Overview
"Do you guys ever think about dying?" When life in plastic is fantastic, that's not a line anyone that would expect to come out of Barbie's (Margot Robbie, Babylon) mouth. And, amid giant blowout parties with planned choreography with all her pals, and the constant devotion of her beau Ken (Ryan Gosling, The Gray Man), such existential musings do come as a shock. When she can no longer float off of her rooftop and her usually arched feet become flat, the Barbie movie's main namesake heads to the real world for answers.
That's the plot for Greta Gerwig's film, which marks the actor-turned-director's third solo stint behind the camera after Lady Bird and Little Women, and has been teasing its extremely pink on-screen worlds in not one but two trailers prior to the just-dropped full sneak peek. Even dolls living in a dreamland struggle with life's big questions, it seems — and, when the film's key Barbie and Ken drive through Barbie Land's gates to discover what's on the other side, they struggle with Los Angeles as well. With mugshots to prove it, they even get arrested.
Splashing as much humour as pastel hues throughout its frames, Barbie is scripted by Gerwig and fellow filmmaker Noah Baumbach — her helmer on Greenberg, Frances Ha, Mistress America and White Noise, and real-life partner — and boasts a cast that's a gleaming toy chest of talent. Indeed, it might just be the most anticipated toy-to-film release ever. There's that pedigree, of course. There's also the picture's patently playful vibe, which started with parodying the one and only 2001: A Space Odyssey and has kept beaming brightly from there.
All those on-screen stars help fill the feature with Barbies, including Issa Rae (Insecure) as president Barbie, Dua Lipa (making her movie debut) as a mermaid Barbie, Emma Mackey (Emily) as a Nobel Prize-winning physicist Barbie, Alexandra Schipp (tick, tick... BOOM!) as an author Barbie and Ana Cruz Kayne (Jerry and Marge Go Large) as a supreme court justice Barbie — plus Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) as diplomat Barbie, Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live) as a Barbie who is always doing the splits, Hari Nef (Meet Cute) as doctor Barbie, Ritu Arya (The Umbrella Academy) as a Pulitzer-winning Barbie and Sharon Rooney (Jerk) as lawyer Barbie.
There's also a whole heap of Kens, including Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami), Ncuti Gatwa (the incoming Doctor Who) and Scott Evans (Grace and Frankie). And, Michael Cera (Arrested Development) plays Alan, Emerald Fennell (The Crown) plays Midge, Helen Mirren (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) is the narrator, America Ferrera (Superstore) and Ariana Greenblatt (65) are humans, Jamie Demetriou (Catherine Called Birdy) is a suit, Will Ferrell (Spirited) wears a suit as Mattel's CEO and Connor Swindells (also Sex Education) is an intern.
Will this be the best figurine-to-film adaptation yet in a mixed field that also includes the Transformers series, Trolls, The Lego Movie and its sequel, Battleship and the GI Joe films? The answer will be pulled out of the toy box in cinemas on July 20 Down Under.
And yes, Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' finally (finally!) gets a spin in this trailer, although you likely already had it stuck in your head just thinking about this movie anyway.
Check out the full trailer for Barbie below:
Barbie releases in cinemas Down Under on July 20, 2023.