Red Joan

{{Infobox film

| name = Red Joan

| image = Red Joan poster.jpg

| caption = UK Theatrical release poster

| director = Trevor Nunn

| producer = David Parfitt

| writer = Lindsay Shapero

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = George Fenton

| cinematography = Zac Nicholson

| editing = Kristina Hetherington

| production_companies = {{Plainlist|

Trademark Films
Quickfire
Embankment Films
Twickenham Studios
Cambridge Picture Company

}}

| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2018|9|7|TIFF|2019|4|19|United Kingdom}}

| runtime = 101 minutes

| distributor = Lionsgate

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| budget =

| gross = $9.8 million{{cite web |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Red-Joan-(UK)-(2018)#tab=summary |title=Red Joan (2018) |website=The Numbers |publisher=Nash Information Services, LLC |accessdate=August 11, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=redjoan.htm |title=Red Joan (2018)|website=Box Office Mojo |publisher=IMDb |accessdate=June 16, 2019}}

}}

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.{{cite news|last=Grater|first=Tom|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/judi-dench-sophie-cookson-to-star-in-trevor-nunns-red-joan-exclusive/5122043.article|title=Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson to star in Trevor Nunn's 'Red Joan' (exclusive)|work=Screendaily|date=7 September 2017|access-date=17 May 2019}} Norwood worked at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association as a secretary and supplied the Soviet Union with nuclear secrets.{{Cite web|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/movies/2019/05/10/Red-Joan-movie-review-Judi-Dench-Sophie-Cookson-real-life-spy/stories/201905090106|title='Red Joan' explores real-life spy's recruitment, life and dilemma|website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|language=en|access-date=2019-05-12}} The information that Norwood betrayed to the Soviets hastened the pace at which they developed nuclear bomb technology.{{Cite web|url=https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/review-judi-dench-shows-range-in-red-joan-portraying-a-complete-idiot|title=Review: Judi Dench shows range in 'Red Joan,' portraying a complete idiot|last=LaSalle|first=Mick|date=April 22, 2019|website=San Francisco Chronicle|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-12}}

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. Joan and Max travel by ship to Canada, to work on atomic bomb research. 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 and Max visit Montreal, where Leo contacts Joan again at the Université de Montréal, urging her to spy for the Soviet Union, but she again refuses. 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 by the KGB is later suggested. Sonya flees Britain. Joan learns that Sonya had a child with Leo, 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. Joan and Max escape to Australia with new identities supplied by Mitchell.

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.

Cast

{{cast listing|

Judi Dench as Joan Elizabeth Stanley
Sophie Cookson as young Joan Smith
Nina Sosanya as Ms Hart
Tom Hughes as Leo Galich
Tereza Srbova as Sonya
Stephen Campbell Moore as Professor Max Davis (alias as M. Stanley)
Ben Miles as Attorney Nick Stanley, son of Joan Stanley and Max
Freddie Gaminara as William, later Sir William Mitchell
Raj Swamy as Kharak
Laurence Spellman as Patrick Adams
Stephen Boxer as Peter Kierl
Robin Soans as Clement Attlee
Kevin Fuller as Detective Philips
Simon Ludders as Ship's Captain
Ciarán Owens as Detective Hughes
Irfan Shamji as Journalist
Adrian Wheeler as Heckler at Rally
Steven Hillman as Prison Guard
James Yeates as Reporter
Connor Wolf as Student
Phill Langhorne as Uniformed Officer

}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/judi-denchs-red-joan-sells-internationally-afm-2017-1054587|title=AFM: Judi Dench's 'Red Joan' Biopic Sells Internationally (Exclusive)|author=|date=3 November 2017|website=hollywoodreporter.com|accessdate=9 February 2018}}

=Filming=

Filming was done on location at Cambridge University, in the two colleges featured in the original novel, Newnham College and St. John's College, and elsewhere in and around Cambridge.{{Cite web |title=Where is Red Joan filmed? Cambridge locations they chose for filming |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/where-is-red-joan-filmed-cambridge-locations-they-chose-for-filming/ |last=Rowney |first=Jo-Anne |website=Radio Times |publisher=Immediate Media Company |date=August 13, 2019 |access-date=March 31, 2025}} Some scenes were filmed at The Historic Dockyard Chatham.{{Cite web |title=Red Joan (2019) |url=https://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/filmed-in-kent/2019/04/red-joan-2019/ |website=Kent Film Office |publisher=Kent County Council |date=April 15, 2019 |access-date=March 31, 2025}} Farnborough Historic Wind Tunnels were used for a nuclear reactor building.{{Cite web |title=Red Joan - Trademark Films |url=https://thelocationmanager.co.uk/page-5/files/b27fab9df29fe68029819e872d468abb-11.html |website=The Location Manager |date=August 24, 2018 |access-date=March 31, 2025}} Senate House in London stood in for the Université de Montréal. A Victorian house in Highgate was used for the various bedsits, college rooms and Joan’s flat. The unused wing of a hospital in Ilford was used for the interiors of Tube Alloys. The café and lingerie shop were recreated in Hemel Hempstead.{{Cite web |title=Red Joan – behind the scenes |url=https://chariswhite.com/2019/04/19/red-joan-behind-the-scenes/ |website=Charis White Interiors |date=April 19, 2019 |access-date=March 31, 2025}}

Release

The film had its world première at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tiff-2018-lineup-beautiful-boy-life-more-1129445|title=Toronto: Timothee Chalamet Starrer 'Beautiful Boy,' Dan Fogelman's 'Life Itself' Among Festival Lineup|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2018-07-24|language=en}} Shortly after, IFC Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/judi-dench-red-joan-ifc-films-1202942027/|title=Judi Dench's Spy Thriller 'Red Joan' Lands at IFC Films (EXCLUSIVE)|website=Variety|first=Elsa|last=Keslassy|date=September 14, 2018|accessdate=March 23, 2019}} It was released in the United States and in the United Kingdom on 19 April 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.firstshowing.net/2019/sophie-cookson-judi-dench-in-first-trailer-for-spy-drama-red-joan/|title=Sophie Cookson & Judi Dench in First Trailer for Spy Drama 'Red Joan'|website=FirstShowing.net|first=Alex|last=Billington|date=16 January 2019|accessdate=March 23, 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/red-joan|title=Red Joan|website=IFC Films|accessdate=March 23, 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 {{RT data|score}}, based on {{RT data|count}} reviews, with an average rating of {{RT data|average}}. 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."{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/red_joan|title=Red Joan (2018)|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|access-date={{RT data|access date}}}} Metacritic reports a normalized score of 45 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/red-joan |title=Red Joan Reviews |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |accessdate=June 20, 2019}} A review in The Guardian said that the film "can't disguise its mediocrity",{{cite news|last=Hutchinson|first=Pamela|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/sep/12/red-joan-review-judi-dench|title=Red Joan review – Judi Dench's 'granny spy' brings OAP to the KGB|date=12 September 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=28 April 2019}} and that the film "squanders its greatest acting asset".{{cite news|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/apr/17/red-joan-review-judi-dench|title=Red Joan review – Judi Dench underused in brittle defector drama|work=The Guardian|date=17 April 2019|access-date=28 April 2019}} A critic in The Telegraph agreed that "Judi Dench is wasted in this absurd portrayal..."{{cite news|last=Collin|first=Robbie|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/red-joan-review-judi-dench-wasted-absurd-portrayal-ofthe-bolshevik/|title=Red Joan, review: Judi Dench is wasted in this absurd portrayal of the Bolshevik of Bexleyheath|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=18 April 2019|access-date=28 April 2019|url-access=subscription}}