I heard the term Barbenheimer for the first time yesterday. I haven’t seen Barbie but I watched Oppenheimer on the flight to Lima in 2024. I thought it was absolutely brilliant, and a very worthy Oscar winner.
In a rare cultural moment dubbed “Barbenheimer,” Barbie and Oppenheimer—two very different 2023 films—became joint global phenomena both at the box office and awards season. Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, was a vibrant, satirical comedy that smashed records and grossed the most among Best Picture nominees, while Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer offered a serious, sprawling biographical drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb.
Both films were major players in the Oscar race. Oppenheimer led with 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and key technical categories, while Barbie received eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Original Song. Early awards season saw Oppenheimer frequently edging ahead, winning top prizes at precursor ceremonies such as the Critics Choice Awards, where it took Best Picture and Best Director among eight wins, with Barbie also winning six, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Song (“I’m Just Ken”).
At the Oscars ceremony itself, Oppenheimer emerged the dominant winner, taking home seven Oscars—including Best Picture, Best Director for Nolan, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr. It also won in several technical categories, making it the most awarded film of the night. Barbie’s big moment was winning Best Original Song for “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and Finneas, but it otherwise came away with fewer wins than expected given its popularity and nominations.
The Barbenheimer rivalry highlighted the contrast between a blockbuster cultural comedy and a serious historical epic, and Oppenheimer ultimately prevailed in major Oscar categories.