5 things we can’t wait to see in the new ‘Barbie’ movie

Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, drops in cinemas on July 21

Few films in recent memory have garnered as much attention as Barbie. In the two weeks since the film’s second teaser trailer dropped, social media has been alight with viral reactions to Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s take on Mattel’s iconic dolls, Barbie and Ken. Apps like Instagram and TikTok now offer Barbie selfie filters, generating hype for the movie’s release. And with indie darling Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) at the helm as the director of the film, which was co-written with her partner Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story), no one can quite tell what the film is going to be like.

With audiences on tenterhooks until July 21, here are five things we’re most excited to see when Barbie drops in one of this summer’s most anticipated releases.

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1. It’s a Barbie world

Above 'Barbie' ensemble cast (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Margot Robbie leads the film as Barbie, a picture-perfect replica of the Mattel doll that has captured the hearts and minds of children for 64 years. So perfect, in fact, that a scene from the trailer where Robbie steps out of her shoes to reveal that her feet follow the shape of her heels, like the iconic doll, has now gone viral. Having previously shown her acting chops in I, Tonya and Babylon, we have no doubt she’ll bring depth to the role.

But that’s not all—the star-studded cast of Barbie have been gaining massive hype for the film. There’s Emma Mackey from Sex Education as a Nobel-winning physicist; Dua Lipa as a mermaid; Issa Rae as the President of Barbieland; Alexandra Shipp as a celebrated author; Saturday Night Live veteran Kate McKinnon as a kooky Barbie who’s “always in the splits”, and many more who are set to light silver screens on fire this summer.

2. Simu Liu and Ryan Gosling beaching each other off

Above Simu Liu, Margot Robbie, and Ryan Reynolds in 'Barbie' (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Before he was Shang-chi, Simu Liu was Jung in the Netflix sitcom Kim’s Convenience. If the trailer is any indication, it will be fun watching Liu’s Ken go head-to-head with Ryan Gosling’s Ken. “If I weren’t severely injured, I would beach you off right now, Ken,” Gosling says. “I’ll beach you off any day, Ken,” Liu responds. It’s the perfect blend of stupidity and wink-wink double entendres that promises a hilarious summer outing later this year.

3. Will Ferrell as a Mattel executive

Above Will Ferrell in 'Barbie' (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

When comedy legend Will Ferrell was confirmed to play a Mattel executive in Barbie in late 2022, buzz around the film reached a fever pitch. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he revealed: “I get to play the CEO of Mattel and be that guy who’s just insensitive but weird and then, not to spoil anything, but… anyway, that’s what excites me.”

We know very little about his character, but with set pictures taken of Ferrell rollerblading in a suit, we can assume that a hilarious and endearing caricature of C-suite executives will await us in cinemas.

4. Electric dance sequences

Above Margot Robbie in 'Barbie' (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Already in the trailer, we see dazzling dance sequences in the colourful world of Barbieland, where all the Barbies and Kens (and their best friends, Midge and Allan) live. What makes these sequences even better is Gerwig’s eye for inclusivity in these moments of unadulterated fun.

“Greta was very, very conscientious about who she cast,” Simu Liu said at the 20th Unforgettable Gala in December 2022, honouring Asian American leaders in entertainment. “We were able to cast people of different shapes, sizes, differently abled, to all participate in this dance—all under this message of: You don’t have to be blonde, white, or X, Y, Z in order to embody what it means to be a Barbie or a Ken.” Expect playful choreographed numbers that celebrate diversity and inclusion.

5. The plot itself

Above Ryan Reynolds and Margot Robbie in 'Barbie' (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Marketing has been conspicuously mum on the plot of Barbie, and it seems to be working: much of the hype around the film is centred on the intrigue about what it will be about. According to Margot Robbie in an interview with British Vogue, “People generally hear Barbie and think, ‘I know what that movie is going to be,’ and then they hear that Greta Gerwig is writing and directing it, and they're like, ‘Oh, well, maybe I don't…’”

Based on the Barbie trailer, life in plastic may not be so fantastic after all, as we see Margot Robbie’s Barbie leave Barbieland for the “real world”. Despite the lack of plot details, we can still glean what it is about based on what its stars have had to say about it.

“It’s a loving homage to the brand and, at the same time, couldn’t be more satirical,” actor Will Ferrell told Wall Street Journal. “Just an amazing comment on male patriarchy and women in society and why Barbie’s criticised and yet why every little girl still wants to play with Barbie.” Whatever it is, Barbie promises to be an exhilarating summer romp that’s fun, campy, and playful.

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Topics

Barbie Barbie movie Greta Gerwig Margot Robbie Ryan Reynolds Simu Liu Dua Lipa Noah Baumbach