Oscar-laden ‘Oppenheimer’ streams on Netflix

The biographical thriller Oppenheimer, which dominated the 96^th Academy Awards in 2024 with seven Oscar wins, is streaming on Netflix from today (6 January 2026). The movie follows the life of a theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II.

The film is written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan, one of the 21^st century’s most accomplished and influential filmmakers. His work, which includes Interstellar, Tenet, Inception, and The Dark Knight trilogy, has earned over $6.6-billion worldwide.

The epic follows J Robert Oppenheimer from his rise as a brilliant American student in the 1920s to a leading figure in quantum research. At University of California, he builds up the quantum physics department and forms close ties with students and colleagues, including people connected to left-wing politics, while his personal life becomes increasingly complex.

During World War II, Oppenheimer is pulled into the United States’ top-secret race to develop an atomic weapon. He is appointed to lead the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, where scientists work under intense military pressure, strict secrecy, and profound moral stakes.

The film tracks how Oppenheimer’s wartime role reshapes his reputation and future, as political tensions and debates over nuclear power close in around him in the years that follow.

Oppenheimer is played by Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) with Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man) as the US Atomic Energy Commission member Lewis Strauss. The cast includes Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place), Matt Damon (The Martian), Florence Pugh (Thunderbolts), Rami Malek (Mr Robot), Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, and Kenneth Branagh.

The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J Sherwin. It is produced by Emma Thomas, Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven and Nolan.