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.

Victorian Psycho Victorian Psycho

Director: Zachary Wigon

Year: 2026

n 1858, an eccentric young governess, Winifred Notty, arrives at the remote gothic manor Ensor House. As Winifred assimilates, staff begin to inexplicably disappear, and the owners wonder if something is amiss about this new governess. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - World premiere - Un Certain Regard

A Town in Nova Scotia A Town in Nova Scotia

Director: Babak Jalali

Year: 2026

Leon, a widowed Irish senior, lives in a Merseyside council flat near his best friend Saleh. When Saleh needs help after surgery and news breaks of a deadly tower fire, Leon wrestles with his daughter's offer to relocate to Canada.

The Queen of Fashion The Queen of Fashion

Director: Alex Marx

Year: 2026

A raucous celebration of the life and legacy of the late, great artistic visionary and fashion icon, Isabella Blow. Telling the incredible true story of Issie's magical ability to discover unknown, marginalized artists, like designer Alexander McQueen, milliner Philip Treacy, and model Sophie Dahl, and turn them into global icons, all whilst battling undiagnosed bipolar disorder.