It’s Monday July 24th, 2023. Your social media feed is filled with photos of people wearing pink at the movie theatre. Maybe you’ve even seen them roaming the streets. Maybe they’re in your house right now!? 

It’s hard to deny that “Barbenheimer”, the term coined for the two movies released on July 21st, 2023, Barbie and Oppenheimer, is a phenomenon. And the box office numbers certainly would support that. Two prestige pictures released on the exact same day, made from well-respected writer / directors in Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan, and filled with star studded casts – it’s something that we cinema-lovers needed to reinvigorate the movie theatre with life and excitement. 

So, with all that said, maybe you’ve decided that you too want to jump on the Barbenheimer train and step out to the cinema. Maybe it’s your first double feature ever? Or maybe it’s your first time going out to the theatre since the pandemic? In any case, I’ve got you covered! I present to you my Beginner’s Guide to the Barbenheimer Double Feature! 

Step 1: Ask Yourself, Is this a Good Idea?

I get asked all the time, is a Barbenheimer double feature even a good idea? The answer is, yes and no. On one hand, Barbie and Oppenheimer are two completely different movies in terms of tone. For some (like myself) the emotional whiplash will be refreshing, while for others this could ultimately be confusing or draining. On the other hand, you may be surprised to hear that the two movies in terms of themes are actually quite complementary, as both follow a protagonist dealing with existential inner turmoil as they confront the self-destructive nature of humanity head on.  

At the end of the day, in my opinion, you can’t go wrong watching two good movies back to back. And these are GOOD movies. From script, direction, production, editing, costumes, sound, music and cast – these are well crafted movies from teams who handled their properties with care. So even if the double feature doesn’t entirely make sense, you’ll at least hopefully enjoy the experience. 

You can see my mini reviews here:

• Barbie
• Oppenheimer

Step 2: Decide Whether or Not a Double Feature is Really For You

Be honest with yourself – can you actually survive a double feature anyways? Oppenheimer clocks in at a solid 3 hours, while Barbie’s run time is 1 hour and 54 minutes. Can you make it through this? If not, there’s no shame in coming back to the theatre another day to catch the second flick.

Another thing to consider is how you like to enjoy your movies. Do you like to watch a movie and then stew about it for hours afterwards, combing through reddit posts, podcasts, cast interviews and movie reviews until the next morning? Then maybe this isn’t for you. 

At the end of the day, it’s all down to personal preference. 

Step 3: So Now That You’re Committed, Choose Your Order

For me the perfect order is Oppenheimer first, then Barbie. I think Oppenheimer is better if you go in fresh. The way that Nolan tells his stories demands a certain degree of attention and focus to get the most out of it. It’s hard to muster that up after a long day at the movies. 

While Barbie also has such a reverential attention to detail that may require focus for finding all those delectable easter eggs, Barbie starts with such a burst of energy that will surely re-energize you from your Oppenheimer experience. It’s the perfect palate cleanser that helps end the night off on a fun note. And for me, that’s the feeling I want you to leave the theatre with – a sense of fun, joy and emotional fulfilment that makes you want to come back to the theatre again with your friends in the future.

Step 4: Get Your Tickets

It’s slightly more complicated than you may think, so hopefully this will help to simplify things a little bit. Specifically, here’s a bit of a primer on getting tickets here in Canada. For those not in Canada, you can skip this section. 

I’m going to show screenshots of Cineplex specifically, not because I’m sponsored by them in any way, but because they essentially have a monopoly on the Canadian marketplace. My perspective is from the Greater Toronto Area, so apologies if it’s different in your jurisdiction. 

For those who haven’t gone to a Cineplex in a while, there’s a few new things to note:

• Online Booking Fees – Cineplex now charges an online booking fee of $1.50 per ticket; this is waived if you are a CineClub member, or if you decide to go in person to purchase your ticket.
• Advanced Seat Selection is Now Standard – post-COVID, Cineplex has opted to continue with advanced seat selection in all of its formats (including standard formats), which makes it a lot easier to plan your outings in advance, but may also mean the “best” seats may already be taken (see further down for tips re: seat selection).

Step 4b: Choose Your Formats

This is more important for Oppenheimer, as there are several different options for your viewing pleasure (and several different opinions online to consider). 

In general, for Oppenheimer, the rule of thumb is: choose the biggest screen possible. For most people, that will be digital IMAX. Yes, Nolan shot his movie on IMAX 70 mm film, a non-digital format that is said to provide the viewer with crisper and more stable images in comparison to standard 35 mm film and digital media. But the film reels are so large and heavy that only around 30 theatres in the world are able to play this format, 6 of which are spread across Canada. And the opening weekends have been riddled with reports of technical errors (which makes sense when you learn that Cineplex had to fly in projectionists specifically for these showings). If you happen to live close to one of these theatres, or if you are really into the technical craft of filmmaking, by all means seek out these showings. But for the average person this might not be a possibility, and might make it more difficult to consider a double feature if you need to include travel time in the mix or if you are watching the movie at an unfamiliar theatre. 

