Rosamund Pike stars as renowned scientist Marie Curie in the new film, “Radioactive.” [68% on Rotten Tomatoes]
Director Marjane Satrapi’s film premiered at TIFF last year, but it’s been almost a full 12 months since then. It took an acquisition by Amazon Prime to get the ball rolling and now the film is set to premiere on the streaming platform in exactly two weeks.
Curie is the famous scientist that discovered radium and polonium, she’s highly regarded as one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. The film doesn’t only delve into her landmark discovery, but also tackles how it was to be scientist during a time when women weren’t necessarily respected in the field. It’s all laid down a little too thickly for my liking, but the film has its fans.
The film stars Pike alongside Sam Riley, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Aneurin Barnard. Satrapi is probably best known for her award-winning animated feature, “Persepolis,” but also gave us 2015’s twisted and underrated “The Voices,” starring Ryan Reynolds as a schizophrenic murderer with a talking dog friend (highly recommended).
“Radioactive” will arrive on Amazon Prime Video on July 24.
Here’s the synopsis:
RADIOACTIVE is the incredible, true-story of Marie Skłodowska Curie and her ground-breaking scientific achievements that revolutionized medicine with her discovery of radium and polonium, ultimately changing the face of science forever. Marie was the first female to win the Nobel Prize and the first person in history to win the esteemed award twice. Oscar-nominated Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) directs this dazzling cast, which includes Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, A United Kingdom) as Marie with Sam Riley (Control) playing her beloved husband and Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk) as her lover, Paul; rising star Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) also stars, playing the young Irene, Marie Curie’s daughter.
That $100M budget is a steep investment for a movie without conventional A-list headliners — unless Lily James and Pierce Brosnan fit that description for you.