In the 1920s a group of factory workers advocate for safer work conditions after some of their colleagues become ill from radium exposure.
Pam says:
“Radium Girls” is a shocking story of profit over health as we watch a group of young women work in a watch painting factory. The paint, comprised of radium, a lethal chemical which the workers ingest as they lick their paintbrushes dipped in the poison before each and every stroke, slowly accumulates in their systems until the inevitable occurs. You guessed it. Syphilis. That’s the official medical diagnosis the company’s doctor ascribes, knowing that the real cause of illness and eventually death is radium exposure.
The premise, based in truth, is a fictionalized recounting of two sisters, Jo (Abby Quinn) and Bessie (Joey King), who discover and expose the truth behind the company and fight for better working conditions. As Jo’s health rapidly deteriorates, Bessie, the less educated yet more socially connected woman, deduces what has been happening and goes to extraordinary means to protect the future of workers at this factory and elsewhere.
The writers, Ginny Mohler and Brittany Shaw, tackle an enormous amount of material in the short running time of 1 hour 42 minutes which does no service to the story. It’s a complicated time and an even more complicated story that perhaps would have been best told as a mini-series. The film feels as if it lacks information as it rushes through the final act which needed more exploration and visibility to reveal the legal implications. Subsequently, there is little time to develop any of the supporting characters or secondary stories that would have given more depth to the film. However, this does not take away from the heavy and almost suffocating load of reality which exemplifies money as the beating heart of the corporate world. The stories of profit over people are likely innumerable, but “Radium Girls” gives us a version that speaks to not only inequities of the poor but how women were (are) taken advantage of on every level during this era.
King shines in her role as the bold and somewhat rebellious younger sister and Quinn gives us a more subdued performance as Jo which is heartbreaking as her health deteriorates. The gritty feel to the film punctuates the era and the story bringing us into that time period complete with set design and costuming. All of these elements create a haunting story that will make you think twice about seeing a glow-in-the-dark clock dial, but we just needed more time to develop the characters and the overall story.
3 Stars
