Critics are absolutely swooning over Oppenheimer, the drama about the scientist known as the father of the Atomic bomb, following its premiere in Paris on Tuesday.
Journalists who watched the flick have taken to Twitter to share their glowing reviews of the movie, with one critic describing how the film ‘split my brain open’ and ‘left me sobbing through the end credits’
Oppenheimer features an all-star cast and is led by Cillian Murphy, who plays the theoretical physicist who helped develop the bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. The Christopher Nolan directed movie also boasts a cast including Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., and Matt Damon.
Film critic Robbie Collin from The Telegraph raved on Twitter: ‘Am torn between being all coy and mysterious about Oppenheimer and just coming out and saying it’s a total knockout that split my brain open like a twitchy plutonium nucleus and left me sobbing through the end credits like I can’t even remember what else.’
He also teased plenty of sex scenes: ‘And for all those who’ve groused about the lack of sex in Christopher Nolan’s earlier work…boy oh BOY, are you getting some sex as only Nolan could stage it in this one.’
‘Split my brain open’: Critics are absolutely swooning over Oppenheimer, the drama about the scientist known as the father of the Atomic bomb, following its premiere in Paris
Vulture movie critic Bilge Ebiri gushed: ‘OPPENHEIMER is…incredible. The word that keeps coming to mind is “fearsome.” A relentlessly paced, insanely detailed, intricate historical drama that builds and builds and builds until Nolan brings the hammer down in the most astonishing, shattering way.’
Jonathan Dean of The Sunday Times called the film ‘audacious’ and ‘inventive’, and also had some criticism how the female characters were used.
‘Totally absorbed in OPPENHEIMER, a dense, talkie, tense film partly about the bomb, mostly about how doomed we are. Happy summer! Murphy is good, but the support essential: Damon, Downey Jr & Ehrenreich even bring gags. An audacious, inventive, complex film to rattle its audience,’ he posted.
‘The downside? The women are badly served – Emily Blunt only once gets out of her stressed mother role. But it’s straight into my Nolan top three, alongside Memento & The Prestige,’ he added.
Lindsey Bahr, a film writer for the Associated Press, was also spellbound.
‘Christopher Nolan’s #Oppenheimer is truly a spectacular achievement, in its truthful, concise adaptation, inventive storytelling and nuanced performances from Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and the many, many others involved —- some just for a scene,’ she posted
‘It’s hard to talk about something as dense as this in something as silly as a tweet or thread but Oppenheimer really is a serious, philosophical, adult drama that’s as tense and exciting as Dunkirk. And the big moment – THAT MOMENT – is awe inspiring,’ she continued.
Rave reviews: Oppenheimer features an all-star cast and is led by Cillian Murphy, who plays the theoretical physicist who helped develop the bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer
All-star cast: Matt Damon is among those cast in the film
Big names: The cast is also made up of Florence Pugh – who plays Oppenheimer’s mistress – Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek and Josh Hartnett
‘So many years after seeing that opening shot of The Dark Knight in IMAX at CityWalk and not understanding what I was seeing on a technical level but feeling it, I feel very lucky to have seen Oppenheimer in 70mm IMAX. A once in a lifetime experience,’ Lindsey added
Matt Maytum of Total Film was also blown away by the drama.
‘#Oppenheimer left me stunned: a character study on the grandest scale, with a sublime central performance by Cillian Murphy. An epic historical drama but with a distinctly Nolan sensibility: the tension, structure, sense of scale, startling sound design, remarkable visuals. Wow.’
Meanwhile, Elsa Keslassy of Variety tweeted: ‘A sign that French audiences loved #Oppenheimer is that they stayed in front of the Grand Rex theater long after the film ended to debate about it!’
In addition to Cillian, the cast is also made up of Florence Pugh – who plays Oppenheimer’s mistress – Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek and Josh Hartnett.
The reviews are in! Critics praised the film after watching the film in Paris on Tuesday
Oppenheimer was the director of the laboratory which designed the atomic bomb during World War Two as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project.
The film is being adapted from the 2006 book American Prometheus: The Triumph And Tragedy Of J. Robert Oppenheimer, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
The book, which won the Pulitzer Prize, details Oppenheimer’s personal life and his time leading the Manhattan Project in the early and mid-1940s.
Oppenheimer will be released in the U.S. on July 21, 2023.
