Silkwood

Karen Silkwood works at a plutonium processing plant in Cimarron, Oklahoma, in the early 1970s, alongside her boyfriend Drew Stephens and her close friend Dolly Pelliker. A union member, she grows suspicious that the company is cutting corners on safety and exposing its employees to radiation. When she raises questions, management pushes back and she finds herself isolated on the job. Convinced the workers are in danger, she gathers evidence and tries to bring the story to the press.

The film is based on real events and was directed by Mike Nichols, the sixth of the eighteen features he made, arriving between The Fortune and Heartburn. Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen wrote the screenplay, and Michael Hausman and Nichols produced. Meryl Streep plays Karen, with Kurt Russell as Drew, Cher as Dolly, and Craig T. Nelson, Fred Ward and Diana Scarwid among a credited cast of twenty-nine.

Made for about 10 million dollars, Silkwood took roughly 36 million worldwide, a solid return for a drama of its kind. On IMDb it holds a 7.1 rating from around 24,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9 from a much smaller group of 367. Critics were more enthusiastic still, giving it 7.6 from 39 reviews, placing it above both audience measures.