Our Annual Report highlights two very different and very impactful performances by naming Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy our 2023 Film Performers of the Year for their respective work in Barbie and oppenheimer. For more of the best in music, film and television this year, including our Top 25 Movies lists, check out our full Annual Report here.
When people initially realized the 2023 release dates Barbie and oppenheimer aligned, instantly became meme material. Leaning heavily on the concept of gender as binary, the weekend of July 21 was defined by two colors (hot pink and gray), creating an entire cultural phenomenon around this unconventional double characteristic. It was a pop culture event, which ultimately went much deeper than memes.
The Barbenheimer moment, at the time, was a celebration of the contrasts between the two films. However, it is what both films have in common that leads to Consequence selecting Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy as the two best film performers of the year. The expectations surrounding both projects were quite different, as were the requirements and research required. However, when considering their work, what both performances show is a theme almost too powerfully relevant for today: the search for purpose in a world we struggle to understand.
Both characters start off in a safe place: as a resident of Barbie Land, Barbie (Robbie) has always had a perfect, flawless life, and has never had reason to doubt any aspect of her existence. So when thoughts of death first strike her, it has a seismic impact on his world, disrupting her usual routine and eventually forcing her to visit our reality in search of answers about what is happening to her.
J. Robert Oppenheimer (Murphy) also seeks answers; However, as Oppie (as his limited friends call him) strives to discover the scientific discoveries that will eventually lead to the atomic bomb, he does so as a scientist, a man who trusts that through the power of his magnificent brain, The Secrets of the natural universe will eventually reveal themselves to him.
Both Robbie and Murphy excel at the level of commitment required to sell their characters' belief that the universe can be understood. For Robbie, this means an ever-present smile, an unwavering joy, a slightly flat affect that captures her calm acceptance of his circumstances. In the opening sequence, there's a stiffness in his posture as he cruises around the neighborhood in his pink convertible; There is nothing boring about her cheerfulness, but she is firm and confident.
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