Hi Barbie.
Given the fact that it was the #1 movie of 2023 in theaters — grossing an incredible $1.4 billion worldwide — most of you reading this have probably already seen Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Maybe you saw it more than once. Probably a few of you saw it upwards of five times.
If you didn’t see it, or you’re ready to rewatch it for the sixth time, you can now do it at home, or really anywhere, provided you have the Max app. Starting today, December 15, Barbie is available for streaming.
The film stars Margot Robbie as that classic iconic Barbie who lives in Barbieland (think giant, life-size versions of the Barbie DreamHouse, and all the other Barbie play sets) surrounded by many other Barbies, played by the likes Issa Rae, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Kate McKinnon, and more. And always hanging around them are the Kens: Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and especially Ryan Gosling as “Beach Ken” who has a serious inferiority complex over the fact that “beach” isn’t even really a job.
When Robbie’s Barbie is stricken with dark thoughts about death and her mortality for the first time, she has to travel to the “real” world to investigate what is causing this strange disturbance in Barbieland. (Ken invites himself along.) She also attracts the attention of Mattel (the company that produces Barbie dolls, and produced this movie) as well as its blundering CEO (Will Ferrell).
READ MORE: The Best Movies of 2023, According to Letterboxd
The timing is good for a renewed wave of interest in the film, as Barbie looks primed to score a slew of Oscar nominations in early 2024. (It already has nine Golden Globes nominations and 18 Critics Choice Awards nominations.) While Barbie didn’t make my personal list of the best movies of 2023, I definitely thought it was worth watching. As I wrote in my review…
It’s to Gerwig’s credit that she managed to make a Barbie movie approved by Mattel that actually considers the ramifications of these questions, alongside subplots about feminism, patriarchy, and toxic masculinity. This is a big swing of a movie, one that tries to tackle the big questions about Barbie, and to use them to say something about gender roles in society now. It is not just a lavish commercial for Barbie dolls.
Barbie is now available on Max.
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Gallery Credit: Matt Singer