The Story Archive

Silkwood

Mike Nichols · 1983 CE · Film · Modern / American · Contemporary

A worker at an Oklahoma plutonium plant notices that negatives of fuel rod welds are being touched up, and carries what she has found to her union in Washington. Contamination alarms start following her home, the decontamination showers become routine, and the house she shares with her boyfriend and a friend fills with suspicion. Nichols built a whistleblower drama from a real case and let its unanswered questions stand.

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Attributes

Genre
PoliticalThrillerHistorical
Theme
Individual vs SocietyClass & InequalityPower & CorruptionJustice & Revenge
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
HeroineRebel / OutlawAlly / Companion
Plot structure
ChronicleTragic Reversal
Symbol / motif
The MachinePoison
Conflict
vs Societyvs Technology
Mode / tone
RealistElegiac
Culture / tradition
Modern / American

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