Christopher Nolan remains one of the 21st century’s preeminent auteurs, responsible for some of the most beloved films of our time.
From the blockbuster smash-hit The Dark Knight to the emotional powerhouse of Interstellar, Nolan remains one of the few filmmakers who can get a massive canvas at will and create something lasting with it.
As film shifts, filmmakers like Nolan will become even more important as they use their influence to keep a vital style of moviemaking alive.
With Oppenheimer recently being released, let’s rank the director’s 12 films and see where they land.
12. Following
Nolan’s first film is a taut, tense example of the types of stories the filmmaker would eventually tell. It’s much better than most first films, even if it’s the least-impressionable of the director’s towering filmography.
Still, it’s hard not to remember the acute paranoia of Jeremy Theobald’s performance or the way Nolan uses the black-and-white cinematography to make this one blend like it’s a 1950s cat-and-mouse thriller.
11. Insomnia
An electric police procedural drenched in the terror of sleeplessness, Nolan’s remake of the 1990s Norwegian thriller is perhaps his most underrated film as it shows him coming into his own with his command of mood and atmosphere.
Al Pacino and Robin Williams have a suffocating tension as foes on the moral poles of right and wrong, both slipping further and further into each other’s fraught orbits. They’re both spectacular in Nolan’s bleak crime noir.
10. The Prestige
An electrifying study of obsession between two rival magicians, some cite The Prestige as the filmmaker’s finest work. In terms of building narratives on top of narratives, this one really cemented Nolan as one of cinema’s most cerebral storytellers.
It’s a film that begs for a rewatch as soon as its over with its mic drop of an ending, and you hope Nolan will get to work with Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson again, as they’re both stellar here.
9. Tenet
An oasis in the pandemic desert, Nolan’s Tenet was the closest we may ever get to him making a James Bond movie. It’ll more than do to scratch that itch.
While its plot might make your head spin with the way it inverts the way we view time in movies, it’s still the emotional thrill ride for the ages that’s buffeted by Ludwig Göransson’s techno-thumping score.
8. Batman Begins
Nolan’s first take on Batman redefined the character for a 2000s audience and gave superhero films the license to play it straight in a way that they hadn’t really before, sans the melodramatic heights of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films.
Christian Bale began his fruitful partnership with Nolan here, and it still stands as the definitive origin story for the Caped Crusader.
While what followed this film is the defining achievement of this trilogy, this one has plenty to stand on.
7. The Dark Knight Rises
While this film had the impossible task of falling after the one-two mega-punch of The Dark Knight and Inception, Nolan capped his Batman trilogy with aplomb. It’s an electric, moody epic about legacies and lies, boosted by Tom Hardy’s menacing performance as the masked villain Bane.
The film’s football stadium explosion stands as one of the most visually shocking moments of the director’s filmography, as is the plane heist that marks its prologue. There’s plenty to love here as the trilogy closes.
6. Dunkirk
Perhaps Nolan’s most precise effort, Dunkirk is all at once a rousing testament to heroism and an unforgiving reminder of how the horrors of war unfold on the innocent.
The film is wound tight with its interlocking plots that all diverge in an emotionally wallop, paying tribute to the virtuous acts (and sacrifices) that made the rescue at Dunkirk possible. It’s a genuine stunner.
5. Interstellar
Nolan’s most openly emotional film, he fully lived up to his “Stanley Kubrick’s eye and Steven Spielberg’s heart” identity with this grand sci-fi epic about the sheer force of will that we have for those we love.
Anchored by a titanic performance by Matthew McConaughey and fantastic work from Anne Hathaway, Interstellar captures something so delicate in a film so bombastic in its scope and story. By the time it’s over, your heart is full and your mind is fully melted.
4. Memento
Nolan’s sophomore feature remains one of his most scintillating works, a noir for the ages draped in the pain of memories half-remembered and a future fully dependent on the past.
It’s one of those films you just don’t want to have spoiled for you if you’ve not seen it, as the big reveal is one of cinema’s best surprises.
3. Oppenheimer
Read our review here.
2. Inception
Still one of the best original films of the last 25 years, Inception is a groundbreaking action drama with some of the most intricate plot mapping this side of dreams and reality.
Getting an A-list wattage boost from Leonardo DiCaprio, this is one of the truly electric moviegoing experiences of its generation and features an emotionally devastating gravitational pull in its orbit. It’s just about flawless.
1. The Dark Knight
The pinnacle of Nolan’s career so far, The Dark Knight is one of the most impressionable films of the 21st century (and one of the best).
Featuring one of the all-time performances in the late, great Heath Ledger’s Joker, Nolan takes full command of his artistry in a pitch-perfect study of 2000s paranoia and the very nature of how the Batman story plays into it.
There are so many moments seared in film history, perhaps none as memorable as the last shot of Batman driving away into the night. It’s truly an era-defining work that also still stands as Nolan’s crowning achievement.
The film recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, and it remains as good today as it does when it came out in 2008.
