The film narrates the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist renowned as the “father of the atomic bomb,” who played a pivotal role in its development during the Second World War.
However, the creation of these devastating weapons resulted in the deaths of approximately 226,000 people in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their aftermath.
In response, the US and other Western countries implemented trade embargoes, including vital fuel oil, to dissuade Japan from further expansion.
US President Franklin Roosevelt referred to it as “a day which will live in infamy.”
The US, however, was preparing for a potentially grueling land invasion of Japan, estimated to result in the deaths of at least 500,000 American soldiers according to government projections.
Tens of thousands died on the spot, and as many as 146,000 succumbed to injuries and radiation-related illnesses over the next three months.
Six days after the Nagasaki attack, Japan surrendered, bringing an end to the war.
Some argue that the use of nuclear bombs hastened the end of the war, potentially saving countless lives that would have been lost in a full-scale invasion of Japan.
