Pack your bags for a trip to Barbie Land — unless you’re Barbie, in which case it’s time to confront your existential anxieties in the “real world.” In the 2023 Barbie movie, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling star as the stereotypical Barbie and Ken, who live a perfect — and very pink — life in a faraway land where Barbies rule and Kens are just happy to be there. As the film’s narrator (Helen Mirren) says, “Barbie has a great day every day, but Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him.”
But once Barbie begins questioning her existence, her life becomes a little less picture-perfect. The award-winning blockbuster movie, directed by Greta Gerwig, features an all-star cast who portray some of the most iconic characters and professions of Mattel’s Barbie universe, as well as a stellar original soundtrack.
Whether you’re planning to say “Hi, Barbie!” for the first time or planning a repeat viewing now that the film is streaming on Netflix in the US, here’s everything you need to know about the film.
What’s Barbie about?
All is well in Barbie Land until one day, Barbie (Robbie) asks her fellow Barbies if they ever think about dying. With this burgeoning existential crisis, Barbie’s perfect life changes overnight — her toast is burnt, her milk is spoiled, and her typical tiptoed feet are suddenly flat. What’s a doll to do? Barbie seeks out the help of her fellow Barbies, including Kate McKinnon’s Weird Barbie (you know the one), who advises her to take a trip to the real world and find the girl who’s playing with her in order to restore the balance between both worlds. “So, what’ll it be, then?” asks Weird Barbie. “You can go back to your regular life and forget any of this ever happened, or you can know the truth about the universe.”
So Barbie packs her bags and heads to Los Angeles to find the girl who needs her help, only to realize once she’s on her way that Ken (Gosling) has tagged along for the ride. Barbie and Ken in the real world — what could go wrong? Barbie’s adventure tells a story about the pressures of being a “perfect” woman, coming to terms with one’s identity, and how the world might look if Kens discovered horses.
Who’s in the cast of Barbie?
- Margot Robbie (I, Tonya, The Wolf of Wall Street) as Barbie
- Ryan Gosling (Drive, La La Land, The Notebook) as Ken
- Issa Rae (Insecure, A Black Lady Sketch Show) as Barbie
- Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls) as Barbie
- Ritu Arya (The Umbrella Academy, Red Notice) as Barbie
- Sharon Rooney (My Mad Fat Diary, Finding Alice) as Barbie
- Hari Nef (You, The Idol) as Barbie
- Dua Lipa (Argylle) as Barbie
- Emma Mackey (Sex Education, Death on the Nile) as Barbie
- Alexandra Shipp (Love, Simon, X-Men: Dark Phoenix) as Barbie
- Ana Cruz Kayne (Painkiller) as Barbie
- Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters) as Weird Barbie
- Kingsley Ben-Adir (Peaky Blinders, High Fidelity) as Ken
- Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai) as Ken
- Scott Evans (Grace and Frankie) as Ken
- Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education, Doctor Who) as Ken
- John Cena (Argylle, The Suicide Squad, WWE Raw) as Ken
- Rob Brydon (Marion & Geoff) as Sugar Daddy Ken
- Tom Stourton (About Time, Poor Things) as Earring Magic Ken
- Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as Allan
- Emerald Fennell (The Crown, writer/director of Saltburn) as Midge
- Will Ferrell (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga) as the Mattel CEO
- America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) as Gloria
- Ariana Greenblatt (Stuck in the Middle) as Sasha
- Rhea Perlman (Cheers, Matilda) as Ruth Handler
- Jamie Demetriou (Fleabag, Cruella) as a Mattel executive
- Connor Swindells (Sex Education, Scoop) as Aaron Dinkins
- Helen Mirren (The Queen, Hitchcock) as the Narrator
Who’s featured on the Barbie movie soundtrack?
The Barbie soundtrack features a ton of incredible talent and original songs, some of which are listed below:
- “Pink” by Lizzo
- “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa
- “Barbie World (with Aqua)” by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice
- “Speed Drive” by Charli XCX
- “WATATI” by Karol G and Aldo Ranks
- “I’m Just Ken,” which Ryan Gosling and his fellow Kens performed at the 2024 Academy Awards
- “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish, which won a 2024 Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammys for Song of the Year and Best Song Written for Visual Media
When is Barbie coming to Netflix?
If you’re ready to catch up with Barbie and Ken (and Allan!), you can stream the movie on Netflix in the US right now.
