“Oppenheimer” is utter perfection. It’s a timeless movie for the ages, with a lengthy running time that’s worth every scene for its history, character development, direction and a memorable score.

Director/co-screenwriter Christopher Nolan’s genius – also obvious in the likes of “Dunkirk,” “Inception” and “The Dark Knight,” is evident in every frame of this biopic/history of the atomic bomb.

The screenplay is based on the book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.

Cillian Murphy, well known for “Peaky Blinders,” may very well earn the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of the physicist who changed the outcome of World War II and, indeed, global politics.

The audience sees Oppenheimer as a brilliant student of the world around him – art, languages, politics and science all intrigue the young man. He understands, when German scientists split the atom in 1938, that this achievement could be used in weaponry.

Oppenheimer’s politics and his connections to the American Communist Party are called into question by Maj. Gen. Leslie Groves (Matt Damon,) leader of The Manhattan Project, the United States’ name for the development of the atomic bomb.

The rest, as they say, really is history, with an all-star cast including Robert Downey Jr., Rami Malek, Gary Oldman, Kenneth Branagh, and Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife and Florence Pugh as his mistress.

Ludwig Goransson’s driven score – one of the year’s finest – gives the movie its pulse, its tension, and its tempo.

I still can’t believe this film is three hours long. I didn’t feel it. I never felt the time drag and every sequence is engaging.

This is a masterpiece. See it on the big screen, where it deserves to be watched.

Rated: R for foul language, nudity, disturbing images and sexual situations.

4 stars

Running time: Three hours.

Only in theaters.

Watch the trailer here.