Who would have thought a film about the advent of the nuclear bomb would capture our imaginations in the way it has? Not to mention our fears. 

Oppenheimer, the film starring Cillian Murphy, was released last week, almost 78 years to the day that the first atomic bomb was detonated over a dusty plain in New Mexico. 

And since the film’s blockbuster release, it’s led to debate among experts around the globe. Just how imminent is the threat of nuclear attack?

The director of Oppenheimer says his film is important because it’s a “cautionary tale” about humanity’s capacity for self-destruction.  

Today, international editor Peter Hartcher on just how worried we should be.