Radioactive (film)


Radioactive is a 2019 British biographical drama film directed by Marjane Satrapi and starring Rosamund Pike as Marie Curie. The film is based on the graphic novel by Lauren Redniss.
The film premiered as the Closing Night Gala at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released digitally in the United Kingdom on 15 June 2020 by StudioCanal.

Premise

The film documents the life and work of Marie Curie: meeting her husband/research partner Pierre, discovering polonium and radium, the tragic loss of Pierre to a trampling horse, and her affair with colleague Paul Langevin. Scenes of her life are interwoven with scenes depicting the future impact of her discoveries, including brachytherapy, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Manhattan Project, and the Chernobyl disaster.

Cast

Development

It was announced in February 2017 that Marjane Satrapi would direct a biopic on the life of Marie Curie, with StudioCanal and Working Title Films serving as producers. An "autumn 2017" production start was initially foreseen. In May 2017, during the Cannes Film Festival, Rosamund Pike was cast as Curie.

Filming

In February 2018, Amazon Studios acquired the US distribution rights to the film, with filming beginning in the Hungarian cities of Budapest and Esztergom the same week. The cast was rounded out by Sam Riley, Anya Taylor-Joy, Aneurin Barnard and Simon Russell Beale a few days later.

Release

Radioactive premiered as the Closing Night Gala at the Toronto International Film Festival on 14 September 2019. To celebrate International Women's Day, the film's UK premiere took place at the Curzon Mayfair Cinema on 8 March 2020, ahead of its intended 20 March theatrical release, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. StudioCanal eventually released the film in the United Kingdom on digital platforms on 15 June 2020 and through video on demand on 6 July, followed by a DVD release on 27 July. In the United States, where the film was originally set to be released theatrically on 24 April 2020 by Amazon Studios, it was released on 24 July 2020 on Prime Video.

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 64% based on 102 reviews, with an average rating of 6.05/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Radioactives flawed script and counterproductive storytelling choices are offset by Rosamund Pike's central performance in a sincere tribute to a brilliant scientific mind." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter praised Pike's performance, the pacing and the treatment of the subject. The Independent gave it two stars and criticized the, 'On-the-nose writing that sucks the air out of every scene, as characters ceremoniously announce the film's themes and their personal motivations.' The Guardian panned the film as 'by-the-numbers', criticizing the script and direction, and gave it one star out of five. Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail concluded "... the viewer may decide she'd rather read a comic book."