With its release coming so close to that of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster treatment of the same subject, To End All War has clearly been designed as a companion piece for that fictional film. Though it mostly performs its function in a by-the-numbers fashion, this rather unexceptional adaptation of Oppenheimer’s Wikipedia page is somewhat livened up by fascinating archival footage and a few compelling talking heads. Among these is Nolan himself, whose contributions provide interesting insight into the structure of his own Oppenheimer movie. 

As its title suggests, To End All War hinges on Oppenheimer’s rationalization for developing the atomic bomb — namely, that, by creating such a catastrophically destructive weapon, he was, in effect, helping to deter future aggression. The film provides a counterpoint by suggesting that the scientists may have been somewhat swept up in egotistical fervor, though this is only gently touched on so as not to require the film to grapple too seriously with the ethics of its subject. This combination of ultimately non-threatening treatment with some genuinely compelling nuggets of perspective makes To End All War a quick, largely un-challenging way to brush up on history before or after tackling fictional exploration of its subject.

While some of the academic talking heads undermine the documentary by being gushing yet weirdly dismissive about its subject — for example, by painting Oppenheimer’s support for communism as either naively idealistic or primarily motivated by romantic interest — others, like a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, help to puncture the film’s hagiographic bubble somewhat. That’s a necessary endeavor in a documentary about such an ethically complex figure — but by design, Oppenheimer is ultimately the center of this story, so moments of insightful balance like this are scant.