Florence Pugh has a pivotal role in Oppenheimer leading up to Jean Tatlock’s death, but how the movie shows this moment leaves questions about what happened to her in real life. Jean Tatlock plays a part in J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life in the years leading up to the Manhattan Project and during his time creating the atomic bomb. She is a communist who catches Oppenheimer’s attention, leading to the two beginning a tumultuous romantic relationship that lasted into Robert’s marriage with Kitty Oppenheimer. Florence Pugh’s controversial Oppenheimer role is small but still impactful as a result of Jean Tatlock dying.
Jean Tatlock died in January 1944 at the age of 30 years old in real life, and Oppenheimer brings her tragic passing into the story through the titular character. J. Robert Oppenheimer learns about her death while working on the atomic bomb. Even though Jean and Robert had not seen each other for several years potentially, her death still had a significant impact on him. He felt guilty after Jean Tatlock died by suicide because he was too busy to be there for her. How the movie portrays Jean’s death raises questions about how it compares to Oppenheimer‘s true story.
Oppenheimer Timeline – All Events In Chronological Order
Christopher Nolan’s movie Oppenheimer tells its story across multiple points in time in a non-linear fashion. Here is a chronological order of events.
How Jean Tatlock Died In Real Life Compared To Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan takes a careful approach in showing how Jean Tatlock died in Oppenheimer. The movie does not directly show Florence Pugh’s character taking her own life, but it does provide details about what happened to her. She was said to have been found in her bathroom after leaving a suicide note that was not signed. However, Oppenheimer also includes other depictions of Jean Tatlock’s death that indicate she could have been murdered instead of dying by suicide.
By all accounts, Oppenheimer is a fairly accurate portrayal of how Jean Tatlock died in real life. She passed away after being diagnosed with clinical depression. Her father found her in her apartment bathroom lying on cushions put on the floor as her head was submerged in the tub. The official verdict from the coroner corroborated the belief that Jean Tatlock died by suicide. It was also noted that Jean ate a full meal before dying and took a non-fatal dosage of drugs.
Oppenheimer’s Black Glove Scene Hints At Jean Tatlock Death Conspiracies
Oppenheimer leans into the conspiracies surrounding the cause of Jean Tatlock’s death with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it detail. Nolan inserts a brief frame of an unidentified person wearing a black glove who held Jean’s head underwater. Oppenheimer‘s black glove scene has potential thematic ties to the movie, but it is also a chance for the movie to address the conspiracy that Jean’s death was not by suicide. There have been suggestions that Jean was murdered by the United States government thanks to her relationship with Oppenheimer and communist ties. But, there has never been any direct evidence that Jean Tatlock was murdered.
Why Oppenheimer Doesn’t Definitively Say How Jean Tatlock Died
The reason that Oppenheimer does not definitively show or say how Jean Tatlock died could be varied. This might have been a way for Christopher Nolan to acknowledge the conspiracies that Jean was murdered due to her communist ties and relationship with J. Robert Oppenheimer. It is also possible that the filmmaker wanted the version where it looks like someone drowns Jean to represent Oppenheimer’s guilt and sense of responsibility for what happened. The other possibility is that Oppenheimer simply wanted to avoid showing Jean’s suicide blatantly to not expose audiences to it.
Oppenheimer
- Release Date
- July 21, 2023
- Director
- Christopher Nolan
- Cast
- Cillian Murphy , Emily Blunt , Matt Damon , Robert Downey Jr. , Rami Malek , Florence Pugh
- Runtime
- 150 Minutes
- Writers
- Christopher Nolan
