Oppenheimer end explains spoilers: What happens at the end?

Christopher Nolan’s new historical film Oppenheimer landed in cinemas. For those wondering what happens at the end of this historical thriller starring Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., here is the Oppenheimer ending explained.

What happens at the end of Oppenheimer?

As the film begins, Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.) recalls a moment when J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) walked up to Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) after his hat blew off. Oppenheimer took the hat and handed it back to Einstein, and then they exchanged words. As Einstein walked away from Oppenheimer, Einstein did not look at Strauss, unable to say a word. Strauss wonders what Oppenheimer could have said to influence Einstein so much.

The first two times we see this scene, it’s in black and white. Nolan explained that from Strauss’ point of view the black and white scenes should represent an objective point of view, while from Oppenheimer’s point of view the color scenes were subjective. In true Nolan fashion, he plays this scene a few times in the film before we finally get the reward of seeing this scene in full colour.

Oppenheimer takes Einstein’s hat and hands it to him. They exchange a few words. Einstein tells Oppenheimer about the achievements he will achieve, the medals he will receive, and the people from his past he will meet. We see a vision of that future where the characters in this film are elderly people. Einstein remarks: “This will not be for you; it will be for her.” Kitty (Emily Blunt) refuses to shake hands with Edward Teller (Benny Safdie) after he testified negatively at the Oppenheimer safety hearing.

The film ends with Oppenheimer telling Einstein that there was a time when the Manhattan Project could potentially destroy the world. Then he says, “I think we did.” We linger on his devastated face and get to the launch of nuclear weapons to show how he thinks Oppenheimer’s influence has changed the world for the worse.