One sentence summary: Barbie's perfect existence enters a tailspin when she starts contemplating the meaning of life and the possibility of death.

A Barbie feature film was always in the cards for Mattel, but I'm not sure anyone other than Greta Gerwig expected it to grapple with such substantial themes. But even with the heavy topics, Barbie is colorful enough, both in its palette and its actors' charisma, to attract a wide variety of audiences. Hence the movie's staggering $1.4 billion box office return. Not every creative decision functioned to the film's benefit, but the project as a whole felt genuine and fluid. The steady stream of comedy, provided primarily by Will Ferrell, the Mattel CEO and the film's main antagonist, also worked nicely to balance the tone and add a bit of levity. While the movie may not be as perfect as Barbie's world, Hollywood couldn't have asked for a more impactful cinematic debut for the iconic children's toy.