Sputnik – Watch the trailer for the Russian alien horror movie

A space hero returns, and he’s brought something with him, as Vertigo Releasing announces the release of Russian sci-fi horror Sputnik, on digital platforms from 14th August.

At the height of the Cold War, a Soviet spacecraft crash lands after a mission gone awry, leaving the commanding astronaut as its only survivor. After a renowned Russian psychologist is brought in to evaluate the astronaut’s mental state, it becomes clear that something dangerous may have come back to Earth with him.

Immediately gripping, ominously scored and truly frightening, SPUTNIK is the debut feature from Egor Abramenko, based on his short film of the same name. A gripping cross between Species and Chernobyl, or Arrival with fangs, this Cold War-era sci-fi chiller features a wonderful lead performance from Oksana Akinshina (Lilya 4-Ever, Bourne Supremacy) and is a smartly-scripted examination of a society unready, or unwilling, for change. This striking, unexpectedly moving debut from Abramenko delivers, and it comes as no surprise that SPUTNIK has proved the top-streaming title in Russia in the past two years.