Few people haven't seen Greta Gerwig's Barbie yet, or at least it seems that way since the summer blockbuster crossed the billion-dollar threshold. But there may be some waiting for Barbie to hit streaming, ready to watch Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling's life in plastic from the comfort of your own DreamHouse, cozied up in Barbiecore or your very own "I am Kenough" hoodie.
Whether you're yet to see it or you're a superfan anticipating a second watch to appreciate all those wonderful and WTF quotes, ready to sing aloud with all the Kenergy you've got, here's everything you need to know.
Is Barbie streaming?
As of Dec. 15, Barbie will be streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max), since Warner Bros., the film's distributor, owns the streaming platform. Max also announced that the blockbuster film will launch with an American Sign Language version, promising to "build upon the film’s empowering message of inclusiveness," as per CEO of HBO and Max Content Casey Bloys.
Barbie is also available to rent or buy through video-on-demand (VOD) platforms like Prime Video, Apple TV, and the Microsoft Store.
In the meantime, Barbie is still running at local theaters. We'd also recommend watching this iconic BTS video of Gosling prepping to perform his power ballad "I'm Just Ken".
What's Barbie about?
The pink-hued movie, which Mashable's Kristy Puchko called "a miracle for a movie studio", is set in Barbieland, where Barbies are leaders, pioneers, and rulers. Each day is seemingly perfect but largely the same, as Margot Robbie's Stereotypical Barbie soon realizes, becoming increasingly disillusioned and beginning to think about dying?
Barbie, alongside a lovelorn Ken (Ryan Gosling), decides to go to the Real World, after Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) explains that the girl playing with the doll version of her is experiencing some sort of crisis. Here, Barbie discovers the patriarchy (mostly in the form of Mattel executives), finds an ally in Gloria (America Ferrera), and must confront her embedded existential crisis. But another group who discovers the patriarchy? The Kens.
There's plenty of Easter eggs and unexpected characters along the way, and there's no post-credits scene so you can rollerskate right back into the Real World at the end.
Who stars in Barbie?
It's a star-studded cast if we've ever seen one. With Helen Mirren acting as narrator, Barbie stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the core Barbie and Ken, alongside Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Dua Lipa, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Sharon Rooney, and more as fellow Barbies and Kens. In the Real World, there's America Ferrera and Ariana Greenblatt as the human heroes, and Will Ferrell, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, and more as the big bad Mattel folks, but there are plenty of other characters and cameos.
Two secret weapons of the film? Michael Cera as Allan, and Rhea Perlman as Ruth.
To watch Barbie, you can buy the film from Prime Video by hitting that button below.
Topics HBO Streaming Watch Guides
