in the “Alien” script that Scott never explained or expounded upon. You might call “Sputnik” a “what-if” extension to a few seeds planted in “Alien.”

There’s a scene in “Alien” where Ash (Ian Holm), an android in disguise, explains that the creature that hatched out of Kane’s body (John Hurt) was to be brought back to Earth to be used as a weapon by the NETWORK. Set 150 years into the future, why would such a hideous creature be needed on Earth as a weapon…and against who? That was the nugget revealed in the original film. In “Sputnik,” it supposes that some terrifying beast — from space — is able to live symbiotically within its human host and exit when it’s time to feed. The film borrows the host-parasite theme (from “Alien”), but then introduces all sorts of twists and turns as to how this creature will be exploited by the military. And it’s never revealed what form it takes before inhabiting its host.

Based on an original storyline that goes beyond the “Alien” premise, and directed by first-time director Egor Abramenko, “Sputnik” sputters at first with all that familiar territory, but once more is known about this gooey, scary-as-all-hell beastie, the story takes off in thought-provoking directions. To begin with, the time is 1983, set in the USSR, which existed then, a time of tension between Communist and Western ideologies, three cosmonauts return to Earth’s orbit only to crash land with one them killed, the other rendered into a coma — but the third, Konstantin (Pyotr Fyodorov), lived, but stricken with memory loss as to what caused the crash. They didn’t go very far — not like in “Alien” to a distant planet in the galaxy — but only 150 miles above the Earth’s surface. So, what’s an alien doing hanging around in the vacuum of space just outside Earth’s atmosphere — and in what form?

That really doesn’t matter. What does matter, though, is that Konstantin has been whisked off to a secret, secluded government research facility where he is being studied for an unusual condition. As much as scientists are trying to figure out unusual things taking place inside his body, it’s really a military operation led by the no-nonsense, headstrong militaristic Colonel Semiradov (Fyodor Bondarchuk). Unable to understand the nature — and purpose — for this slithery creature that Konstantin unknowingly expels every evening, Semiradov summons a brainy, decorated but controversial young female psychoanalyst, Titiana (Oksana Akinshina), to unravel the mystery, and bring to light Konstantin’s involuntary involvement as to the purpose of the parasite living inside him. Not remembering anything about how the creature infected him, which is never really revealed, the story pushes ahead as the nightly visits by the creature start turning violent. The military wants to harness this beast, figure out how to control it, while Titiana seeks scientific explanations for this incredible phenomenon. She and the colonel continually butt heads on the ethics surrounding an extraterrestrial that the military wants to exploit. What she focuses on is why it only comes out at night — to the point Konstantin soon realizes he’s been harboring a killing machine.

“Sputnik” is a slick production, extremely moody and atmospheric, shot in gray and green tones where the sun doesn’t shine and all the interiors could use brighter lightbulbs. In that respect, the film is a total use of exploitative methods to create a claustrophobic atmosphere of dimly-lit rooms and corridors — like in “Alien” — and characters who line up on either side of this creature’s survival. It’s an amazing find, but when it becomes vicious, feeding off of human fear to tear apart its victims, and is impervious to a barrage of high-powered weaponry, you know you have an uncontrollable situation on your hands. The whole story is told through the eyes of actress Oksana Akinshina, who delivers a convincing performance as the morose scientist who knows more about humanity than her military counterparts.

Outside of some ridiculous metaphysical techno-babble and stock characters, “Sputnik” features some impressive CGI creature effects and an ambiance to the film ripe for the horror genre. The film fondly reminds me of any number of “X-Files” episodes where Mulder and Scully have to investigate the possibility of alien contamination set in the backwoods under nefarious government conspiracy and cover-up. Even the music sounds eerily the same.

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