Barbie

A film that begins in a world of toys. Every day is perfect in Barbie Land. Everyone is Barbie, women run the country, and the Kens' job is the beach. One morning it all breaks. The shower runs cold, the toast burns, her heels touch the floor, and Barbie thinks about death. The cause is in the real world. Barbie has to go there and Ken hides in the car. From there the film is two discoveries. Barbie looks for the person playing with her and sees how the real world works for women; Ken discovers patriarchy and likes it very much. Ken goes back and changes the country. What the narrative is interested in is not toys but function: the question of what Barbie is for is repeated throughout, and the company itself is drawn into the criticism. The Ken line is the best written part. The narrative builds him not as a villain but as someone whose identity depends entirely on someone else. There is a speech. A mother lists the contradictions of being a woman one after another, and it is the most quoted scene in the film. The last scene is a doctor's appointment and looks like a joke; the whole idea of the film actually finishes there. The design is its strength. The sets were built for real, the sea is a painted surface and the houses have no walls; the narrative keeps toy logic all the way through. The film did enormous business worldwide and was the most watched production of its year. Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell and Rhea Perlman are in the cast. Greta Gerwig directed and wrote the screenplay with Noah Baumbach. Who it is for: anyone who likes colourful, fast, openly argumentative comedy. Who it is not for: anyone uncomfortable with the message stated outright; the film delivers its argument in dialogue and does not hide it.