Friday, July 21 is going to be a huge day for Hollywood as the highly anticipated Barbie and Oppenheimer hit theaters. Tens of thousands of moviegoers will attempt the double-header, but what is the correct order to consume the pair of films?
Do you go for the seemingly light-hearted and brightly pink Barbie? The Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling-led movie with soundtrack hits from artists like Dua Lipa?
Or do you start with the intensity of Christopher Nolan’s latest as he weaves the narrative of how the atomic bomb was created? The Cillian Murphy-led epic that will likely make you question humanity as a whole?
We let our staff discuss this exact thing.
Barbie - Oppenheimer
I do not fault anyone who wants to see Oppenheimer first and then cool off with Barbie — which one could argue takes places in the world born after the United States dropped the bombs, but I digress. The reason I’m going Oppenheimer last is because by all accounts this movie will absolutely leave you gutted. And as much as I may regret this decision later, I just want to sit with that feeling for awhile and really try to grasp what Nolan is going for with what may be remembered as his magnum opus. But I’ll surely be throwing on Dua Lipa when I’m ready to come back down from my existential crisis.
— Blake Schuster
Oppenheimer - Barbie
My esteemed colleague Blake makes some valid points, but there is no world in which I want to end on a heavy, sad note like I’m expecting from Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Instead, I’m opting for the mind-blowing seriousness in the morning for a little brunch viewing, giving myself a bit of a processing break, then hitting up an afternoon show of Barbie.
I’m going to close on a party filled with light and pink and upbeat music and Ryan Gosling serenading the audience. What more could you want?
— Caroline Darney
Barbie - Oppenheimer (on separate days preferably)
I fully support the idea of everyone going out this weekend to see new films by master filmmakers in Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig. If you must do a double feature to accomplish this, so be it. See Barbie first, grab a bite to eat and then see Oppenheimer on the biggest screen possible.
However, you should also complete the trifecta of seeing the excellent They Cloned Tyrone on Netflix (starting Friday). If you see Barbie on Friday, stay in on Saturday night for They Cloned Tyrone and finish it with a Sunday evening Oppenheimer, you will have the perfect movie weekend. Seeing one movie a day will let you appreciate all of them equally without any fatigue.
However, if you’re fully in on the Barbenheimer experience, see Barbie first and then Oppenheimer. If Oppenheimer is as understandably crushing as people say it is, you won’t want that looming over you during Barbie.
— Cory Woodroof
