Oppenheimer— which chronicles the complicated career journey of physicist and atomic bomb creator J. Robert Oppenheimer — is the kind of movie most filmmakers dream of making. The biographical drama was successful in just about every way. It was nominated for a whopping 13 Oscars and grossed over $950 million at the box office, something that was unheard of for a biopic. The“Barbenheimer” cultural phenomenonhas been credited with the movie’s success, though its overall quality also played a major part.
The portion of fans who waited patiently for the Christopher Nolan project’s release, and thoroughly enjoyed it, mainly consists of science, history, and espionage buffs. Luckily, there are plenty more movie suggestions for them. Films that best resembleOppenheimerare those that feature individuals who made great contributions to society while being forced to overcome various bureaucratic, social, or political obstacles. The stories are also set in the first half of the 20th Century or earlier. Here are 20 epic dramas likeOppenheimerto watch next.
Oppenheimer
20Radioactive (2019)
Radioactive
Marie Curie was a woman of many “firsts.” She was the first person to research radioactivity, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first to win a Nobel Prize in two different fields, the first member of a married duo to win a Nobel Prize, and the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice. Curie was also a strong opponent of spiritualism. But why did she feel so strongly about science? The answers to this and many more issues lie in hte 2019 film,Radioactive.
A Precursor to the Atomic Bomb
The creation of the atomic bomb would never have been possible without Curie’s advancements in the field of radioactivity.Radioactiveacknowledges this by interweaving scenes of her life with future events and technological developments that are related to her work. These include external beam radiotherapy, the atomic bombings, the 1961 Nevada nuclear bomb test, and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Besides that, there is the issue of virtue. Like Oppenheimer, the screen version of Curie (Rosamund Pike) is empathetic to the point where she feels guilty about how negatively her work has affected some people. She becomes depressed when a few individuals die after being exposed to radioactive material and vows not to research radioactivity any further.Stream on Prime Video
19Day One (1989)
Audiences who enjoyed watching Matt Damon’sOppenheimercharacter — the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) officer Gen. Leslie Groves — will loveDay Onesince it’s a movie about the strained working relationship between him and the scientists assigned to the Manhattan Project. Here, Oppenheimer and Hungarian physicist, Leo Szilard, have the most screen time.
The Same Movie from a Different Perspective
Day OneisOppenheimerfrom a different perspective. Because of this approach, there are a few more insights that audiences might not have gotten from theChristopher Nolan film. Rather than place the entire spotlight on Oppenheimer, the biopic shows how different influential people, including President Truman, viewed the Manhattan Project.
Some historical assumptions also get clarified. For example, it is often assumed that America immediately resorted to the atomic bomb after the Pearl Harbor attacks. However, this only happened after Szilard speculated that the Nazis might be building a weapon. Additionally, many scientists developed a crisis of conscience and opposed the use of the bomb, but war-hawking figures within the military pushed the agenda.Stream on Paramount+
18Professor Marston & The Wonder Women (2017)
Professor Marston & The Wonder Women
Anyone who is asked to guess who created the DC character, Wonder Woman, is likely to picture a smart writer or artist like Stan Lee rather than a psychologist. That person was Professor Marston, and he did it with the help of his wife, Elizabeth, and his mistress, Olive. All three were in a harmonious polyamorous relationship with each other, and their story is told conclusively inProfessor Marston & The Wonder Women.
Persecution Stemming from Extra-Curricular Activities
LikeOppenheimer,Professor Marston & The Wonder Womenfeatures characters who get persecuted because of issues that have nothing to do with their work. Oppenheimer’s Q-clearance gets revoked because of his early associations with communist party members, including his wife, while Professor Marston suffers a similar fate because he is seeing two women in a non-marital arrangement. Watching them overcome these challenges is both touching and heartbreaking. In the end, they all get the proper recognition they deserve.Stream on Paramount+
17Infinity (1996)
While telling the stories of inventors, Hollywood tends to have a working formula that’s guaranteed to make the biopic appealing to wider audiences. This involves focusing on the romantic lives of the characters. That’s what director Matthew Broderick (who also plays the main character) does inInfinity.The film — about quantum computing and nanotechnology pioneer Richard Phillips Feynman — dwells on the scientist’s mental struggles as he deals with his wife’s illness.
Feynman Learned from J. Robert Oppenheimer
Feynman had many personal achievements, but he is also remembered for being one of the many scientists who grabbed the opportunity to work under Oppenheimer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and learned a lot from him. The scientist even appears as a minor character inOppenheimer(played by Jack Quaid). His time at the Los Alamos Theoretical Division is sufficiently covered inInfinity,as it is during this period that his wife becomes severely ill. Audiences are thus presented with something they can relate with as they watch Feynman juggle between professional challenges and family-related misery.Stream on YouTube
Related:The 20 Highest-Grossing Biopic Movies of All Time
16The Imitation Game (2014)
The Imitation Game
Among Hollywood’s populardark academia aesthetic masterpiecesisThe Imitation Game. The movie’s central character is Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), best known as the father of artificial intelligence and theoretical computer science. Turing was tasked with decrypting Nazi intelligence messages for Britain during World War II, but he went on to make bigger contributions to science.
