So much is riding on Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. The aggressive media push from Warner Bros. and Mattel has been unmissable. Generations of women and girls (and boys) have a profound connection to the iconic toy line, but how does that lend itself to a movie? Well, in Greta Gerwig we trust. I was expecting a lot from this movie from her name alone. After Lady Bird and her stellar, similarly unexpected adaptation of Little Women, I trust her to find exciting ways into familiar stories. In Barbie, she takes the idea of an iconic toy brand, and blows it up from the inside. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a big studio movie made for over $100 million that swings for the fences so wildly and so boldly and manages to pull it off in a way that is this subversive, zany, hilarious and shockingly moving.

Enter Barbieland. A matriarchy where everything is pink and every day is perfect and nobody is unhappy for even a second. Unless you’re a Ken, that is. The quintessential Barbie, dubbed “Stereotypical Barbie” (Margot Robbie) finds her idealistic existence threatened when she begins to question her own mortality and her high-heel designed feet unexpectedly go flat. She goes to the wise outcast Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) for advice, and discovers that the girl who is playing with her in the Real World is experiencing these dark thoughts, and she must go there to make things right with her and restore peace to the utopian Barbieland. Ken (Ryan Gosling) who is hopelessly in love with her, tags along.

Once in the Real World, Barbie and Ken discover life is a stark opposite of what they’re familiar with. Ken is delighted to discover the patriarchy finding that the men are in charge of everything, even though his own ideas about masculinity are poorly developed to say the least. Barbie finds herself in the Mattel headquarters where she encounters the comically villainous CEO (Will Ferrell) who wants to silence her and stifle her experiences. We then meet Mattel employee Gloria (America Ferrera) and her young daughter (Ariana Greenblatt) who try to help Barbie fix what has become broken in both worlds.

Barbie is everything. Barbie is an immaculately crafted feast for the senses that is constantly subverting the audience’s expectations and desires of what they even wanted this movie to be. It’s a product placement film that deconstructs, criticizes and celebrates the world it’s created. It’s a story about humanity and finding one’s place in the world, and what that means. It’s a heartfelt story about mothers and daughters, and the emotions hit hard when it counts. It’s a political satire, oh boy is it! This movie is going to piss some people off and I LOVE that about it. It’s a celebration of womanhood and feminism but also is very much about the message that we’re all in this together. This is everything you could possibly want from a Greta Gerwig/Noah Baumbach Barbie. There are bits that could have gone even further, but considering all the people in suits that had to sign off on this film, it’s shocking Gerwig got away with all she was able to.

The performances are across the board perfect. Margot Robbie is everything you would expect her to be. She’s a delight as the cheerful, idealistic Barbie and she absolutely sells the later half of the film where Barbie becomes enlightened and is forced to face some hard truths about herself and the world around her. Ryan Gosling’s Ken is every bit as good as you’ve heard, maybe better. He’s done comedy before, but I don’t think he’s ever gone this broad and this wacky, and has had it go this well. Ken’s emotional journey is every bit as important to the film’s overall narrative as Barbie’s, and even though it may seem like the script is tough on the Kens of the world, the overall message is a unifying one, a reminder that there is no Barbie without Ken. Also, if Gosling does not get to perform Ken’s big musical number, the 80’s hair metal inspired anthem I’m Just Ken, at the Oscars, there is no hope left for any of us.

A main standout in the supporting cast is America Ferrera, who kind of serves as the audience conduit into the world of Barbie. She has a showstopping sure-to-be-oft-quoted monologue at the beginning of the third act that made my sold-out preview audience burst into applause and cheers. Can’t remember the last time that’s happened. The story between Ferrera’s Gloria and her daughter Sasha is surprisingly tender and heartfelt. Rhea Perlman, playing a character I will not spoil, also has a few really nice moments. Keep an eye out for a cameo by famed Oscar-winning costume designer Ann Roth, who seems so happy to be here.

If there’s anything wrong here, I would say the film gives us just enough time with some of our supporting players, enough to make you wish there was more. Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir play variations of Barbie and Ken, and they all get individual great moments, but you still wish there was more time for all of them. But considering this film is pushing two hours as is, you can see why there is not. Also, the subplot involving Will Ferrell’s mustache-twirling villain is maybe not necessary, considering it seems like it’s a bit of an afterthought to all of the main conflict in the second and third acts. But we get to have Will Ferrell in prime zany comedic form, so it’s fine. 

I would be remiss not to mention the technical craft on display here. The costumes designed by Jacqueline Durran do not hit a false note, and apparently there are lots of throwbacks to iconic Barbie looks of the past, so those deeply versed in the hats and scarves and dresses and necklaces iconic to the brand will have a lot of Easter eggs to enjoy.

The production design by Sarah Greenwood is flawless. Every last detail of Barbieland is so immaculately realized and conceived beautifully. I thought about the global shortage of hot pink paint that this movie allegedly caused, and watching the movie, you totally believe it. The colors are blindingly gorgeous, and yet stop short of being too much. I would be shocked if Durran and Greenwood were not recognized for their work come Oscar time. I just have a hard time believing any movie this year could top what they’ve done here. Cinematographer Rordigo Prieto, who also shot Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon this year, designs a sharp contrast between Barbieland and the real world that keeps the film visually exciting at all times.

Barbie is yet another Greta Gerwig banger, in my opinion it’s her best film yet and it’s probably my favorite movie of the year so far. It’s hilarious, deeply heartfelt, it’s loving and scathing and above all hopeful and deeply cathartic. See it before every bit is spoiled for you on social media, and see it on the biggest screen you can find with the biggest crowd possible. Last night at the advanced preview screening, I saw so many women of all ages in bright pink, some full-on cosplaying the looks in the movie they were about to see. I haven’t seen something like that happen since the last Star Wars movie, and to have that happen at Greta Gerwig’s deeply weirdo, nutty, deeply feminist and instantly iconic Barbie made for a uniquely joyful experience. I can’t wait to see it again.