Oppenheimer (film)

Oppenheimer is a 2023 epic biographical thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. It follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II. Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film dramatizes Oppenheimer's studies, his direction of the Los Alamos Laboratory and his 1954 security hearing. Cillian Murphy stars as Oppenheimer, alongside Robert Downey Jr. as the United States Atomic Energy Commission member Lewis Strauss. The ensemble supporting cast includes Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh.

Oppenheimer was announced in September 2021. It was Nolan's first film not distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures since Memento (2000), due to his conflicts regarding the studio's simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max release schedule. Murphy was the first cast member to join, with the rest joining between November 2021 and April 2022. Pre-production began by January 2022, and filming took place from February to May. The cinematographer, Hoyte van Hoytema, used a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film, including, for the first time, selected scenes in IMAX black-and-white film photography. As with many of his previous films, Nolan used extensive practical effects, with minimal compositing.

Oppenheimer premiered at Le Grand Rex in Paris on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States and the United Kingdom on July 21 by Universal Pictures. Its concurrent release with Warner Bros.'s Barbie was the catalyst of the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon, encouraging audiences to see both films as a double feature. Oppenheimer received critical acclaim and grossed $975 million worldwide, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2023, the highest-grossing World War II–related film, the highest-grossing biographical film and the second-highest-grossing R-rated film of all time at the time of its release.

The recipient of many accolades, Oppenheimer was nominated for thirteen awards at the 96th Academy Awards and won seven, including Best Picture, Best Director (Nolan), Best Actor (Murphy), and Best Supporting Actor (Downey). It also won five Golden Globe Awards (including Best Motion Picture – Drama) and seven British Academy Film Awards (including Best Film), and was named one of the top 10 films of 2023 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute.

Plot

In the 1920s, theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer returns to the US after travelling extensively in Europe. He starts teaching at Berkeley, where he befriends fellow professor, Haakon Chevalier, and psychology student, Jean Tatlock, both Communists. Robert and Jean begin an affair, that ends when Robert meets Kitty Puening at a social event. Despite being married, Kitty gets pregnant by Robert and they marry after her divorce. In 1939, German physicists succeed in splitting the atom. Berkeley Radiation Laboratory physicist Ernest Lawrence concurs with Robert that this could be weaponized into an atomic bomb. Robert's paper on black holes is published, but is overshadowed by Germany's invasion of Poland, kickstarting World War II.

At Berkeley, Lawrence warns Robert to sever communist associations so he could participate in the war effort. Shortly after, Robert is visited by Colonel Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project, who previously oversaw construction of The Pentagon. Groves tasks Robert with leading atomic bomb development for the US, and orders a new laboratory to be built at Los Alamos, New Mexico, on Robert's suggestion. Scientists are brought there to secretly work on the project, supported by satellite activities at Chicago, Hanford and Tennessee. Early in the project, an associate of Robert, Edward Condon, quits over the military's strict protocol of compartmentalization. Robert receives his security clearance, and immediately re-establishes contact with Jean. They spend the night at a hotel, and Robert says they won't meet again. Jean is found dead in her bathtub some months later.

At Los Alamos, Edward Teller proposes a bomb based on nuclear fusion, predicting it would be more destructive than the fission bombs being developed. A bomb test is scheduled in July 1945, for which Robert recruits his brother, Frank, a former Communist Party member. Following a successful test, US President Truman orders two bombs to be dropped on Japan. The war ends, and Robert is christened 'Father of the Atomic Bomb' by Time magazine. Despite being a war hero, Robert advises Truman to cease nuclear weapons development and shut down the Los Alamos lab. Robert's sudden anti-bomb stance alienates him from Washington's politicians, who question his motives and loyalty to the US. This culminates in the revocation of his Q-clearance in 1954, after a month-long hearing that successfully taints Robert's past associations. Robert keeps his job at Princeton, but is no longer an advisor on nuclear policy matters.

Five years later, former AEC Chairman Lewis Strauss is nominated for Commerce Secretary. His Senate confirmation hearing revolves around his role in Robert's downfall. It comes to light that Strauss orchestrated a personal vendetta against Robert after a public conflict over the export of radioactive isotopes. He also felt slighted by Robert's opposition to the hydrogen-bomb and at an informal chat with Einstein at Princeton, where he was sidelined. Strauss loses the Senate vote, which ends his political career. In 1963, Robert is presented by President Johnson with the Enrico Fermi award, signalling a reconciliation with the government. A flashback reveals that Einstein predicted this career trajectory of Robert during their chat at Princeton. In turn, Robert foresaw nuclear proliferation causing a world-ending event, a thought that disturbed Einstein enough for him to ignore an approaching Strauss.