Last year, the third biggest movie was “Oppenheimer,” grossing almost $1 billion at the box office, which explored the creation of the atomic bomb and the aftermath of its use to end World War II. The same themes that the new trending Netflix documentary series, “Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War.”
According to FlixPatrol, the series has entered the Top 10 in the US (as of March 13). Which might or not might be connected to the fact that it premiered on March 12, just a day after “Oppenheimer” became the movie with most wins at the 2024 Oscars with seven, including Best Picture and Best Director.
The documentary series also covers in detail the events leading up to the Manhattan Project, the atomic testing in Los Alamos, the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the arms race that dominated the latter part of the 20th century.
‘Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War,’ an ambitious docuseries
The nine-part docuseries is directed by Brian Knappenberger, who also helmed Netflix’s “Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror.” The feature includes interviews with several personalities, including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The series’ major thesis is that the Cold War, which is generally considered to have ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, continues to this day, although in a much concealed way.
Moreover, the series argues that, while the possibility of a nuclear war is low, it is not zero. Especially under the current political climate and, especially, due to Vladimir Putin’s stances on democracy and peace.
Rolling Stone suggests watching the series as a companion to another recent trending documentary on Netflix, “Einstein and the Bomb.” While the themes of both projects are, undoubtedly, bleak, there is no denial that they feel extremely current.