Proof that if you put enough white men in any given room, they will destroy the world. 

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A devastating, life altering film that only Christopher Nolan could have made to its entire potential. As much a horror film as it is a biopic. 

The movie is perfectly earth shattering. It makes me feel more and more numb the more I think about it. It contains a level of dread brought on by the acts of men that is recent enough in history to feel palpable, and leaves viewers to grapple with impossible decisions of morality and right and wrong. 

Nolan decides to stick to the facts as closely as possible, while also adding style and weight to the film where he could, in the gargantuan sound of it, and the feverish editing that transitions from balls of fire to silent stars. It avoids any kind of graphic violence or shock-value that would’ve come off as disrespectful and rude, while still maintaining a level of horror in the film, as the actions led out by these men are felt deeply.

The film also lives in distinct ambiguity, never answering specific questions of blame, leaving deaths, desires, and meaning up to the viewer’s interpretation, similar to the ending of Inception. Was a nameless black glove murdering a lover, or was it suicide? Did he hate the creation of the H-bomb only because it was not his own? We don’t know, and that’s what’s terrifying. It doesn’t try to take a side on Oppenheimer, or the actions of any character, it is simply telling one of the most compelling and bizarre stories in modern history with perfect execution and care. It is a reminder that reality is often stranger than fiction, and that it can be just as terrifying as anything mankind can dream up. The unthinkable guilt and weight of the soul that must come with the decisions, actions, and behaviors of man to take the powers of god and mass destruction into their own hands; even in some moments being proud of it.

I felt this movie to my core, and I don’t think I’ll ever shake it. An emotionally devastating story detailing the initiation of the self-destruction of mankind.