Directed by Greta Gerwig (Little Women (2019); Lady Bird (2017)) and starring Margot Robbie (Babylon (2022); Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood (2019)) as Barbie and Ryan Gosling (The Gray Man (2022); La La Land (2016)) as Ken.
Adventure comedy, 114 mins; 6+
The opening scene (wittily narrated by Helen Mirren) hails Barbie as the ultimate game-changer for little girls everywhere - before Barbie, all dolls were babies. Its sombre tone clashes with the following, visually arresting and highly colourful scenes of bliss in Barbie Land, where all the Barbies (and Kens, as long as they are noticed by their respective Barbies) live a perfect, fun day, over and over again.
Barbie Land is home to President Barbie, Journalist Barbie, Supreme Court Justice Barbie and Writer Barbie, among others. But when "Stereotypical Barbie's" perfect existence is interrupted by sudden thoughts of death (and a never-before-seen, unexpected patch of cellulite), a rift in Barbie Land occurs that she has to fix by meeting the person who caused all this.
Weird Barbie, the land’s most knowledgeable doll (Kate McKinnon, sporting a little girl’s first attempt at a creative haircut and a full-face of felt tip “make up”) explains that this must be the result of a girl somewhere in the real world projecting her dark thoughts and insecurities onto Margot Robbie’s Barbie. This forces her to set out on a journey to the real world, which teaches her and Ken bizarre, painful truths about people and exposes her to previously unheard-of emotions and situations.
This is an epic journey into suddenly emerging humanity, a self-aware but also funny and sad exploration of our world, of patriarchy, capitalism, the difficulties of human life and the power of ideas. Ultimately, this film packs a punch underneath its glitzy surface as it goes back and forth in fully unexpected directions.
The acting and high-energy performances, dancing and singing are eye-catching and sure to touch and entertain audiences with charming outfits, nostalgic Barbie throwbacks and action figures but also familiar faces (e.g. Will Ferrell as Mattel CEO, Dua Lipa as one of the Barbies and Michael Cera as Allan, Ken’s lonesome friend).
Currently being screened in Luxembourg at Kinepolis, among other cinemas.
