There are few scientists in history to achieve a level of notoriety in the same was as Marie Curie. So, naturally, you have to expect that her story would get the feature film treatment. And that’s exactly what happens in the new film, “Radioactive.”
As seen in the new trailer for the film, “Radioactive” tells the story of Curie’s life and career, including her discovery of a new element, coining the term radioactive, as well as her personal life with her husband and the discrimination that faced her. These are all the types of topics that biopics just love to show, so you know that “Radioactive” is going to please those who enjoy this genre of film.
The film stars Rosamund Pike, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sam Riley, Aneurin Barnard, and Simon Russell Beale. Marjane Satrapi is the director of the film. She’s probably best known for her work on projects such as “Persepolis,” “Chicken with Plums” and “The Voices.”
We were able to attend a screening of the film when at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. In our review, we said, “Even with Pike’s heroics on display, Satrapi’s ‘Radioactive’ never amounts to a grand discovery. It’s just a footnote in biopic history. “
“Radioactive” will begin its release in Europe in March. A US release has not been announced.
Here’s the synopsis from TIFF where the film had its world premiere last year:
Based on Lauren Redniss’s award-winning graphic novel, Marjane Satrapi’s (Persepolis) biopic stars Rosamund Pike as two-time Nobel Prize–winning scientist Marie Curie, highlighting the groundbreaking discoveries she made with her husband, Pierre (Sam Riley). Marie Curie is the only person ever to win the Nobel Prize in two different fields, physics and chemistry. Though she opened the door to understanding some of the most potent forces in the universe, her century-old story endures in another sense: she was a brilliant woman fighting simply to be heard, to claim her rightful place beside, not behind, her husband. In Radioactive, as played by Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, TIFF ’18’s A Private War), Curie is a woman with an unmatched mind, a clarion voice, and her own eternal fire.