Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, the Oscar-winning biographical thriller, is now available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer after airing this week. The film, which won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, can be watched by licence fee payers as a festive treat.
Released in 2023, the three-hour epic focuses on J. Robert Oppenheimer, the 'father of the atomic bomb', and his moral torment after creating the weapon. It is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography American Prometheus and features a star-studded cast including Cillian Murphy in the title role, alongside Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr.
The film spans from 1926, when Oppenheimer was a student, to 1963, covering the discovery of nuclear fission, the Manhattan Project, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and his 1954 security hearing. Critics hailed it as a 'total knockout', with Rolling Stone ranking it 86th in its list of the 100 best films of the 21st century.
Nolan, known for Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy, directed the project. His next film, The Odyssey, is due in cinemas in summer 2026. Oppenheimer originally competed with Greta Gerwig's Barbie in cinemas, leading to the 'Barbenheimer' phenomenon.
Oppenheimer is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
