Barbie And Oppenheimer's Double Release Has Audiences In Planning Mode

Counterprogramming is an art. Studios can use this strategy as a way to release one of their movies against a totally different type of movie from a rival studio in the hopes of attracting a different type of audience, or they can face down their rivals head on and release something similar to essentially create a game of chicken and bet that audiences will favor their project over the other option. Occasionally, this can lead to some incredible weekends at the cinema. Take 1984, when you could have seen "Ghostbusters," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "Gremlins," "Karate Kid," and "Police Academy" all in the same weekend. Or 1982, when "The Thing," "Blade Runner," "E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial," "Poltergeist," and "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" were all playing at the same time.

Another of these nexus events is happening this July, when two of the most anticipated movies of 2023 are released on the exact same day. Two awards contenders, two hopeful summer blockbusters: Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" and Greta Gerwig's "Barbie." This is forcing diehard movie fans to make difficult choices — mainly about what to see first. If you want to see both (which you probably do), do you go on different weekends or make a big meal out of both and see them on the same day? If you choose the latter option, what order should you see them in? This question is driving some anxiety among potential audiences, so if you are one of those wondering about what to do on the weekend of July 21, 2023, /Film is here to help. 

There are countless jokes on social media about the greatest cinematic battle of our time, Barbie and Ken versus J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team of scientists. If you're wondering about which one to see first, there are compelling arguments in favor of starting with Nolan's first R-rated movie in decades. Former film critic Eric D. Snider suggests starting with "Oppenheimer" because it's the longer and more intense film.

This seems to be the general consensus on Twitter — that starting with "Oppenheimer" is the logical choice mostly because it is meant to be a darker story, then going to "Barbie" to have fun. It's like eating dessert after a heavy meal. As one user puts it, "You watch 'Oppenheimer' first to feel the overwhelming dread of humanity's hubris. Then you watch 'Barbie' to immediately forget all about it and have a fun time." Even Nolan has inadvertently added fuel to this fire by teasing how intense "Oppenheimer" is by saying the film has horror elements.

It'd make perfect sense, then, to watch the horror(ish) movie about humanity's hubris first then the colorful and fun movie based on a toy second, otherwise you'd ruin the good vibes of "Barbie" with almost 3 hours of intensity. This way, the argument goes, you maximize the enjoyment of "Barbie" by going into it feeling empty inside after contemplating humanity's capacity for evil during "Oppenheimer." By comparison, the idea of Barbie having an existential crisis while Ken goes on a wacky adventure in a movie that caused an international shortage of pink paint seems like a breeze.

But is that the optimal viewing order? And is that the right reasoning? If "Oppenheimer" is really the darkest and most intense of the two films, then as one Twitter user points out, wouldn't seeing it first just bum you out so much you'd go into "Barbie" emotionally drained? Do you really want to go into the fun doll movie after spending three hours looking at humanity's capacity for destruction?

Then there's the question of whether "Barbie" really is dessert compared to "Oppenheimer." The only reason we have to believe that is that the former is full of color and based on a toy while the latter is based on a true story that ends in death and tragedy, but that hypothesis can only be truly tested and corroborated once both films are released. Before that, we need more evidence, so let's look at the trailers, shall we?

There's no doubt "Oppenheimer" will be intense — after all, Nolan has said he actually recreated a nuclear explosion. That being said, the "Barbie" trailer doesn't exactly look like a walk in the park. "Do you guys ever think about dying?" Barbie asks in the latest trailer for Greta Gerwig's new film, and the rest of it teases a story with a dark and existential core that's more than just a fun time at Barbie's dreamhouse. In this case, seeing the challenging yet still uplifting movie before the long and intense drama may be the better option. As one Twitter user explained it, it may be best to see "Barbie" during a matinee and "Oppenheimer" at night, like Eros and Thanatos, light and darkness.

Ultimately, the answer lies in how you want to start and end your day. If starting your day with some existential fun and Ryan Gosling acting like a child sounds like a good idea, it might be worth getting your mind blown at the end of the day with nuclear explosions.

On the other hand, if you think experiencing J. Robert Oppenheimer getting severely depressed for three hours before watching Barbie and Ken's adventures in the real world doesn't sound like a problem, you might want to walk out into the night with the upbeat sounds of the "Barbie" soundtrack (which does include Aqua's "Barbie Girl" after all!).

As with most things in life, it's a matter of preference, but if you ask us for our unbiased, scientifically-proven professional thesis, it might be best to just not see them on the same day. As someone who once did a double feature of "La La Land" followed immediately by "Jackie," and also did a double feature of "Rogue One" followed by Denzel Washington's adaptation of "Fences," there's no good way of combining two movies with polar opposite tones and avoiding whiplash. Come Friday, July 21, after a long day of work, you're already primed to join J. Robert Oppenheimer in his depression-fueled quest to give humanity its most terrible weapon, so it's best to see "Oppenheimer" as soon as you can. Then come Saturday, you're already rested and hopefully feeling better about the state of the world, so you're ready to visit the dreamhouse and say "Come on Barbie, Let's go party!"