“The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.” – IMDB
Quick tangent, bear with me.
In high school (many eons ago now), a friend and I went to see Cloverfield. It was unlike anything we had seen and we left the theater long after dark, truly feeling as if we were still in the universe that we had just left behind in the theater. We sprinted to our cars, because we felt that the monster terrorizing New York was on its way to us. And we were nearly adults at this point! It was the transportive power of the film.
Cut to 2023. After a frenetic two hours of Oppenheimer, we see the atomic bomb explode. It is a powerful, awe-inspiring moment in the film, which you can only imagine is nothing compared to the real event. Before finishing the last hour of the movie, I quickly walked to the restroom and as I walked down the halls of the theater, I realized that I was experiencing that same feeling. I had not left the cinematic universe and couldn’t stop imagining what it would have been liked to experience the horrible and haunting power of the bomb. Given the real world terror of Oppenheimer, as opposed to the make believe monster of Cloverfield, this feeling stayed with me longer than it did nearly fifteen years ago.
In Oppenheimer, Nolan takes his intense, layered signature style and marries it with passionate performances from every single actor, leading to a fascinating, gut wrenching look at how ego, frailty, and bias play a role in even the most important moments in human history.
Don’t let the three plus hours scare you off, the movie feels much quicker and Cillian Murphy in particular will mesmerize you throughout your time in the theater. But I do recommend seeing it in theaters if you can, to truly appreciate the magnitude of the film’s subject matter.
Rating: 8 out 10 Claire Bears
🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻
If you like this movie, you should also watch: The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything
Streaming: In Theaters
With: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon
Directed By: Christopher Nolan
Let Me Clarify 