“Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” This quotation, an excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita as well as one of J Robert Oppenheimer's most famous quotations, summarizes the ethical conflict Oppenheimer had with himself in his later years. The story of Oppenheimer, as writer and director Chris Nolan shows in Oppenheimer, is a motion picture masterpiece. 

Nolan, an accomplished writer and director, also produced movies such as the Batman Trilogy, Dunkirk, and Interstellar. His writing in Oppenheimer is Nothing short of spectacular. Nolan beautifully describes the life of Oppenheimer as he journeys from an excited, curious young scholar to one of the smartest, most contentious men on Earth. Nonlinear, fluid, and historically accurate writing is used to tell the story of Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer shows the life of Oppenheimer from multiple perspectives. The first perspective shows Oppenheimer going through his life from his time in Europe learning physics to his time working for the Manhattan Project to Oppenheimer seeing the ramifications of his work. The second perspective shows the elaborate scheming of Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), the antagonist. Through Strauss’s perspective, the constant battle scientists face against politicians and societies opposed to their work despite the scientists' intended goal of progressing technology and humanity as a whole is visualized. Through these perspectives, Nolan portrays Oppenheimer's excitement with technological advancement and destroying the Nazis who were terrorizing his fellow Jews in Europe as well as his moral battles with creating the almost inevitable destroyer of humanity.  

Despite the writing in Oppenheimer being excellent, its incredible cast propels the film to a whole new level. Cillian Murphy beautifully portrays Oppenheimer as an ecstatic curious yet reserved young physicist. The “side characters” feature names such as Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh. These phenomenal actors gave incredible performances and perfectly portrayed the historically accurate intricacies of their individual characters, further solidifying Oppenheimer as one of the greatest films of all time. 

Hoyte Van Hoytema, Oppenheimer's cinematographer, made this movie like no other. Hoytema has cinematographed many of Nolan's films and Oppenheimer is one of his best. His Abstract camera angles effectively portray the mood of every scene and would make even the biggest of Instagram photography accounts jealous. 

Even with the seemingly endless list of incredible people previously mentioned, the list somehow continues. One of Nolan's most famous details is his use of practical effects instead of special effects. these practical effect sequences use zero editing for the most realistic experience possible. in Oppenheimer, he takes practical effects to a whole new level. The academic peak of Oppenheimer's life occurred when the first atomic bomb was detonated in the Trinity Test. Rather than use CGI to showcase the Trinity test, Nolan uses the equivalent explosion in the TNT to create an “atomic bomb.” Due to its unbelievable magnitude and extreme danger,  this level of practical effects will likely never be seen again.  Nolan also combined his incredible special effects with brief, impactful special effects. Sequences of these special effects flawlessly show Oppenheimer's growing mind throughout the film. The last detail that propels Oppenheimer to greatness is its score. Composed by Ludwig Göransson, the expressive, yet uplifting score immaculately compliments the emotional roller coaster that is Oppenheimer.  

Though they are enjoyable, the intense emotions felt during Oppenheimer are more important than just viewing pleasure. The original atomic bomb and what followed have the power to destroy humanity. Even one single bomb has the power to kill millions of people and often deform or disfigure millions more. As the future leaders of the world, our generation must understand this immense power and know the ramifications of its use. Imperatively, we must learn to control this power and never use it with malicious intent in order to preserve the future of the human race. 

Though its messages have very important meanings, Oppenheimer also provides immense viewing pleasure. I highly recommend Oppenheimer to any human on Earth (or in space) to further our understanding of our power as a species. Remember that we are now death and we are the destroyers of worlds.