Every Christopher Nolan Film Ranked

Christopher Nolan is my favourite current film director – at the very least, he’s the most consistent. More often than not he’ll release a mind-bending masterpiece that’ll blow your socks off.

I’ll be a little harsher when it comes to ranking his twelve film releases, since he has high standards to aspire to – if your favourite Nolan film ranks low, I’ll probably still like it!

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Meh

12 – The Following

With a teenie-tiny budget and little more in his arsenal than a creative dream, Nolan has to be given some credit for even getting “The Following” off the ground.

It’s a little rough-around-the-edges and hard to watch by his illustrious modern standards, but you can tell a magic is there.

OK

11 – Insomnia

“Insomnia” is a remake of a Scandinavian thriller, with the only non-Nolan screenplay in his filmography. As a result, you can’t help but feel that it’s a film out of Nolan’s control.

Al Pacino and Robin Williams turn in good performances, and there are some genuinely thrilling moments, but the film as a whole sticks out like a sore thumb in Nolan’s career.

Good

10 – Tenet

I knew going into “Tenet” that it would be confusing, since I’d seen many Nolan films before this one, but even then I came out of the cinema scratching my head.

The action and blood-pumping tension can be electric at points, but the overall plot is too convoluted and non-sensical to follow coherantly.

9 – Batman Begins

After a string of lacklustre Batman film entries, Nolan and leading man Christian Bale turned the Caped Crusader back into a box office darling.

The villains feel a little underutilised, and the general tone seems off compared to the later films in the trilogy, but “Batman Begins” is still a fun re-imagining of Bruce Wayne’s origins.

Great

8 – Dunkirk

Other than “Tenet”, “Dunkirk” seems to be Nolan’s most divisive film. Some laud it as a masterpiece, while others find it pretentious and aimless. I fall somewhere in the middle.

War films aren’t really my thing, so “Dunkirk” was always going to be fighting an uphill battle, but the jaw-dropping visuals and brutal set-pieces were expertly realised and directed.

7 – The Dark Knight Rises

People like to rag on “The Dark Knight Rises” both for its aimless plot and how it failed to live up to the lofty standards of its predecessor – but it’s still pretty good!

Did it set new standards for the genre? No, not really, but it didn’t need to. I think people expected too much of Nolan, as this ended up being another fun superhero adventure with great characters and some fantastic action set-pieces.

6 – The Prestige

Some people put “The Prestige” way up there in Nolan film rankings – I’ve even seen it as high as second place – but a couple of things let it down for me.

The ending left a sour taste in my mouth, and the big twist felt like both too much and too little, but otherwise this is a magical film that showcases how rivalry and obsession can lead to madness and tragedy.

Amazing

5 – Interstellar

Maybe it’s a tad too long, and maybe it’s a tad too confusing in its final sequence, but “Interstellar” remains a Sci-Fi masterpiece.

It’s one of Nolan’s most emotionally charged movies, and the mind-bending visuals on display are nothing short of staggering.

4 – Memento

The film that put Nolan on the map, and rightfully so.

“Memento” has one of the tightest, most complex-yet-ingenious scripts I’ve ever seen in a film, and Guy Pearce’s central performance anchors the whole thing. Speaking of excellent central performances …

All-Time Great

3 – Oppenheimer

Nolan’s most recent film, and critics are already calling it one of his very best. Having just seen it, I imagine it’ll be remembered as one of the best films of the decade.

Considering “Oppenheimer” is mostly just walking and talking, it’s astounding how engaging it is. Cillian Murphey’s performance carries the entire project, and Nolan’s script and direction make even the smallest scenes dynamic.

2 – The Dark Knight

These days we take superhero / comic book movies for granted, but what Nolan managed to achieve in 2008’s “The Dark Night” is still staggering fifteen years later.

The action is electric, the plot is engrossing at all times, and Heath Ledger’s Joker might just be the most captivating film performance of all time.

1 – Inception

From the moment I first watched “Inception”, I knew it was an all-timer. After multiple re-watches to pick up new details (and to try and finally make sense of the plot …), it quickly became one of my top three favourite films ever.

The dream-diving story allows for Nolan’s most inventive action set-pieces and visuals, and the characters have a surprising depth and emotional core that carries the movie all the way to its iconic, ambiguous finale.

Aaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: