Red Joan (2019)

Living out a quiet retirement in the suburbs, Joan is shocked to be arrested by the British Secret Service with the charge of colluding with the Soviet union. As the interrogation begins, Joan relives the events that shaped her whole life. 

Rating: 7/10
Genre: Drama
Related Titles:  The Lives of Others, Trumbo, Red Sparrow, Atomic Blonde
By Leanne Harragan

Spy films have always had relative success at the cinema and for the more patient cinema-goers, Red Joan is a perfectly enjoyable addition to the spy genre. A good plot line paired with strong performances from leads Sophie Cookson and Judi Dench join together to create a solid, slow burner of a film.

Set in the year 2000, Joan (Dench) is surprised to be arrested for colluding and sharing state secrets with the USSR. The film is mainly set in the past with the young Joan (Cookson) leading the film in the retelling of her life and the time under question. This is occasionally split apart with scenes of the present Joan struggling to come to terms with her past and dealing with her somewhat frail and ill health.

The story follows Joan's actions and participation with the Communist affiliated group Comintern during her years at Cambridge University. While she was never really a member Joan spent plenty of her free time associating with and eventually falling in love with active members. Jump forward a years, she is hired at one of the leading science facilities that is sworn to secrecy while dealing with manufacturing the first atomic bomb. As the film goes on she is faced with dealing with the difficulties of staying loyal to her country, saving face with old friends and making tough decisions. 

One of the most moving moments in the film is during the radio coverage and news reel footage of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki, hearing the news that 80,000 people were killed on impact and the longer lasting affects were yet to be known, Joan hears and sees this news and visibly struggles to deal with her involvement in creating this. It's quite a tough situation because her work was always said to be 'furthering scientific development' but she was always outspoken about the potential danger of it all. This news partially impacts her decision to share information with the USSR, to encourage the use of the nuclear bomb as a deterrent rather than as an active threat. This is where the interesting conversation enters, in the film Joan states that she did this to stop there being a repeat of the wars and the destruction. While it was considered traitorous she technically wasn't wrong - after the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima there was never another bombing and never another world war. 

This film has an interesting representation of women, both the leading women Joan and her companion Sonya were tough, strong women. One moment that really sent this home was Joan's statement that she was a 'shadow in a man's world, invisible but in the end powerful' - this statement speaks volumes as both Joan and Sonya got away with much more than their male counterparts simple because they were women and considered less capable. 

Cookson and Dench both playing Joan at different times of her life were both fantastic. Cookson earns most of the screen time and shows plenty of different emotion just through facial expression and body language. She portrays Joan as bold and brave. Dench as the current 2000s Joan is no different, just as bold and just as brave. One scene that particularly stands out for Dench is when she talks about the World Wars and the time between them, claiming she fought for the living. It was a short but moving scene. 

While the film doesn't have much pace or a plot that really drives it forward, it's a great slow burner of a film. If it can be waited out, there is some really interesting dialogue and it can be a great conversation starter when considering her actions. Definitely not a film for everyone but it's definitely enjoyable. It's also interestingly based loosely on the true story of Melita Norwood also known as the 'Granny spy', these films are always interesting in learning more about history! 

Rating: 7/10

By Rebecca Mannick 

Joan Stanley a widower living in Southwest London is approached and questioned by the police in connection to foul play during World War II. We go on to find out that Joan was involved in the physics team who were working on creating an atomic bomb. The foul play occurred when she passed on this vital information to her boyfriend a Communist who studied with Joan at Cambridge University.

The story was kept interesting with the switch in focus. The switch was between present day Joan who was now elderly and being questioned by the police and Joan when she was a student as far back as 1938. Joan gets involved in radical politics threw her friend Sonia (who becomes a vital character). She then meets Leo and they quickly form a connection and relationship in which Joan is infatuated in. Joan was clearly extremely intelligent which Leo could appreciate. Leo then recommend Joan for a job which was a top secret mission to create an atomic bomb. She makes her questionable decisions soon after the news of the Hiroshima is announced. Present day Joan has to justify her decisions to the police her country and her family.

The performances from Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson were really solid. I had been a fan of Cookson ever since she played Sidney in the Netflix series ‘Gypsy’(still livid it got cancelled). Most of the action was with young Joan and I think she was played very well. Also Joan as a person was quite bad ass for her time. She was a minority as a female in the scientific research group-and she wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself.

It had the potential to be an amazing movie and I was spurring it on. However it did fall slightly short at some parts. I felt it dragged a bit at some points and the main plot lines weren’t built up to any suspense which made it underwhelming.