Oppenheimer movie review: Christopher Nolan & Cillian Murphy deliver a riveting story of the American genius

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Language: English

The cinematic genius Christopher Nolan is one of the best minds in showbiz when it comes to delivering riveting, epic and extraordinary movies; The Prestige, Memento, The Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar, Inception, Dunkirk & Tenet are classic examples of that.

Talking about his new offering Oppenheimer, it narrates the magnificent tragic story of the American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (who is known as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’).

Honestly, Oppenheimer has all the elements, which you expect from a Nolan film. Right from a haunting BGM, impeccable camerawork, emotional drama and twists with the superb combination of cerebral stuff and gripping, however, it gives you the experience of a non-Nolan affair.

While the noise around Nolan not using CGI for the bomb explosion has been the talk of the town, in reality, the highlight is the filmmaker’s superlative narrative of the lead character (Cillian Murphy) and his life-changing incidents, that too in multiple shades, right from black-and-white to colour to symbolise the time and era.

The historical psychodrama has a mesmerising first half, which includes Oppenheimer’s encounter with Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) at Princeton, his marriage to alcoholic Kitty (Emily Blunt) and other key incidents. But the second half surpasses your expectations, where we see the testing of the Atomic bomb, the World War II situation, Hiroshima & Nagasaki’s bombing effects and Oppenheimer being accused of the threat and questioning his loyalty to the United States of America.

While Christopher Nolan has been a master of making every nuance and detail a perfect frame, this outstanding screenplay and cinematic experience has gone to the next level due to the exemplary performances of the ensemble cast. Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. have easily delivered their career-best performances and are expected to be top contenders in the categories of Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in all major award ceremonies. Matt Damon is charming, sharp and charismatic as General Leslie Groves. Emily Blunt impresses with her emotional yet layered portrayal of Katherine Oppenheimer.

Despite being a 3-hour long film, Oppenheimer is a visual spectacle, which should be seen on the 70 mm screen, especially in the IMAX format.

Rating: 4.5 (out of 5 stars)

Oppenheimer is releasing on 21st July in the cinemas near you