Leading up to its release, Barbie was shrouded with a certain mystique—the feminine kind. It became more than a summer blockbuster based on a famous toy. Director and co-writer Greta Gerwig has leaned into the idea of Barbie as a unifying cultural phenomenon, a girlhood experience so broadly shared that it could bring all kinds of women together. Barbie is a bright, creative endeavor that neatly wraps up the struggles of womanhood in a clever package. The film is a pleasing mishmash of genres, with elements fantastical, political, mystical, and musical, but at its core it is a coming of age story, a bildungsroman in shades of pink. Barbie would be worth seeing in theaters for the visuals alone. Barbie Land, home to the Barbies, Kens, and their various discontinued doll sidekicks, is a colorful pastiche of life in plastic, and it’s fantastic. It’s the main character who gives the world texture: Margot Robbie is incandescent as Barbie.—The New Republic

“A riotously entertaining candy-coloured feminist fable that manages simultaneously to celebrate, satirise and deconstruct its happy-plastic subject. Audiences will be delighted.”—Observer(UK)

“Robbie is stunning… Gosling is equally tremendous. This may be the actor’s best comedic performance to date”—Moviefreak