Most of us have heard of the name Marie Curie, but how many actually know why the Polish-French scientist is famous?
Well, no one will be in doubt after watching Marjane Satrapi's new film Radioactive. The film follows Marie through her relationship with husband Pierre, and the history-making ramifications of their scientific discoveries.
Oscar-nominated actress Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) plays Marie, alongside Maleficent actor Sam Riley as Pierre.
As soon as the film starts, it is immediately obvious that Marie is a woman not to be trifled with.
Working at the Sorbonne (France's most revered educational institution), Marie refuses to work with anything less than her ingenious mind deserves, and she's not afraid to say as much.
In an era when women were expected to simply keep the house and produce children for their husbands, Marie boldly defied the odds and pave her own path.
It is the brilliance of her mind and her scientific tenacity that attract her husband, and leads to their Nobel Prize-winning discovery of two new elements: radium and polonium.
Those elements may be commonly known as dangerous today, but in Marie's time - the late 1800s - they were groundbreaking finds.
The main story is frequently broken into with scenes from across history, where the Curies' elements have been used in various ways - both for good and with the most devastating consequence.
Radioactive presents Marie Curie as a fully-formed figure. She's unquestionably brilliant and driven, but she's also stubborn and can behave irrationally.
But, inspirationally, she Marie refuses to pander to anyone. She knows her worth and the respect that she deserves, and will settle for no less.
While it would have been great to explore a little more of her work in the first World War - Marie and her daughter Irène pioneered a mobile x-ray machine which saved countless lives on French battlefields - the movie provides an educational and emotional entry into the life of the Curies, which will hopefully spur viewers onto their own research of the amazing, pioneering family.
