Barbie (2023), directed by Greta Gerwig

All is perfect in Barbie World, where every night is girls’ night, until stereotypical Barbie is suddenly besieged by dark thoughts and flat feet. She must travel to the real world to repair the damage or risk becoming a weird Barbie with major malfunctions. But patriarchy rules the real world, which is not what Barbie expected, and it gives Ken some really bad ideas to take back home. Mothers and daughters are at the heart of this film, which makes some nice points about feminism and patriarchy and has some very funny jokes. It also features some odd, unnecessary patches, such as an extended Ken dance sequence and Will Ferrell’s entire storyline as Mattel’s CEO. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are great as Barbie and Ken and the strong supporting cast features scene stealing performances from Michael Cera as Alan and Kate McKinnon as weird Barbie. Several of the talented cast of TV series Sex Education bob up, including Robbie lookalike Emma Mackey. Helen Mirren’s wry and knowing narration underpins the whole and the random insertion of actual discontinued Mattel toys, such as pregnant Midge and sugar daddy Ken is a hoot. The mood is uneven, with the fun at times threatening to veer off into mawkish sentimentality, while the off-beat ending is apparently there only to serve the final punchline.