‘It is the best day ever. So was yesterday, and so is tomorrow, and every day from now until forever.’

Few films have nailed their marketing deals and branding collabs as well as Barbie. Despite celebrating her 64th birthday this year, Barbie is, quite possibly, more popular and more visible than ever. And yet, that only added pressure to the expectation and hype surrounding Greta Gerwig’s third run at director. There’d always have been scepticism over how to follow-up after Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019) – why on Earth would Gerwig pick a little blonde doll that is the figure of both such divided scorn and admiration?

It’s within mere moments of it’s opening, barely out of the credits, when it really clicks and all doubt fades away. Of course, this choice makes total sense for a writer-filmmaker who reflects upon the bittersweet joys of the female experience. In Lady Bird, the titular role (Saoirse Ronan) collides with near-enough everyone – mother (Laurie Metcalf), best friend (Beanie Feldstein), love interests (Lucas Hedges & Timothée Chalamet) as she navigates the complicated battlefield of womanhood and the contradictory expectations for a teenage girl in noughties America. In Little Woman, all four of the sisters and their mother navigate the complicated battlefield of womanhood and the contradictory expectations for little/grown women in 19th century America. Who could forget this incredible monologue from Jo (Saoirse Ronan) expressing the yearning created by the confliction between what is expected, wanted and needed.

And so, once more into the breach dear friends, we return to the complicated battlefield of womanhood and expectations for women, but this time we’re seemingly in the present day – although not in the world as we know it. Our story starts in Barbieland, where everything is near enough perfect. There’s a Barbie in every occupation, at every professional level, achieving extraordinary things – day in and day out, then choregraphed dance sequences into the night. There’s even the added bonus, not sole focus, of Kens’ knocking around who are keen to stay over and do ‘boyfriendgirlfriend stuff’ – but who’s sure what that is.

This life seems to suit Barbie (Margot Robbie), until it starts not to, when she inexplicably starts to suffer a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence. Under the guidance of Barbie (Kate McKinnon) she travels to the Real World to seek answers to her questions. Ken (Ryan Gosling) is there too.

To say more beyond that would deprive you of the utter joy of watching this film unfurl. No matter how ready you think you are, you aren’t. No matter what you think it’s going to be like, you’re wrong. What I can say, though, is that Gerwig has created one of the finest comedies in years – with an impeccable gag rate which address all manners of humour, some feeling especially targeted towards this writer…

Robbie is the perfect Barbie, quite literally as she’s Stereotypical Barbie, with a performance that is totally committed and utterly believable. Her peeling back her layers on her journey of discovery is so wholesome and wonderfully earnest, believable and somehow astoundingly relatable. Gosling provides a comedy powerhouse masterclass. It’s been far too long since 2019’s The Nice Guys, where his slapstick skills got the showcase they deserved. But this, what he gives us here, this is something to behold. He is Ken in every way possible, and some that seem almost impossible. Every single line delivery and every single reaction shot warrants memorisation, tribute and recreation. To describe him as immensely watchable is an understatement. In a film packed full of comedy genii (Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Jamie Demetriou, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Nicola Coughlan – to name those you’ve seen in the trailer already, there’s more to be discovered) he nails every single possible moment and then some.

The cinematography is sumptuous, the choreography (just you wait!) is impeccable, the costumes are to-die-fore and are as gorgeously enviable as the cast wearing them. But it is the message, those articulations and frustrations about 21st Century life for women, and men, it’s there that this film deserves GOAT status. Especially about motherhood and mother-daughter relationships. Again, the spoiler territory feels fraught, so much so that I can see myself returning for a spoiler-ific essay on why I think this film is so damn important. Suffice to say, there’s a speech here that is equal to Jo’s literal battle cry in Little Women.

By the end of Barbie’s 114 minute runtime, which flies by, your face will ache from the laughing and smiling but your heart will hurt from the hurting and raging. Sublime! [5 stars]

Barbie is in UK cinemas from Friday 21st July.