In Radium Girls, young women working in a watch-dial factory are unknowingly exposed to lethal amounts of radium, believing it to be harmless. As they begin to suffer from mysterious illnesses, they fight against a powerful corporation that denies responsibility, all while time quite literally ticks away for them. The passage of time is both a silent observer and a relentless force, ticking away as the characters unknowingly march toward their fate. The lighting design reflects this inevitability, shifting between the luminous allure of progress and the creeping darkness of decay.

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Drawing from the 1920s aesthetic, the design embraces warm, golden hues that evoke the glamour and promise of the era, juxtaposed with the cold, sterile light of laboratories and the deep, shadowed voids of deception. The duality of the world, between light and dark, hope and corruption, life and death, is visually mirrored through stark contrasts. The radiant glow of radium stands against the encroaching shadows of sickness and corporate greed.

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A defining visual motif is the presence of green light and textured shadows throughout transitions, a haunting reminder that radium infected everyone at U.S. Radium, not just the factory girls. The shifting patterns and fractured beams of green seep into every corner, casting eerie shadows that distort reality. This reinforces the idea that radium was more than just a poison; it was a force that loomed over every character, inescapable and ever-present. This use of texture adds layers of depth, making the audience feel the insidious reach of the toxic substance as it spreads through the corporate offices, courtrooms, and homes, lingering long after it is first introduced.

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Light itself tells the story. Soft and inviting in moments of naive optimism, harsh and isolating as the truth unfolds. Pools of light isolate figures in key moments, emphasizing loneliness and the weight of betrayal, while fragmented, decaying textures symbolize the irreversible damage inflicted upon the workers.

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As time runs out for the girls, so too does the warmth in the lighting. Vibrant energy fades into cold, clinical sterility, leaving only ghostly remnants of what once was. The design does not merely illuminate the world of Radium Girls; it paints a ticking clock, a moral battleground, and a slow unraveling of life itself.