Project Detail

Red Joan

Synopsis

In a picturesque village in England, Joan Stanley, lives in contented retirement. Her tranquil existence is shockingly shattered as she’s arrested by MI5. For Joan has been hiding an incredible past; she is one of the most influential spies in living history…
Cambridge University in the 1930s, and the young Joan, a demure physics student, falls intensely in love with a seductively attractive Russian saboteur, Leo. Through him, she begins to see that the world is on a knife-edge and perhaps must be saved from itself in the race to military supremacy. Post-war and now working at a top secret nuclear research facility, Joan is confronted with the impossible: would you betray your country and your loved ones, if it meant saving them? What price would you pay for peace?
Inspired by an extraordinary true story, a taut and emotional discovery of one woman’s sacrifice in the face of incredible circumstances. A woman to whom we perhaps all owe our freedom.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2018 - Special Presentations - World premiere

Details

Year
2018
Type of project
Features
Running time
110 mins
Director
Trevor Nunn
Producer
David Parfitt
Co-Producer
Ivan Mactaggart, Alice Dawson
Executive Producer
Ivan Mactaggart, Tim Haslam, Hugo Grumbar, Zygi Kamasa, James Atherton, Jan Pace, Kelly E Ashton, Karl Sydow
Editor
Kristina Hetherington
Screenwriter
Lindsay Shapero
Director of Photography
Zac Nicholson
Production Designer
Cristina Casali
Sound
Will Whale
Composer
George Fenton
Principal cast
Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Stephen Campbell Moore, Tom Hughes, Ben Miles, Tereza Sbrova, Nina Sosanya

Genre

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Sales Company

Embankment Films

Westbourne Studios - WE 020
242 Acklam Road
London
W10 5JJ

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Nobody Listens Anymore Nobody Listens Anymore

Director: Leo Bill

Year: 2022

Ruth, a weary teacher, suffocated by the safety of middle class life, recounts a disturbing event at a dinner party that leaves her friends questioning her sanity.

Stinging Nettles Stinging Nettles

Director: Jerusha West

Year: 2026

In the midst of a city woodland, 16-year-old Iris explores her attraction to an older man. Their passion turns into a dangerous power play when Iris must indulge his cravings with a humiliating performance. Official Selection London Short Film Festival 2026

The Scarlet Tunic The Scarlet Tunic

Director: Stuart St Paul

Year: 1998

In nineteenth century rural England, a German hussar serving with King George III's personal cavalry, Matthaus Singer, falls madly in love with Frances Groves, the only daughter of a West Country solicitor. Based on the short story 'The Melancholy Hussar' by Thomas Hardy