The World Forever Changes

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Benny Safdie, Jason Clarke, Dylan Arnold, Tom Conti

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"They won't fear it until they understand it. And they won't understand it until they've used it. Theory will take you only so far." - J. Robert Oppenheimer

Why watch this? The Manhattan Project changed everything in a world shackled to a war with no end in sight.

Plot Summary: This historical drama details the origins of atomic theory, the determined scientists, the desperate military leaders, the governmental pressures - all to culminate in a world-changing event. It is a moment in our nation's past that is truly incredible, yet simultaneously horrible - the advent of nuclear fission. Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist who served as the Manhattan Project's director at Los Alamos Laboratory, where the atomic bombs were developed that would obliterate two Japanese cities, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and effectively end World War II.

Dad's Preview: This is a story, often only a few paragraphs in history books, best told using an in-depth, smart and visceral film. Delivered in a non-linear fashion, this superb film weaves together all the factions at play, the characters and their inner thoughts, all taking us on a scientific journey to detonation; a crowning achievement that many immediately regretted. Cillian Murphy always brings conviction to his roles, and here he shines as the title character - we feel his inner-conflict, and though we pity his position, he remains a hard-minded, man-of-science. It won seven Oscars including Robert Downey Jr. for his intense role as Lewis Strauss. Thanks to an all-star cast and stunning visuals, the film soars as a historical document on the weapon that prompted Oppenheimer to posit, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Syncopy Inc., Atlas Ent., Gadget Films, Breakheart Films, Peters Creek Ent.;
Universal Pictures