Every once in a while, a film that holds a deeper meaning reflecting on the current state of world affairs, almost like a fitting narrative that echoes the times, finds its way into reckoning rather pertinently.Oppenheimeris certainly one of those films.
The infamous quote uttered by J. Robert Oppenheimer, “Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” was pulled from the ancient Indian text the Bhagavad Gita and couldn’t be more relevant as Christopher Nolan’s latest war biopic that hasbeen a surprise box office hit.
Just as the world slowly began to awaken from the tumultuous isolation and lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it seemed like there was some semblance of countries uniting in a global effort to develop vaccines, Vladimir Putin and Russia sent shock waves around the world by declaring war on Ukraine in early 2022. Nolan always intended Oppenheimer to be a relevant film, but even he could not have predicted just how relevant the movie would become and the climate it would be released into.
Update July 18, 2025: This article has been updated with additional material to reflect the current release ofOppenheimer.
A Brief History Of Oppenheimer
Technology has often been used as a tool in politics through the technocratic state, where technology dictates political ideology and propaganda, and the balance of power. It was the same back in the 1940s during World War II when Oppenheimer, a nuclear physicist, was appointed as the director of an initiative code-named “The Manhattan Project,” where he led a team of scientists in a Los Alamos lab to work on and develop the atomic bomb.
The so-called “Father of the Atomic Bomb"and his team’s success in developing the weapon would give the US the edge in WWII, and it paved the way for their post-war power and what was to follow in the Cold War with the USSR. But it was clear that the world would never be the same after Oppenheimer’s invention, arguably the deadliest device ever conceived by mankind.
Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy in the film) was a rather contentious and complex character, having flirted with communist and social justice parties apart from his work as a theoretical physicist while he was at Berkeley. This also led to parallel FBI and internal government investigations into the physicist’s life, work, and ties throughout the duration of the Manhattan Project as the nuclear bomb was being developed. It eventually led to him being stripped of his duties and title just six years after the project’s success.
How Nolan Brings Oppenheimer’s Story to the Big Screen
Based ona Pulitzer-Prize winning biographyby Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, Nolan looks to useOppenheimerto demonstrate the psychological aspect of the bomb’s invention—along with the broader perspective of how it would change the world for the rest of time. It’s expected that Nolan will unravel the film in his typical cerebral storytelling style, a hallmark of his directing.
Also under Nolan’s microscope is Oppenheimer’s complex relationships with both his wife Katherine (Emily Blunt) & his professional colleagues, given the task he has to accomplish, investigating the moral and ethical dilemmas that creating a weapon of mass destruction entails.
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Nolan uses a variety of cinematic techniques to tel the story. The most notable is the use of black and white and colored images. Scenes that are shot in color are from Oppenheimer’s point of view, while the black and white footage is from a more objective observer and meant to be the audience or how anyone in the film would see the events.
This is one reason why the actual bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as Oppenheimer never would have seen it and only heard about it. While it is debatable if Nolan should have shown the bombing, he still finds a way to create haunting images that reflect the guilt and horror Oppenheimer felt at his devastating creation.
Who Stars In The Film?
The role of Oppenheimer marks yet another collaboration between Murphy and Nolan—after appearing inDunkirk,Inception,andBatman Begins,Murphy explored his role as the nuclear physicistin conversation with Variety last yearsaying, “[I prepped by doing] an awful lot of reading… I’m interested in the man and what [inventing the atomic bomb] does to the individual. The mechanics of it, that’s not really for me — I don’t have the intellectual capability to understand them, but these contradictory characters are fascinating.”
Beside Murphy and his on-screen wife Blunt, Nolan has assembled an all-star cast for the film that includes Matt Damon as Manhattan Project director General Leslie Groves Jr. andRobert Downey Jr. starring as Lewis Strauss, one of the founding members of the US Atomic Energy Commission. Downey Jr.’s performance has garnered incredible acclaim and is already being positioned as the frontrunner for the Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards.
Why Oppenheimer is So Relevant in Today’s Times
While telling Oppenheimer’s story from a historic and humane lens, it’s almost certain that Nolan couldn’t have envisioned the relevance his film would have following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s nuclear capabilities are no secret, and the film perhaps aims to deliver an ominous reminder of how dangerous and catastrophic things could get unless there’s a ceasefire in Ukraine. In a post-COVID world, where we’re more connected and united by technology, we’re witnessing a war that has been condemned globally yet is still waging on, and so long as the war rages on, there’s always the possibility of nuclear warfare.
It presents a rather complex paradox: Science & technology are needed for the progression of humankind, but science & technology cannot progress without government funding, and governments need scientific & technological breakthroughs to further political agendas. The film also reflects on the political lobbying and bureaucracy that goes behind developing such weapons of mass destruction as part of a country’s defense initiatives & programs where the scientists involved are often expendable.
Related:Why Christopher Nolan is Slowly Shifting Towards Historical Dramas
Furthermore, as we see additional advancements in technology that have largely improved and impacted daily life—as we’ve witnessed with the computer and mobile phone revolution andthe coming of AI—there’s the other side of the coin where technology like armed drones and robots have begun to be tested, developed and deployed.
The sheer amount of money & resources countries spend on defense is rather alarming & startling in this day and age, and it has only mushroomed since the 1940s. This is whyOppenheimeris much broader in its message, in the way advancements in science and technology today are still being used for warfare and as a tool for political agenda. Although separated by several decades, rotating world leaders, and a whole new era of human existence, things were not that different during WWII than they are today.
Oppenheirmer’s Post-Mortem
Now that the film is outand has become a resounding success, it’s difficult to look back and wonder about the heavy burden this man carried for the rest of his life. The film explores the conscience of the man who made the most critical breakthrough in modern science, only to see it transformed into the proverbial axe ready to fall on mankind’s head at any moment.
Oppenherimer’s reservations about the atomic bomb were not unfounded. At the peak of the cold war, USA and Russia had over 20,000 nukes pointing at each other. The bomb’s power was no longer measured in kilotons but in megatons, as technological developments moved away from atomic fusion to hydrogen fusion, making each of these missiles thousand times more powerful than the ones that barraged Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The consequences of Oppenherimer’s actions are still felt today, with Japan entering an age of submission as the country no longer has an army, and the systematic erasure of their traditions was rampant and unrelenting. Japan still has a shred of uniqueness, but it’s no longer the unchallenged imperial power it was at some point. Humanity entered the age of detriment, where we keep each other on our toes by branding weapons of mass destruction at each other.
While one might be wondering what’s the importance of such a film in this day and age. The answer is surrounding you at all times. The world is what it is because we have allowed the men in powerto treat human life as numbers and figures. Further technological developments such as the internet have brought us together while also revealing the worst side of humanity when it comes to disrespect and mistreatment of anything deemed different from the norm.
Oppenheimeris a film that perfectly encapsulates modern human dynamics; we are just assets for each other, emotional or otherwise.We are only as good as we are useful.When we stop being helpful, we are discarded in favor of new meaningful relationships. Albert Einstein warned Oppenheimer about this at the start of the film, and he endured the same hardships Einstein had to endure at the end of his life. This rings true in the overall arc of the movie, but it’s the harsh reality we have to live with every single day.
