Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
The story of Nobel Prize winner Maria Skłodowska-Curie and her extraordinary scientific discoveries—through the prism of her marriage to husband Pierre—and the seismic and transformative effects their discovery of radium had on the 20th century.
Radioactive attempts an ambitious biographical portrait of Marie Curie, weaving in flash-forwards to show radium's dual legacy (Hiroshima, cancer treatment, Chernobyl), which is a structurally interesting choice but executed unevenly. The plot feels fragmented and struggles to give full emotional weight to either the romance or the science. Rosamund Pike delivers a committed, steely performance as Curie, elevating the material, though supporting roles are thinner. The cinematography has visual ambition with stylised sequences, though it doesn't consistently distinguish itself. The flash-forward concept lends some novelty to what could have been a standard biopic, but the film never fully capitalises on this device. The ending dissipates rather than lands with the resonance it aims for, leaving the film feeling like a missed opportunity given its remarkable subject.