For the last few months it feels like the Barbie movie is all anyone can talk about. It's mega-watt marketing campaign and pink-carpeted premieres have had us in a grip-hold on social media, and you've finally had the chance to see Greta Gerwig's masterpiece in the cinema, dressed in your pink finery. But now what? While there's rumours circulating that Mattel has a myraid of other toy movies in the works, we're impatient and in need of filling a pink, feminist, doll-sized void in our hearts – stat!
If you're looking for some other Friday night films to watch that will make you feel the same kind of exuberant joy combined with heartwarming existential hope, then we have some recommendations for what to watch after Barbie.
1. The Lego Movie (2014)
Yes, we're starting with another brilliant toy-movie adaptation. 2014's The Lego Movie was arguably one of the first toy-to-film adaptations that did the genre proud. It's a story about an ordinary Lego mini-figure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, recruited to join a quest to stop an evil Lego tyrant from gluing the universe together. It might sound trite, but it's surprisingly hilarious and heartening.
2. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
If you haven't already sat through this one, you really should give it a watch – specifically for all the references Barbie made to this iconic film. This Judy Garland classic has all the magic and whimsy you've been missing. We follow Dorothy as she finds herself dumped by a tornado into a magical world called Oz, where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to find the Wizard who will grant them what they lack.
3. Lady Bird (2017)
Gerwig's directorial debut encapsulates all of her magic; this coming-of-age comedy-drama film following a California high school student whose small-town life and disapproving mother push her to plan her New York college escape.
4. Legally Blonde (2001)
Reese Witherspoon's role as Elle Woods, sorority-girl-turned-Harvard-law-student, was iconic to say the least, and the film as a whole is arguably one of the first to do pink-heavy fun and feminism successfully.
5. Gone Girl (2014)
If you're looking for a movie that rebukes the patriarchy but has a much darker, thriller tone, then tuck into Gone Girl. The story centres on a man whose wife's disappearance leads an intense media circus to believe he may not be as innocent as he professes.
6. Enchanted (2007)
Disney's film about a fish-out-of-water princess who ends up in New York City has all the classic movie tropes we want to see – a handsome prince, some slapstick comedy, and a heroine who realises her own life path.
7. The Truman Show (1998)
If that eerie sense of not knowing what's real and what isn't is the feeling you're looking for, then perhaps The Truman Show, starring Jim Carrey, is the next film up on the block for you. We follow the eponymous lead, Truman Burbank, as he comes to discover that he is the star of his own 24-hour-a-day reality TV show that broadcasts every aspect of his life without his knowledge.
8. The Stepford Wives (2004)
Another thriller that shares a lot thematically with Barbie is the cult classic: The Stepford Wives. Explore in a deeper and more sinister way what it means to be 'a perfect women' in the terrifying town of Stepford.
9. La La Land (2016)
If the feeling you're searching for is the itch to get up and dance and sing along to a joyous musical number, then 2016's La La Land probably fits the bill. Starring the enigmatic duo of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (aka our #1 Ken), the film is about a heart-wrenching romance, accompanied by a gorgeous soundtrack.
10. I, Tonya (2017)
And last but not least, if what you're looking for is simply more stunning screen time from Margot Robbie – there's arguably no film that showcases her range and depth as an actor as I, Tonya. Playing the infamous ice skating champion Tonya Harding, Robbie carries this film on the back of her dramatic prowess.
