If you liked Oppenheimer, the best movies to watch next are The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, A Beautiful Mind, The Man Who Knew Infinity and Radioactive. Each follows a real scientist whose work changed the world, and whose personal life paid a price. Indian viewers can add Rocketry: The Nambi Effect.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023) told the story of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project, which built the first atomic bomb. It won seven Academy Awards in March 2024, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy. Nolan has since released The Odyssey (July 2026), which crossed $1 billion worldwide. Here are nine films with a similar focus on discovery and its cost.
1. The Imitation Game (2014)
Benedict Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing, the British mathematician who helped break Germany’s Enigma code during the Second World War. The film, directed by Morten Tyldum, also shows how Turing was later prosecuted for being gay under the laws of the time.
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Like Oppenheimer, it shows a brilliant mind working in secret on a war project. It won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
2. The Theory of Everything (2014)
Eddie Redmayne plays physicist Stephen Hawking, from his student days at Cambridge to his diagnosis with motor neurone disease and his later fame. The story is told largely through his marriage to Jane Wilde, played by Felicity Jones, on whose memoir the film is based.
Redmayne won the Oscar for Best Actor. The film is gentler than Oppenheimer but shares its interest in how science and personal life pull against each other.
3. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Russell Crowe plays John Nash, the mathematician whose work in game theory later won him the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Directed by Ron Howard, the film follows his struggle with schizophrenia and the support of his wife, Alicia, played by Jennifer Connelly.
It won four Oscars, including Best Picture. The film takes creative liberties with Nash’s life, so treat it as drama rather than a full biography.
4. The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015)
Dev Patel plays Srinivasa Ramanujan, the self-taught mathematician from Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu who went to Trinity College, Cambridge, during the First World War. Jeremy Irons plays G.H. Hardy, the professor who recognised his genius.
The film shows Ramanujan facing racism, the cold and illness far from home, while producing work that mathematicians still study. India marks his birthday, 22 December, as National Mathematics Day.
5. Radioactive (2019)
Rosamund Pike plays Marie Curie, who discovered polonium and radium with her husband Pierre and became the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two sciences. Directed by Marjane Satrapi, the film jumps ahead in time to show later uses of radiation, both medical and destructive.
This link between a discovery and its later use in weapons makes it the closest in theme to Oppenheimer on this list.
6. Tesla (2020)
Ethan Hawke plays inventor Nikola Tesla in Michael Almereyda’s unusual biopic, which breaks the fourth wall and uses modern touches to tell an old story. It covers his rivalry with Thomas Edison and his struggle for money and recognition.
It is not a conventional film, but it suits viewers curious about the early history of electricity.
7. Hidden Figures (2016)
Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe play Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three Black women mathematicians at NASA during the space race. Their calculations helped send American astronauts into orbit at a time when segregation laws still applied.
It is more upbeat than Oppenheimer, but it shows the same mix of science, politics and pressure.
8. Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (2022)
R. Madhavan wrote, directed and starred in this film about former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, who worked on India’s rocket engine programme and was later falsely accused in an espionage case. He was cleared by the courts.
The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. It is a good pick for Indian viewers who want a homegrown science story.
9. Arrival (2016)
This one is fiction. Amy Adams plays linguist Louise Banks, who is asked to communicate with aliens after their spacecraft appear around the world, while governments edge towards conflict. Jeremy Renner plays a physicist working with her.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, it shares Oppenheimer‘s sense of a few experts working against the clock while world powers grow nervous.
Quick guide
| Film | Year | Scientist or lead | Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Imitation Game | 2014 | Alan Turing | Mathematics, codebreaking |
| The Theory of Everything | 2014 | Stephen Hawking | Physics |
| A Beautiful Mind | 2001 | John Nash | Mathematics, economics |
| The Man Who Knew Infinity | 2015 | Srinivasa Ramanujan | Mathematics |
| Radioactive | 2019 | Marie Curie | Physics, chemistry |
| Rocketry: The Nambi Effect | 2022 | Nambi Narayanan | Space engineering |
For more film picks, see our Entertainment section, and for science explainers, browse Infotainment.
Frequently asked questions
How many Oscars did Oppenheimer win?
Oppenheimer won seven Academy Awards in March 2024, including Best Picture, Best Director for Christopher Nolan and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy.
Is there an Indian film like Oppenheimer?
Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (2022) is the closest, as a biopic of ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan. The Man Who Knew Infinity is about Srinivasa Ramanujan but is a British production.
Which film on this list is closest in theme to Oppenheimer?
Radioactive, because it links Marie Curie’s discovery of radium to later uses of radiation, including weapons.
What did Christopher Nolan make after Oppenheimer?
Nolan’s next film was The Odyssey, starring Matt Damon, released on 17 July 2026. It became his highest-grossing film.
Sources: Wikipedia: The Odyssey (2026 film), Wikipedia: Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, The Week on Nolan’s box office record, The 96th Academy Awards.
