Unless you were living under a rock last year, you'll remember the glorious movie event that was "Barbenheimer". July 21, 2023, saw the release of two of the year's most talked-about films: Christopher Nolan's 3-hour epic historical drama, "Oppenheimer", and Greta Gerwig's surreal, hilarious "Barbie" movie.
"Barbie" went on to become the highest-grossing movie of the year, landed tons of praise from critics and moviegoers alike, and even attracted a decent bit of interest on the awards circuit.
Because it's such a highlight of recent mainstream cinema, and because it had such an impact on pop culture at the time, it's no real surprise that the "Barbie" movie looks to be a streaming hit now that it's landed on Netflix. It arrived on the streaming service this week (on Monday, December 16), and has already crept into Netflix's Top 10 movies list.
What is the 'Barbie' movie about?
The "Barbie" movie takes us to the seemingly perfect and pink world of Barbie Land. There, every day's the best day ever, everyone's impeccably dressed and has no worries, and life's fun and full of daily dance parties.
Well, it's perfect until "Stereotypical Barbe" (Margot Robbie) has an existential crisis and starts thinking about bigger-picture things like death, and things start going wrong for her.
So-called "Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) informs our Barbie this is because the human playing with her is unhappy, and sends her into the real world to put things right. Upon her arrival in our world, Barbie (and her stowaway Ken, Ryan Gosling) find that this new society functions very differently from their own; when those beliefs travel home, chaos ensues.
In addition to Robbie and Gosling, the "Barbie" movie cast includes a ton of famous faces, including America Ferrerra, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Emma Mackey, Dua Lipa, Nicola Coughlan, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Cera, John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, Rob Brydon, and more, and it's all narrated by none other than Helen Mirren.
Should you stream 'Barbie' on Netflix?
If you're yet to try it out, I totally recommend giving the "Barbie" movie a shot; I was totally caught up in the hype in the run-up to its release, and I definitely saw it in theaters at least three times.
"Barbie" absolutely delivers, on every level. From the performances, the comic timing, and the writing, to the sets and costumes, it's a complete delight.
Even if the star of the show ends up being Ken, not Barbie, the whole thing remains a brilliantly put-together and very, very funny adventure that's a joy to revisit, even on repeat viewings. You don't have to take my word for it, either, as "Barbie" still comes highly recommended.
At the time of writing, the "Barbie" movie still holds an 88% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is rather impressive when you consider that score is based on 500 registered reviews. Basically, most critics who reviewed it had a blast.
Case in point, Empire's Beth Webb gave it a 4/5 star rating, praising it as "painfully funny" and "a film that refuses to be boxed", adding: "Greta Gerwig delivers a new kind of ambitious and giddily entertaining blockbuster that boasts two definitive performances from actors already in their stride. Life after "Barbie" will simply never be the same again".
Similarly, reviewing for RogerEbert.com, Christy Lemire gave the movie a 3.5/4-star score, calling it "a dazzling achievement, both technically and in tone", "hysterically funny", but also "frustratingly uneven at times", in reference to how it can feel heavy-handed in its more serious moments.
And in her 5-star review for The Independent, critic Clarisse Loughrey called the "Barbie" movie "one of the most inventive, immaculately crafted and surprising mainstream films in recent memory – a testament to what can be achieved within even the deepest bowels of capitalism".
If I've failed to convince you to try "Barbie" now it's on Netflix, we've still got plenty more streaming recommendations here at Tom's Guide; check out our guides to the best Netflix comedies and the overall round-up of the best movies on Netflix for more help finding your next Netflix watch.
Oh, and if you've already streamed "Barbie" on Netflix, we can still help: here's a list of the best movies like "Barbie" you can watch right now if you want more watches just like it.
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