‘Barbenheimer’: a portmanteau that has sparked much online discussion, countless memes, and even merchandise. The simultaneous release of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, this year’s most highly anticipated and tonally contrasting films, has created a fever-pitch of excitement. Cerys Gardner takes us through the double-bill experience, and lets us know whether the high expectations were met.
Here we were. The big day. It started as a regular morning: I fed the neighbours’ cat, got ready for my friends to visit, and had scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then I got the bus to our venue of choice: Vue Cribbs Causeway in Bristol, a venue chosen largely for its logistical benefits and close proximity to a Las Iguanas.
The cast for this venture consisted of me and my three housemates from university. Excitingly, this was the first time we had all been together since last summer. That, maybe more than the films themselves, is the best thing about this kind of cinematic event—it’s a reason to see friends, a clear date in the diary amongst our busy lives scattered across the UK. The day still came with some scheduling challenges, largely due to rail strikes and family commitments, but our dedication to Barbenheimer was no match for these minor inconveniences.
Two of us kicked off the double bill with Oppenheimer at 1:30pm, a biopic of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. This got excellent reviews from Will and I. The sound design and the visuals, especially of the highly anticipated detonation scene (done without CGI), were incredible. There were fantastic performances from all of the main cast, especially Cillian Murphy as the titular character. However, the film did lose some of its narrative urgency after the detonation. Will’s thoughts were that “for the runtime it was a remarkably tight, pacy thriller with great visuals and a compelling performance from Cillian Murphy.” One film down, one to go.
The next phase was meeting our two friends, Ed and Ellie, in Las Iguanas for a much needed cocktail and dinner break before Barbie at 7:45pm. This was great fun, an excellent chance for us to catch up and get ready to party with Barbie. It was also an opportunity to admire each others’ Barbie ‘fits. I fully committed to the bit by doing a costume change, from an Oppenheimer-appropriate black shirt and jeans to a pink t-shirt and pink jeans in honour of Barbie, layered with a Hawaiian shirt for Ken. Ellie changed into a truly impeccable black and pink floral blouse, a purple silk skirt and the crowning glory of five inch velvet fuschia heels, all secondhand. Ed had opted for a pink bralette with love hearts on and a baby pink silk skirt, while Will went for a pink tank top and black leather coat as a fusion of the two films. With outfits donned and cocktails consumed, we were ready.
The atmosphere in the cinema was electric with cheers as the title card appeared on screen, and audience reactions were audible throughout the film. Barbie was a hit for all four of us, providing lots of humour and relatable lines, which I won’t spoil here, as well as a deeper mediation on the human condition, patriarchy, and mother-daughter relationships. Ellie’s verdict was: “five stars, it was slightly on the nose in places but still hilarious, my eye makeup was running down my face from laughing so hard.”
So there we go, the infamous Barbenheimer double bill completed. What did we learn? The main thing is that these two fantastic films are both worth seeing in the cinema, whether as a double bill (Oppenheimer first, obviously) or on separate days. Both screenings were full, and in the age of streaming it was incredible to have such a collective moviegoing experience with two big-screen worthy blockbusters. I will admit that my energy started to flag towards the end of Barbie; five hours of cinema in one day is intense, but the film kept me going with its infectious energy.
It’s impossible to ignore that the release of these two blockbusters, which will make their studios millions, is happening during the biggest strike seen in Hollywood since 1960. The quality and success of these films is a timely reminder that the work of the writers, actors, directors, camera operators, and prop masters who work to make such incredible works of art deserve to be compensated fairly for their work. Aside from being great entertainment, Barbenheimer is a powerful reminder not to take this art for granted.
Words by Cerys Gardner
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