Science fiction has always been one of the most compelling subgenre of horror.  There has been the thrillers such as ALIEN (1979), attacking robots in midnight movies such as CHOPPING MALL (1986), and intellectually stimulating such as ANNIHILATION (2018).  The new Russian language film, SPUTNIK (2020), seems to merge them all together in an effective way.

Discredited psychiatrist, Tatyana Klimova (Oksana Akinshina), is approached by Colonel Semiradov (Fyodor Bondarchuk) to work with recently returned cosmonaut Konstantin (Pyotr Fyodorov).  She is told he is having post traumatic stress syndrome from his space mission.  Soon she heads to a government base in Kazakhstan to meet with Konstantin.  After she give her diagnosis to Colonel Semiradov on the cosmonaut, he explains to her the real reason for her summons.

The movie was picked up by IFC and released in the United States during the summer.  The dark and melancholic picture’s atmosphere is enhanced as a period piece taking place in 1983 during the Soviet era.  The movie holds fantastic reviews on such aggregator sites as Rotten Tomatoes.  Dark Discussions decides to take a look at this overlooked film and gives their thoughts.