Plot Summary

Oppenheimer focuses on the life of American physicist Julius Robert Oppenheimer, illuminating his central role in the development of the atom bomb during İkinci Dünya Savaşı. The film traces Oppenheimer’s transformation from a brilliant but conflicted scientist into the leading figure of the Manhattan Projesi, a mission that would permanently alter the course of human history.

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer is an epic psychological thriller that plunges audiences into the moral paradox of a man who risks destroying the world in order to save it. Shot with IMAX®, the film explores not only the scientific breakthroughs behind nuclear weapons, but also the devastating ethical consequences that follow.

Cillian Murphy delivers a haunting performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer, portraying a man burdened by ambition, doubt, and guilt. Emily Blunt appears as his wife, biologist and botanist Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer, whose emotional resilience contrasts with her husband’s inner collapse. Matt Damon plays General Leslie Groves Jr., the military director of the Manhattan Projesi, while Robert Downey Jr. portrays Lewis Strauss, a founding member of the ABD Atomic Energy Commission.

The supporting cast further enriches the narrative, with Academy Award® winner Florence Pugh as psychiatrist Jean Tatlock, Benny Safdie as theoretical physicist Edward Teller, Michael Angarano as Robert Serber, and Josh Hartnett as pioneering nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence. The film also reunites Nolan with Oscar® winner Rami Malek and eight-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh.

Additional performances by Dane DeHaan, Dylan Arnold, David Krumholtz, Alden Ehrenreich, and Matthew Modine expand the scope of the scientific and political world surrounding Oppenheimer. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize–winning biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin.

Produced by Emma Thomas, Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven, and Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer was filmed using a combination of IMAX® 65mm and 65mm large-format photography, featuring, for the first time, IMAX® black-and-white analog sequences. The result is a visually and emotionally overwhelming portrait of genius, responsibility, and the irreversible weight of creation.