Pu-239

Right now you can watch Pu-239 in Australia on HBO Max, and in the US on HBO Max Amazon Channel — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. 77 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. Paddy Considine sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Available now on HBO Max — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

Whatever else is competing for your attention this week, Pu-239 is worth clearing space for. The writing in Pu-239 treats its characters as people first, plot devices second. A worker at a Russian nuclear facility gets exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. In order to provide for his family, he steals some plutonium and sets out to sell it on Moscow's black market with the help of an incompetent criminal. Paddy Considine and Oscar Isaac lead a cast doing genuinely serious work here. It hit screens in 2006. The writing trusts the audience to sit with ambiguity rather than wrapping everything up in a tidy conclusion — it is the approach that separates good drama from great. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Pu-239 is what you recommend to people who say they do not really watch much. If you have run out of similar titles to watch, this is a strong next pick. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Paddy Considine's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.

Pu-239 was released in 2006, directed by Scott Z. Burns. The full 97-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.