Film Review

Barbie (2023) — vibrant comedy proves more fantastic than plastic

Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence.

When a Barbie doll movie was announced people were understandably sceptical, but in the talented hands of writer-director Greta Gerwig (Little Women), this cultural icon has been subverted and given a socially conscious 21st-century update.

Barbie opens with a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), showing little girls destroying their baby dolls and replacing them with a swimsuit-clad Barbie. We’re then introduced to the pastel pink haven that is ‘Barbieland’, where every day is perfect, nobody has a hair out of place, and people don’t even need to use stairs to get into their car. In this fantasy world, plentiful and gorgeous Barbies can be anything they want, whether that’s running Congress, winning a Nobel prize, or being a mermaid. They all believe they’ve inspired the “real world” and that every little girl also has the same opportunities in their life.