#31 - Sputnik (2020)

 

Sputnik (2020)

(dir. Egor Abramenko)

Set in the Soviet Union in 1983, this movie starts off with two cosmonauts encountering something very strange as their capsule reenters the atmosphere, causing them to crash. A psychologist is brought in to examine the commander, who has no memory of the event and is acting very oddly. In addition to his mental issues, it seems that he may have brought something back with him from space...

This was extremely good. The creature design is the best I've seen in the while, and our first glimpse at it is creepy as hell. The plot is a fairly standard "the military wants to use the alien as a weapon" type of thing, but the way the creature looks, behaves, and needs to be handled is very unique and memorable.

My only complaint is that there is a side plot involving a child at an orphanage that felt entirely unnecessary and made the film longer than it really needed to be. Otherwise this is the best sci-fi horror film I've seen in quite a while. Highly recommended!