Not the film I expected nor the film I'd reject. I think it's Nolan's most exciting work so far, simply for the kind of subjects he addresses in this story isn't the usual thing he makes. It maintains as a Christopher Nolan film, but it is also reminiscent of other filmmakers as well. I glimpsed Malick throughout the quantum snippets, Gilliam through its extreme close-ups, Lumet through its courtroom drama, and even Tarkovsky through its dream sequences.

The technical elements are simply great. Hoytema's cinematography and Göransson's scoring are impeccable works. Cillian Murphy does an astounding job and there's a race as well between all the supporting casts - Damon, Blunt, RDJ, etc. - I find that cool. Nolan's most well-performed film in my opinion.

The script is highly weighted by its expository nature. A historical biopic about the development of the atomic bomb most certainly would include a neverending train of expositions, referencing the science of its ground, dwelling into the trajectories of timelines that in the context of Oppenheimer's history is a terrifying, psychological examination into the concept of actions and consequences; fusion and fission. It's overwritten, albeit it doesn't bug the story - just my enjoyment, maybe.

It's daunting in a beautiful projection. Scary at times, but not to the point of becoming a horror like the filmmaker advertised. A cautionary tale, perhaps, that is narratively dense and thematically challenging, even for Nolan's standard. At worst when it turns too much of an Americanized story about a mass murdering weapon that alters the entire world once and for all. At best when it's a biography of a prominent figure haunted by the existence of his creation; a social and political commentary of militaristic weaponization, moral ethic, and ideological conflict (the McCarthy thing). Thrilling, compelling, and appropriately trimmed.