‘Oppenheimer’ is a subjective account about the father of the atomic bomb and a sobering reminder of the nuclear bomb’s power

It’s nearly impossible to engage with the news these days without some mention of nuclear weapons and nuclear warfare. A top concern is Russia’s possession of nuclear weapons, especially troubling given their invasion into Ukraine, stoking up old Cold War fears. With China’s nuclear arsenal growing, some fear the increasing threat of nuclear warfare between China and the U.S. Then there are also North Korea’s relentless attempts to develop nuclear weaponry. 

The threat of nuclear war seems to be looming, and the implications are terrifying. Maybe now was the perfect time for the release of “Oppenheimer.”

“Oppenheimer” follows physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer throughout his life up until his recruitment to become the director of the Manhattan Project– the research program that would eventually produce the atomic bomb. The movie follows not just Oppenheimer’s scientific breakthroughs, but also his far-left politics, love affairs and the far-reaching implications of creating the atomic bomb. 

The main stars of the cast are household names, with Cillian Murphy playing Oppenheimer and Emily Blunt playing his wife, Kitty. Florence Pugh plays his lover Jean Tatlock, Matt Damon plays General Leslie Groves and Robert Downey Jr. plays Lewis Strauss. Each performance is masterful, with the actors truly leaning into their roles. 

At the helm is Christopher Nolan, the same director behind “Inception,” “Interstellar” and “Batman Begins.” This is Nolan’s first R rated movie in twenty years. It’s also his longest film to date, with a runtime falling right at three hours. 

“Oppenheimer” may not have the billion dollar box office returns that “Barbie” did, considering both released on the same day, but it was still a success in theaters. With an estimated  budget of $100 million, Oppenheimer made over $82 million at its domestic opening and over $653 million at the box office worldwide. 

“Oppenheimer” is by no means a documentary and shouldn’t be interpreted as an unbiased presentation of facts. Instead, it’s a subjective account of Oppenheimer’s life following what he considered to be pivotal events.

Nolan said in an interview with Empire Magazine, “I wanted to really go through this story with Oppenheimer; I didn’t want to sit by him and judge him. That seemed a pointless exercise. That’s more the stuff of documentary, or political theory, or history of science. This is a story that you experience with him — you don’t judge him. You are faced with these irreconcilable ethical dilemmas with him.” 

Nolan was dedicated to experiencing the story from Oppenheimer’s point of view.

“I actually wrote [the script] in the first-person, which I’ve never done before. I don’t know if anyone’s ever done it before. But the point of it is, with the color sequences, which is the bulk of the film, everything is told from Oppenheimer’s point of view — you’re literally kind of looking through his eyes.”

That subjectivity is evident throughout the film as well, as Oppehnheimer is sometimes plagued by the ghosts of his decisions or swirling atomic visions of what theoretical physics could look like. 

Sometimes those ghosts are graphic and are a part of what gives “Oppenheimer” its R rating.

There are two things Nolan is notorious for in his work – shooting on film instead of digital, and preferring practical effects instead of CGI whenever possible. 

For “Oppenheimer,” this meant that the final IMAX film roll stretches to 11 miles long and weighs over 600 pounds. Because not all of “Oppenheimer” is shot in color, the Associated Press reports that the first ever black and white IMAX film was created for this movie.

Those that want to watch the film exactly as Nolan intended should watch it in theaters that show IMAX 70mm film. But that may be a difficult task considering that, according to the AP, only 25 theaters in North America will be screening the movie on 70mm film. 

When it comes to Nolan’s use of practical effects, the explosions you see onscreen are real. Obviously, it wasn’t a real atomic bomb, but there was a real explosion to mimic the Trinity test – the United States’ first nuclear explosion. 

In an interview with IGN, Nolan said: “We were out there in the desert of New Mexico, just like the scientists of the Manhattan Project. We built the bunkers, we built the tower. We're out there at night preparing for these very large-scale explosive events that have to be conducted safely and with great care. So there's a tension, there's an anticipation in what we are doing as filmmakers that I think helps the actors, helps everybody understand, gain some small understanding of what must it have been like to be there that night, that early morning at the Trinity test.”

At the end of “Oppenheimer,” one thing is abundantly clear: After the creation of the nuclear bomb, the world will never be the same again. In an interview with the New York Times, Nolan called Oppenheimer “the most important person who ever lived.” 

His reasoning?

“His story is central to the way in which we live now and the way we are going to live forever. It absolutely changed the world in a way that no one else has changed the world. You talk about the advent of the printing press or something. He gave the world the power to destroy itself. No one has done that before.”

It’s also important to note, though, there are important parts of the real story of the Manhattan Project this film doesn’t address at all. 

Though the historical narrative is often that there was nobody in the area of New Mexico where the Manhattan Project moved in; that’s incorrect. Oppenheimer in the film gives brief mention to the indigenous people that lived there, but it’s less than a line or two with no bearing on the plot.

Reuters reports that 32 Hispanic families homesteading on that land were given 48 hours to leave to make room for the labs. 

Homes were destroyed and livestock killed. If families were even compensated, it was done at much lower rates than their white counterparts. 

An essay in the New York Times says that descendants of people who lived in the area also say that inhabitants weren’t properly warned about the dangers of the test, causing generations to be diagnosed with higher rates of cancer. NPR reports that though the military knew about the dangers to people in the area after the Trinity test, they chose to do nothing about it for fear of lawsuits. 

“Oppenheimer'' is a well-produced film that makes audiences experience the stress, fear and consequences around nuclear warfare. It’s dark, dramatic, sometimes graphic and does nothing to glorify the use of nuclear weapons.

At some points it feels like a bomb has truly gone off in the theater. 

Those that watch the movie need to remember, however, that this isn’t a documentary; it’s a subjective account of one person and misses some other important narratives.