Blogs and Other Things

Released: 2024

Director: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt

Christopher Nolan has mastered the character development of man.

Maybe one day he’ll meet a woman.

Oppenheimer is a culmination of Christopher Nolan’s holy trinity: Cillian Murphy, Hoyte Van Hoytema and non-linear storytelling. And for those who often find difficulty embracing his extravagant filmmaking approach, ‘Oppenheimer’ is irrefutable.

In a nutshell, put The Social Network in a room with The Imitation Game and give it a soundtrack that intertwines the best of both The Dark Knight and Tenet. Et voilà.

Also, can we all admit the hilarity of communism scaring people more than a potential nuclear war? Oppenheimer was celebrated for decimating a country but crucified for not having a political opinion that conformed to anti-communist ideology.

In 2025, that’s poetic.

Anyways.

In Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan challenges his audience like never before. Often, Nolan submits his audience to surreal circumstances and explores new worlds to captivate and retain their immersion. Here, he simply tells the story of a man’s life, and in doing so, he challenges the world around us, the choices we have made and continue to make, our political complacency, and the consequences of hu(man)ity’s yearning for power. But most importantly, he challenges the man.

Previously, Nolan has alluded to social change metaphorically, either as themes or story points, but never before has he boldly characterized real political figures and concepts like he does here. Yet, we are simultaneously forced to feel for the man behind the destruction. We blame the system, but systems were created by men; where does the accountability lie?

For Nolan, it lies in our decisions.

“They won’t fear it until they understand it, and they won’t understand it until they’ve used it.” The line plagues Oppenheimer throughout the film and is one he uses to convince his peers – and himself – that atomic bombs will cease to exist once their damage has been inflicted. His naiveté consumes him, failing to understand the repercussions of his actions and the perspective that governments – particularly his own – will take on the development of these weapons. When he eventually learns, it’s too late.

From this, we can understand that Strauss is not the story’s principal villain, though Nolan brilliantly uses him as a decoy. Oppenheimer is his own villain, and while Strauss plays the role of the selfish asshole using Oppenheimer’s situation for personal gain, Oppenheimer is the cause of his own demise.

Speaking freely, ‘Oppenheimer’ is the best script of Nolan’s filmography. It is equally intelligent to the ambiguity of films past, but it cuts out the occasional over-the-top dramatic line which would undermine our immersion in the film. In other words, it keeps the intellect and removes the unnecessary delivery. Don’t get me wrong, he does not fail to flare for the dramatics, but he learns to control it. So when the lines hit, they HIT.

To be frank, I left the theatre both times in a state of depression. While our political landscapes have changed, our moral differences that result in these tragedies have not. And Nolan makes no mistake in pointing this out, referencing perspectives of old and corresponding it with current times. For instance, the President chooses not to blow up Kyoto because he and his wife vacation there. While funny in the movie, it is a scarily acute depiction of Western imperialism that Nolan surely hopes we will internalize.

Above all, Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan’s most obvious 3-act film to date, each one culminating at a point where Oppenheimer’s character is in a state of disarray or disbelief, either with himself, the world, or both. He never finds peace, and partially because of him, neither will we.

Whether it was physical or not, Oppenheimer set the world on fire.

I have no notes.