Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer, American and British dramatic biographical film, released in 2023, that explores the life and legacy of the American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who played a key role in the development of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer was critically acclaimed for its complex portrayal of its subject as well as for the technical accomplishments of its director, Christopher Nolan. The film was also a commercial success, grossing more than $900 million in box office receipts in the first four months after its release.

Oppenheimer was adapted by Nolan from a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2005). The film concerns itself primarily with the apparent conflicts influencing Oppenheimer’s motivations and how he and the world grappled with his legacy. It weaves a story across multiple time periods, following Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) from his university study to his directorship of the Los Alamos Laboratory during the Manhattan Project. These scenes are interspersed with depictions of a government hearing during the 1950s, in which Oppenheimer is forced to defend himself against challenges to his loyalty and patriotism, and a Senate confirmation hearing for Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey, Jr.), an antagonist of Oppenheimer who had been nominated to become U.S. secretary of commerce.

Most of the film’s first two hours focus on events in Oppenheimer’s career leading up to the detonation of the first atomic bomb at the Trinity Site, and his relationships with other scientists; his wife, Kitty (Emily Blunt); his lover, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), who is involved with the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA); and the U.S. Army general overseeing the Manhattan Project, Leslie Richard Groves (Matt Damon). Oppenheimer is portrayed as a visionary leader who spends much of his time attempting to persuade reluctant scientific colleagues that the development of the bomb is a necessary evil. The film also establishes that Oppenheimer is sympathetic to communist principles and moves in social circles in which communism is popular—though he never becomes a member of the CPUSA.

These sympathies are used against him in the 1950s government hearing, in which officials consider revoking his security clearance on the basis of accusations that he had associated with communists during the early days of World War II, that he had given conflicting testimony to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and that he had opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb in 1949 and continued to lobby against it after Pres. Harry S. Truman (Gary Oldman) had ordered the commission to proceed with its development. By this time Oppenheimer has become a vocal critic of the U.S. government’s role in the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the loss of his security clearance would deal a significant blow to his reputation and credibility. One of the figures he has been critical of is Strauss, who had clashed with him over the direction of nuclear arms policy, especially whether to develop the hydrogen bomb. Strauss’s relationship with Oppenheimer becomes a point of contention during Strauss’s ultimately unsuccessful Senate confirmation hearing.

Film critics’ reaction to Oppenheimer was overwhelmingly positive. Reviewers praised Murphy’s enigmatic performance and his instantly iconic appearance as the gaunt, fedora-wearing Oppenheimer. Nolan’s dense, complex script and his gift for compelling visualizations of scientific inspiration also earned accolades. The star-studded cast, the musical score by Ludwig Göransson, and the film’s powerful imagery (captured in a combination of IMAX 65-mm film and 65-mm large-format film) all impressed critics. Nevertheless, some reviewers faulted Oppenheimer for neglecting to develop the characters of Kitty Oppenheimer and Jean Tatlock.

Audiences were no less impressed by the film than critics. Oppenheimer grossed more than $300 million domestically and more than $600 million internationally by the end of November 2023, making it the second highest grossing R-rated film of all time. It swept the Golden Globe Awards, earning eight nominations and winning five awards, including best drama motion picture, best director, and best original score. Murphy won the Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a drama motion picture, and Downey won in the supporting actor category. The film also dominated the Academy Awards nominations, garnering 13 nominations compared with the 8 for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which opened the same weekend as Oppenheimer but topped Nolan’s film at the box office. Oppenheimer won seven Academy Awards, including best actor, best director, and best picture.