Another Unfortunate Case of Heroes Getting Punished
In a perfect world, Turing ought to have been celebrated forever, but he was instead convicted of gross indecency for being a member of the LGBTQ+ community and forced to undergo chemical castration. This is almost the same kind of treatment Oppenheimer was subjected to. After his work helped America win a war, he was tried for alleged communist ties, resulting in the revocation of his Q-clearance. For Turing, the persecution damaged his mental health, while for Oppenheimer, it damaged his public reputation, resulting in financial hardships.Stream on Prime Video
15Einstein and Eddington (2008)
Whenever two or more people are involved in a project, the smartest or most outspoken person in the group tends to get most of the most commendation. That’s why Albert Einstein is celebrated as the brain behind the general theory of relativity. However, he didn’t do it alone. His friend, the English scientist Arthur Eddington, contributed heavily too, and that’s what the BBC TV movie,Einstein and Eddingtonaims to remind people of.
Scientists as Tools in War
Einstein and Eddingtonis primarily a story of scientific collaboration, but it also shows how bright minds easily get used as tools in war. Both Einstein and Oppenheimer find themselves being courted by their governments, so they can support a war and develop weapons. The two are even shown to be friends inOppenheimer, but this wasn’t the case in reality. Einstein had an anti-war mindset right from the start, hence there is no way he presumably would have been disgusted by Oppenheimer’s initial pro-war stance. In this particular movie, there is even a scene where Einstein nearly throws up after witnessing Fritz Haber’s demonstration of the poison gas.Stream on Max
14Red Joan (2018)
Red Joanbegins with the arrest of former British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association employee Melita Stedman Norwood (Judi Dench). While in detention, she recalls her professional life. Unknown to many at the time, Norwood was a Soviet spy who provided tons of information about atomic technology to the KGB. Interestingly, she refused to be compensated, insisting that her work had helped prevent a third world war, something she considered a form of charity.
Influential Figures on Trial
OppenheimerandRed Joanare sibling projects that use the same storytelling format. In each film, an influential person is accused of being a Soviet spy, followed by flashbacks showing exactly what happened. The only difference is that Norwood is as guilty as charged, whereas Oppenheimer is the victim of a witch hunt.
Additionally, for both characters, the early stages of their lives play out similarly. Both of them become friends with proponents of radical politics, unaware of how such moves would influence their careers later on. Most importantly, both of their lives were shaped bythe atomic bombings. Oppenheimer becomes a celebrity after the events, whereas Joan becomes so appalled by them that she chooses to become a spy.Stream on AMC+
13The Current War (2017)
The Current War
The Current Wartells the story of “The War of the Currents” — a series of events that saw Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse competing over which kind of electricity delivery system would be used in American homes and business premises. Edison wanted to make sure everyone used his DC technology, while Westinghouse sought to prove that AC was essential in achieving better economies of scale.
The Use of Dirty Tricks to Beat the Enemy
All is fair in love and war, so audiences who enjoyed the underhanded tactics that U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) member, Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), resorted to in order to use Oppenheimer’s reputation inOppenheimer, will also enjoy how Edison uses the same below-the-belt strategy inThe Current War. He goes as far as to electrocute animals to show how dangerous Westinghouse’s AC current is. Most importantly, each of the films features events that changed the world. Edison and Westinghouse’s rivalry helped light up the world, literally, while Oppenheimer’s work helped end a war.Rent on Prime Video
12Hidden Figures (2016)
Hidden Figures
In the current era,Hidden Figuresis more relevant than ever, thanks to how it advocates for women’s empowerment. The movie is about three Black women, Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), Katherine Goble Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), who worked as mathematicians at NASA during the Soviet vs America Space Race and helped launch astronaut John Glenn into space.
The Joys and Woes of the Workplace
Movie lovers who enjoy workplace scenes with lots of bright individuals in action must have lovedOppenheimer, and they are likely to loveHidden Figures,too. The scenes at NASA aren’t too different from those at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Both biopics emphasize the importance of team effort when it comes to scientific projects. There are also plenty of conflicts. In this particular film, the disagreements stem from racism and sexism, while in the Christopher Nolan flick, they stem from political ideology and office politics.Stream on Disney+
11The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015)
Adapted from Robert Kanigel’s similarly titled non-fiction,The Man Who Knew Infinitycovers the life of Indian menial laborer Srinivasa Ramanujan, who made great contributions to the mathematical fields of number theory, statistics, continued fractions, and infinite series, despite having no formal educational training. He would eventually gain acceptance to Cambridge College during World War I, but found life difficult because of an endless battle with Tuberculosis and depression stemming from long periods away from his family.
Sacrifices Are Essential for Success
The Man Who Knew Infinity’s entire plot slightly resemblesOppneheimer’s first act. Oppenheimer is shown struggling with apprehension and homesickness while studying under physicist Patrick Blackett at the University of Cambridge. Life plays out the same way for Ramanujan when he travels from India to Cambridge. Still, it’s emphasized that these sacrifices were necessary for both men to succeed. Without their mentors and time away from home, they wouldn’t have had the drive or discipline needed for them to advance in their respective fields.Stream on AMC+
