Feminist and very girly... What’s in store for the film Barbie with Margot Robbie?

The Barbie doll, heroine of multiple cartoons, will make her entrance in Hollywood this year with a live-action film including real images and actors in the flesh – and not just any actors. Actress Margot Robbie, who shone in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon last January, will embody the pretty doll created by Mattel in 1959. Her character was first seen as a lifelike toy in a wild trailer for the movie, unveiled in December 2022. The less than two-minute video captured a group of little girls playing with dolls, before throwing them away as soon as the giant doll played by the heroine of Suicide Squad (2016) emerges, wearing a retro black and white striped jersey and heeled sandals – the original outfit of the very first Barbie from the 1950s. The images were a mischievous reference to Stanley Kubrick’s mythical 2001, A Space Odyssey (1968). After that promising first scene, shot like a documentary with a sociological and sci-fi flair, a series of candy pink shots take over the screen, suggesting that the film is funnier and more caustic than the Mattel universe. Yet the excitement around this project has just gone up once more with the release of different posters, each one dedicated to a specific character, on the film’s official Instagram page on Tuesday, April 4th. Among others, it features Dua Lipa as a blue-haired mermaid Barbie. A pinky trailer of the film released on the same day raises similar questions that those addressed in both The Matrix and The Truman Show. Margot Robbie appears as a rebellious doll who wants to escape from Barbieland.

Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and Dua Lipa starring in Barbie

Before the release of these playful images, which triggered the revival of the Barbiecore era, a couple of impressive shots from the film, due on July 21st, 2023, in the U.S. and July 19th in France, were shared by Warner Bros. Pictures earlier this year. In these glamorous and sarcastic pictures, Margot Robbie appears with a bright smile on her face, wearing sexy, kitsch outfits and a perfect blow-dry, while driving a pink car. We also discover Ryan Gosling as a quite convincing Ken, with his six-pack visible under a sleeveless denim jacket revealing his boxer shorts. Alongside the two stars, a prestigious cast will star in Barbie, a feature co-produced by Margot Robbie and her company LuckyChap Entertainment. The credits include singer Dua Lipa, the hilarious Will Ferrell (Step Brothers, Elf), Emma Mackey (Sex Education, Eiffel) – the latter has been compared a lot to Margot Robbie – Hari Nef (The Idol), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Kate McKinnon (Scandal), and Issa Rae (Insecure).

A film that offers an offbeat vision of the myth

Margot Robbie shared her thoughts about Barbie to the American media Hollywood Reporter in 2020: “Obviously everyone will spontaneously say: ‘Oh, Margot is playing Barbie, I know what that is...’, but our goal is to be like, ‘Whatever you’re thinking, we’re going to give you something totally different – the thing you didn't know you wanted’. Now the question is: can we truly honor the IP, the fan base, and also surprise people? Because if we can do all that and provoke a thoughtful conversation, then we’re really firing on all cylinders.” Directed by Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women) with a script by Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story, Frances Ha), Barbie’s storyline is about to be feminist and offbeat. According to the American media Deadline, the plot follows the adventures of a “fallen” doll: “A doll living in Barbieland is expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world.” Bad news however, Aqua’s colorful 1997 hit Barbie Girl will not appear in the credits...

Barbie (2023) by Greta Gerwig, coming out on July 19th, 2023.