Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” takes a deep dive into the life and work of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the influential figure behind the invention of nuclear weapons. The epic creatively explores Oppenheimer’s collaboration with the nation’s best scientists, Lieutenant General Leslie Groves, and Lewis Strauss in the Manhattan Project, which sought to get ahead of Nazi Germany’s nuclear weapon development during WWII. According to History, The Manhattan Project, active from 1942 to 1946, was a research and development project that facilitated the creation of the first atomic bombs, which would later be detonated over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Oppenheimer’s efforts have had an enduring and polarizing legacy in national and global nuclear proliferation and nuclear development, ranging from the arms race of the Cold War to the ever-looming current threat of nuclear warfare. The subject is complicated and controversial and even stirred up polarizing feelings among those in the Manhattan Project, including Oppenheimer himself.
Whether you’ve got plans to see “Oppenheimer” in theaters soon or you already saw it, here are some of the best documentaries to watch about the renowned physicist and the impact of atomic bombs in our society.