How to stream Barbie in the UK
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling star in the hot-pink blockbuster, which has arrived on Sky Cinema
After two decades years of animated Barbie movies, a live-action adaptation took the box office by storm last year.
Greta Gerwig's blockbuster was a hot-pink summer smash following its release in July 2023, clocking in a whopping $1.4billion worldwide. That can buy a lot of dream houses.
From Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling to Helen Mirren and Will Ferrell, the film boasts more stars than the milky-way, and racked up eight nominations at the 2024 Oscars.
Read more: Will there be a Barbie 2?
As it arrives on Sky Cinema, here’s everything you need to know to get all caught up about the Barbie movie.
How can I watch Barbie online?
Gerwig's live-action take on Barbie is available to stream on Sky Cinema now, having arrived on Friday, 29 March. You can also buy or rent the film all major digital platforms, including Prime Video, Apple TV and Sky Store, or buy the Blu-Ray, DVD or 4K Ultra-HD editions.
The film arrived in UK cinemas in July 2023, becoming one of the biggest-ever hits at the British box-office, and its extended cut received a week-long IMAX release that September.
What are the reviews like?
With Barbie finally busting out of her box, critics have lauded Greta Gerwig's take on Mattel's hugely popular toy have landed online. What's more, thanks to a viral 'Barbenheimer' release alongside Chris Nolan's Oppenheimer, Barbie has gone on to become one of the most successful movies of recent memory.
"Gerwig does a brilliant job of examining the state of modern society through Barbie, because under all that pink is a surprisingly moving story about women trying to find their place in a world that is often rigged against them," suggests our own write-up, penned by writer Roxy Simons.
Over on CinemaBlend, their critic hits home how Gerwig and her husband and screenwriting partner Noah Baumbach "make it clear that there’s much more to this story than just gags about the lack of running water within the various Dream Houses". The Telegraph had similar thoughts, commenting on how its satirical touches are "enthusiastically and mischievously milked."
With an 88% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, critics from around the world seem to be in agreement. Read our Barbie review round-up below.
Yahoo Entertainment: Greta Gerwig proves that life in plastic really is fantastic (4-min read)
CinemaBlend: Margot Robbie Digs Her Heels Into This Generation-Defining Comedy (And Ryan Gosling Is, Like, Pretty Good, Too) (7-min read)
The Telegraph: Ryan Gosling steals the show in the most improbable triumph of the year (3-min read)
The Independent: A near-miraculous achievement from Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie (5-min read)
The Hollywood Reporter: Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in Doll Comedy From Greta Gerwig That Delivers the Fun but Fudges the Politics (6-min read)
Is there a trailer for Barbie?
The first official trailer for the Barbie movie was released in April 2023, giving us our first proper look at this colourful world. Watch it below:
Another trailer was released in May 2023 that teased Barbie's adventures in the real world, where she goes to learn the truth after some strange things begin to happen to her. Ken, of course, comes along for the ride.
Meanwhile, the first teaser trailer for Barbie was released back in December 2022. It paid tribute to the sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey as it introduced Margot Robbie as the famous doll.
The trailer begins with a voice-over, in which children can be seen playing with dolls against a dusty, desert backdrop similar to the opening scenes of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 movie.
"Since the beginning of time, since the first little girl ever existed, there have been dolls. But the dolls were always and forever baby dolls, until..." says the voice-over.
Robbie is then revealed as a gigantic Barbie doll, replacing the monolith which triggers the apes in 2001 to learn how to use weapons.
This causes the infants in the clip to trash their old baby dolls, culminating in a parody of the famous "match cut", with a baby replaced by the Barbie logo.
Who is in the Barbie cast?
Margot Robbie takes on the lead role of Barbie, while Ryan Gosling appears opposite her as Ken.
With two Oscar nominations each under their belts, Robbie is best known for her roles in I, Tonya and Bombshell, while Gosling has had hits including La La Land and Drive.
Dua Lipa appears as a mermaid Barbie, Ana Cruz Kayne as a supreme court justice Barbie and as Sex Education's Emma Mackey's Barbie has a Nobel Prize in physics.
You star Hari Neff plays a doctor Barbie, Alexandra Shipp a celebrated author Barbie, Sharon Rooney a lawyer Barbie and Ritu Arya's Barbie has a Pulitzer Prize. Nicola Coughlan steps into the shoes of a diplomat Barbie while Issa Rae's Barbie is the president of this Barbie world.
Former Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon a wild, Weird Barbie with expert knowledge of the real world, while Emerald Fennel plays Barbie's pregnant friend Midge.
When it comes to Kens, in addition to Gosling, Scott Evans, Peaky Blinders' Kingsley Ben-Adir, Marvel star Simu Liu and new Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa join in the fun as fellow playthings.
In addition, Michael Cera plays Allan — one of the only male Barbie-world stars not to be a Ken.
Rounding things out are the previously announced Will Ferrell, Connor Swindells and Stath Lets Flats' Jamie Demetriou as a trio of stern-looking suits, with America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt in regular old human roles and Helen Mirren as the film's narrator.
Who directed Barbie?
Filmmaker Greta Gerwig arrived fresh off of her previous film Little Women, with Barbie becoming her third solo outing as a director.
She was attached to the film as its co-writer alongside her partner, and long-time collaborator, Noah Baumbach with her directorial role announced in July 2021.
Greta was pictured multiple times on set, often donning a pink jumpsuit to match the plastic fantastic outfits of the cast.
What happens in Barbie?
The main trailer for Barbie gave viewers a taste of what is to come in Gerwig's film. Robbie's Barbie begins to see some changes in her daily life, and in order to understand the reason why she has to visit the real world in order to find herself again.
Gosling's Ken comes along for the ride, and together the two of them search for the meaning to life and also come up against Mattel, the company that produces Barbie dolls, and its boss (played by Ferrell) who want to catch Barbie and put her back in her box.
Barbie is available to stream on Sky Cinema now
