Red Joan

Red Joan is a 2018 British spy drama film, directed by Trevor Nunn, from a screenplay by Lindsay Shapero. The film stars Sophie Cookson, Stephen Campbell Moore, Tom Hughes, Ben Miles, Nina Sosanya, Tereza Srbova, and Judi Dench.

The film is based on a novel of the same name written by Jennie Rooney, which was itself inspired by the life of Melita Norwood. Norwood worked at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association as a secretary and supplied the Soviet Union with nuclear secrets. The information that Norwood betrayed to the Soviets hastened the pace at which they developed nuclear bomb technology.

Red Joan had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2018 and was released on 19 April 2019, by Lionsgate in the United Kingdom.

Plot
The young Joan Smith studies physics at Cambridge University. Her German Jew friends Sonya and Leo Galich introduce her to socialists and radical politics. Sonya and Leo are cousins, but grew up together and their relationship is more like that of a brother and a sister. Smith falls in love with the intense intellectual Leo.

Joan is recruited to work for the wartime Tube Alloys project to build an atomic bomb for Britain and meets scientist Max. Leo tries to recruit Joan to spy for the Soviet Union, but she rejects him and ends their relationship, accusing him of using her. She falls in love with Max, but he ends their relationship saying he wants Joan as his wife, not his mistress, but his wife will never agree to a divorce. Joan is appalled by the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and is frightened by suggestions that Britain develop its own atomic bombs for possible use against the Soviet Union. She contacts the Galiches to provide information about the British nuclear programme to the Soviet Union.

Joan finds her work increasingly difficult in the Cold War atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia. After she again accuses Leo of using her, he dies, apparently by suicide although murder is later suggested. Sonya flees Britain. Joan learns that Sonya's child was Leo's, adding to her sense of betrayal, and she returns to Max. After the Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb in 1949, Max is arrested and charged with espionage for the Soviets. Joan visits Max in prison where he tells her his wife has agreed to a divorce. Joan confesses to Max that she provided the intelligence that led to him being charged. He forgives her. Joan obtains Max's release by blackmailing Sir William Mitchell, a high-ranking diplomat and Soviet spy.

In 2000, Joan is arrested and charged with espionage. She is interrogated by two Scotland Yard detectives, whom she accuses of misunderstanding her life, but she gradually concedes that she had provided information to the Soviets. The tabloid press vilifies her as a traitor, calling her "Red Joan". Her lawyer son, Nick Stanley, is at first prepared to defend her but disavows her when he learns that she is indeed guilty. Joan eventually convinces him that her only motive was to stop nuclear weapons being used again. He agrees to defend her and stands by her as she faces the tabloid journalists outside her home.

Production
The film stars Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson, and is directed by Trevor Nunn. David Parfitt is the producer, and the screenplay is by Lindsay Shapero.

Release
The film had its world première at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2018. Shortly after, IFC Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. It was released in the United States and in the United Kingdom on 19 April 2019.

Box office
Red Joan grossed $1.6 million in the United States and Canada and $8.2 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $9.8 million.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of, based on reviews, with an average rating of. The site's critics consensus reads, "A fascinating real-life story dramatized in perplexingly dull fashion, Red Joan wastes its tale's incredible intrigue – as well as the formidable talents of Judi Dench." Metacritic reports a normalized score of 45 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". A review in The Guardian said that the film "can't disguise its mediocrity", and that the film "squanders its greatest acting asset". A critic in The Telegraph agreed that "Judi Dench is wasted in this absurd portrayal..."