Barbie and Oppenheimer are good films but they don't have to be watched as a double bill – Scotsman comment

‘Barbenheimer’ remain entwined with both set to feature strongly in the awards season

As films go, Oppenheimer and Barbie could hardly be more different. For anyone who's somehow managed to avoid hearing about the two biggest movies of the year, one is about Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who led the US team that developed the first nuclear bomb, while the other tells the story of one of the improbably proportioned plastic dolls after she has been magically brought to life. And yet they remain entwined.

Following their release at about the same time, it spawned the possibly bad taste portmanteau word ‘Barbenheimer’ as viewers went to the cinema to watch both. With awards season upon us, it seems this incongruous link will be further reinforced. Both films have secured a string of nominations for the Golden Globes and are almost certain to dominate the Oscars. Oppenheimer and Barbie also led this year’s top Google searches for films.

So it seems fairly clear that both are good films worth watching, although not necessarily as a double bill – if only because Oppenheimer is a stamina-testing three hours and nine seconds long.