Of note, the Cineplex website lists IMAX as a separate entity from the non-IMAX counterpart. So if you’re searching based on the movie title, you need to find the “IMAX Experience” version on the website to see IMAX specific times. 

For Barbie a standard format is totally fine and maybe the only format available anyways as Oppenheimer and Mission Impossible hoard all the premium formats. 

Step 4c: Choose Your Seats

Again, this is seemingly more important for Oppenheimer. The seats don’t personally matter too much to me (I don’t mind sitting on the side or in the front on most occasions), but a lot of people are looking for the best experience so here’s what to look for. 

Nolan, in an article from the Associated Press, has said the following: “When I’m in a theater that’s Cinemascope ratio, I like to be right near the front, middle of the third row. When I’m in a stadium, IMAX 1.43:1, then I actually like to be a little behind the center line right up at the middle. So, a little further back.” 

It’s hard to interpret that that actually means for your local movie theatre, but this was my best approximation when I bought tickets back on June 28th, 2023:

For Barbie, again it’s less important where you sit. Unless you’re someone who definitely needs to sit in the middle, if you had to choose between sitting on the side of a packed theatre versus sitting in the centre of an empty theatre, I would consider sitting on the side. Part of the fun of Barbie is being in the crowd and feeding off the energy of the people around you, but that may ultimately not be for you.

Step 4d: Pick Your Times

How you pick your times depends on what format you ultimately choose and depends on which seats are available, but in general I would consider adding at least an hour buffer between the two films. This gives you enough time to consider grabbing a quick bite to eat, run to the bathroom, and go for a quick walk. Add in extra time if you think you want to grab a full meal in between, or if you’ve driven far to go watch a 70 mm IMAX viewing and need to make it back to a closer theatre. 

An important thing to consider is that movie runtimes generally do not factor in previews and ads, but do factor in credits. So you can expect a showing to go 15-20 minutes longer than its runtime from the listed start time (i.e. a 2:00 pm start time for Oppenheimer means you’ll get out of the theatre around 5:15 pm despite a listed 3 hour runtime). Keep this in mind when planning your break times. 

Step 5: Plan Your Day!

Planning your experience starts, naturally, with picking your outfit. Based on the outfits of people watching both movies, it seems that some sort of pink clothing is mandatory for both Barbie but also especially Oppenheimer. So dress accordingly. 

Now for the day of. Nearly 5 hours of movie-watching is not for the faint of heart, so plan your day and plan your rest stops. Our itinerary was as follows:

• 1:00 pm – pre-caffeinate with your drink of choice, but consider doing this earlier depending on how your bladder reacts with caffeine. 
• 1:45 pm – meet at the theatre, buy popcorn, take group photos, go for the obligatory pre-movie bathroom break.
• 2:00 pm – OPPENHEIMER
• 5:15 pm – Exit the theatre, eavesdropping on the crowd to get their impression of the movie before grouping up with your friends for a brief discussion.
• 5:30 pm – Leave the cinema to refuel and regroup. I would recommend a combination of walking and eating if possible, in order to refuel while also preventing leg muscle atrophy and deep vein thrombosis. Our theatre is luckily close enough to a lot of easy take out options.
• 6:30 pm – Regroup at the movie theatre, buy popcorn (or in my case bring back in your half-eaten popcorn from Oppenheimer), go again for the obligatory pre-movie bathroom break.
• 6:40 pm – BARBIE
• 8:55 pm – Exit the theatre, eavesdrop again, line up to take group photos in front of the movie poster with your friends (which may take a while depending on the crowd), and then regroup for a brief discussion.

Now you could follow this up easily with food and drinks, which would be perfect. But gauge with your group whether or not they have the stamina for one last stop before going home. Also consider if you need time that night to watch behind the scenes videos and cast interviews because that can take up a lot of time. 

Step 6: Enjoy!

Have a great day at the movies and then give yourself a pat on the back! You’ve experienced the Barbenheimer double feature! 

Personally, Barbenheimer was an amazing experience that lived up to its hype. Not just because both movies are incredible, but because it’s been so long since I’ve had such a fun movie going experience with friends, sitting in a packed theatre in eager anticipation, and leaving the theatre with a smile on my face. For that alone I am very appreciative of the writers and actors who create these masterpieces for us, and I stand in continued support during their respective strikes. A reminder that going to the theatre is a way for us to show our support. It demonstrates to studios that we as audience members appreciate great movies made by great filmmakers, who have unique, creative, innovative and original visions for their projects. Hopefully the success of Barbenheimer will encourage the studios to go back to the negotiating table, and also encourage them to invest more in these types of projects and the people who work to create them. But until then I will continue to enjoy movies while I can.