Two very determined women

She looks for the driver who killed her son.

A grieving mother seeks revenge against the driver who killed her son in a hit-and-run accident. That's the premise of Moka, a quietly mounted thriller from Swiss director Frederic Mermoud. Emmanuelle Devos plays Diane, a shattered mother who's determined to learn who was responsible for her son's death. With help from a private detective, Diane tracks down the mocha-colored Mercedes that struck her son. Hence, the movie's title. Devos's Diane leaves Lausanne and travels to Evian, France to stalk the owners of the car, which happens to be for sale. Nathalie Baye portrays Marlene, a beauty shop owner whose live-in lover (David Clavel) has put the car up for sale. Marlene also has a typically sullen teenage daughter (Diane Rouxel) who develops an odd friendship with Diane. Devos and Baye keep the movie afloat as a determined Mermoud raises questions about the ways in which Diane processes her grief. Tension arises less from typical cinematic ploys than from a question: What precisely will Diane do should she actually get this couple to admit their guilt? A sensible Mermoud allows two fine actresses play against each other, giving full vent to their powers of suggestion. As a result, Moka becomes a revenge story that's more interested in exploring Diane's obsessive need for clarity than in serving another trumped-up drama. The result: A small, but intriguing movie.

Six turbulent years in the life of Marie Curie

If you try to imagine a movie about Marie Curie -- the first woman to win a Noble Prize -- you might envision a stooped scientist leaning over radium-filled beakers or pondering, mind-bending equations of inordinate complexity. Director Marie Noelle takes an entirely different and more defiant approach, bringing a fevered quality to the life Curie lived between 1905 and 1911. During this period, the Warsaw-born Curie worked with her husband Pierre (Charles Berling) and later had a scandalous relationship with married mathematician Paul Langevin (Arieh Worthalter). Noelle seems to have taken a vow that prohibits her from getting lost in period trappings. She sometimes strains to make her movie feel urgent and alive. She barrels through events that include Pierre's death and, most importantly, Curie's battles with a scientific establishment that refused to acknowledge contributions made by a woman. Noelle concentrates on aspects of Curie's life away from the ramshackle lab she ran outside her home. I wouldn't consider that a mistake because Curie labored against a backdrop of personal distractions that no man would have had to endure. Anchored by Karolina Gruszka's vibrant performance, Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge melds a story about scientific discovery with a passionate look at the struggles of a woman whose life should have been a good deal easier than it actually was.