The biggest event on the movie calendar in 2023 has been Barbie and Oppenheimer. The two tonally divergent films were released on the same day, causing the masses to flock to the cinemas for a double feature. The love for Barbenheimer has been strong, with both films becoming a smashing success at the box office.
If you’ve completed the Barbenheimer challenge and are now suffering withdrawals, we’ve come up with some suggested titles for both Barbie and Oppenheimer lovers as well as some double features you can undertake next.
What to watch if you liked Barbie
Legally Blonde
Reese Witherspoon’s iconic 2000s comedy was one of the original movies of female self-discovery and empowerment. Legally Blonde follows Elle Woods, a Beverly Hills sorority girl, who decides to win back her boyfriend by following him to Harvard law school, but ends up finding a purpose much larger than him along the way.
Legally Blonde is available to rent or buy on VOD services.
The LEGO Movie
Are you looking for another movie based on an iconic toy that also happens to star Will Ferrell as a corporate overlord? Look no further than The LEGO Movie.
The movie was a watershed moment for animation and also features Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s iconic brand of humour, which sees one little construction worker entrusted with the responsibility of saving the LEGO world. Oh, and it has a catchy soundtrack as well.
Stream The LEGO Movie on Netflix or Stan.
La La Land
If Ryan Gosling’s singing and dancing turn as Ken stole the show for you in the Barbie movie, you might want to check out the actor’s other musical turn in La La Land.
The rom-com musical pairs Gosling’s pianist Sebastian with Emma Stone’s actress, Mia, who attempt to follow their dreams and make it in Los Angeles, putting their relationship and careers on the line in the process.
Watch La La Land on Prime Video, Stan or Paramount+.
What to watch if you liked Oppenheimer
Chernobyl
Oppenheimer takes audiences into the moral quandary of a fatal disaster and the people responsible for it. Chernobyl does the same with its exploration of the 1986 nuclear reactor meltdown in the Soviet Union.
The excellent miniseries sheds light on the lesser-known stories of the people involved in the disaster – from the nearby families to the first responders to the scientists attempting to stop it all from happening.
Stream Chernobyl on Binge.
Interstellar
Christopher Nolan’s movies have always dealt with high-concept ideas, and Interstellar is one of the best examples of that. The sci-fi movie digs into physics, science and black holes as an ex-NASA pilot (played by Matthew McConaughey) joins a team of researchers to find a new planet that might be habitable for humans, at the cost of time with his young family.
Stream Interstellar on Netflix, Binge, Stan or Paramount+.
The Imitation Game
While Oppenheimer looked to end the war with the atomic bomb, cryptanalyst Alan Turing put his incredible mind to work cracking the code of German intelligence messages.
Similar to Oppenheimer, The Imitation Game is an incredible true story about a brilliant mind but also deals with the moral ramifications of decisions made by the elite during the war.
Rent or buy The Imitation Game on VOD services.
Movie double features for after Barbenheimer
Mamma Mia & The Dark Knight
Funnily enough, this isn’t the first time Christopher Nolan has been caught up in a Barbenheimer situation. Back in July 2008, the director’s brooding superhero film The Dark Knight was released opposite the summer musical Mamma Mia!
The two films couldn’t be more different, making for another perfect double feature of two opposing tastes.
Watch The Dark Knight on Netflix, Binge, Stan and Paramount+. Mamma Mia! is available on Netflix, Stan, Binge or Prime Video.
Little Women & Dunkirk
If another Greta Gerwig/Christopher Nolan double bill is what you’re craving, another perfect pairing would be Little Women and Dunkirk.
Gerwig’s take on the classic coming-of-age novel is imbued with 21st-century nuance and another stellar cast. Meanwhile, Nolan digs into more true stories of World War II as he represents the infamous Dunkirk evacuation from three different perspectives.
Both Little Women and Dunkirk are available on Binge.
Babylon & A Quiet Place Part 2
Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy give Oscar-worthy performances in Barbie and Oppenheimer, respectively, but they’ve both starred in their share of incredible films. For a movie pairing that elicits the tonal shift of Barbenheimer, we recommend Babylon and A Quiet Place Part 2.
Robbie appears as an ambitious starlet in the early days of Hollywood in Babylon, which explores the transition of the film industry into the modern era of sound and colour. Murphy plays a hardened survivor in A Quiet Place Part 2, who helps Emily Blunt’s widow to survive in a world full of sound-hunting monsters.
A Quiet Place Part II is available on Netflix. Babylon can be rented or bought on VOD.
We’ll still be waiting a while for the release of Barbenheimer at home, so hopefully, some of these suggestions get you through until then.
If you’re curious about what else is releasing in cinemas this year, check out our running list.
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