Red Joan (2018)
1h 41m | PG-13
London, England, May 2000. The peaceful life of elderly Joan Stanley is suddenly disrupted when she is arrested by the British Intelligence Service and accused of providing information to communist Russia during the forties.
Director: Trevor Nunn
Studio: Trademark Films
Genre: Thriller, History
Video: 720p
Cast
Judi Dench
as Joan Elizabeth Stanley
Sophie Cookson
as Young Joan Elizabeth Stanley
Tom Hughes
as Leo Galich
Tereza Srbova
as Sonya Galich
Stephen Campbell Moore
as Max
Ben Miles
as Nick
Reviews
It may well be inspired by real events but that doesn't stop it flowing like glue most of the time. Dame Judi Dench leads a workmanlike cast with Sophie Cookson playing her younger self; Tom Hughes and Stephen Campbell Moore in the story of a suburban housewife with a treacherous secret past. Sir Trevor Nunn doesn't manage to inject any sort of pace into this and as such it just ends up being another star vehicle for the star who features sparingly. Watchable, if only because it does give you some indications as to how people who felt they were doing the "right thing" in the sixties were easy pickings for the KGB recruiters; but otherwise this film is a little empty.