All 13 Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked From Worst to Best, Including ‘The Odyssey’

With the release of The Odyssey, it’s time to re-assess all of director Christopher Nolan‘s movies from worst to best. This wasn’t an easy task. Unlike ranking five Indiana Jones movies or seven Mission: Impossible films, Nolan offers 13 films that range from historical dramas (Dunkirk, Oppenheimer) to sci-fi thrillers (Interstellar, Tenet) to mysteries (The Prestige, Memento) to his Batman trilogy. Through it all, the Oscar winner has risen to become one of the world’s finest filmmakers, one of the few who can dependably fill theater seats on an opening weekend, and is one of the last refuges for grown-up cinema fans. Here are all of Nolan’s films, from weakest to the strongest.

It says a lot about Nolan that the “worst” film he directed is still rather good and worth seeing. Insomnia is a remake of the Norwegian title and is perhaps notable in that it’s the only movie Nolan directed that he didn’t write or co-write. Here, a veteran Los Angeles detective (Al Pacino) teams with a small-town investigator (Hilary Swank) to solve a murder in remote Alaska. It’s an effective, moody detective drama, but it lacks Nolan’s usual ambitious scope and feels like a for-hire job.

John David Washington is compelling as a secret agent (dubbed “The Protagonist,” which is a bit of an eyeroll) trying to prevent World War III — a war between the present and future. Tenet is a collection of Nolan’s most frustrating habits cranked to 11 — from an oppressive soundscape that eclipses dialogue, to stylish yet flat characters, to a narrative that’s confusingly twisty to the point of contortion. Still, Tenet earns some shallow points for looking cool and sounding cool and trying gamely to do something original with time travel. (THR’s review.)

Nolan’s debut feature, made for a reported $6,000, showed all the then-20-something director’s promise. Shot in black-and-white, Following features some themes Nolan would continue to explore for decades to come. Its protagonist is a single-minded obsessive alienated from society who follows a code (sound familiar?), and it has a surprising third act and smart expositional dialogue that feels distinctly Nolan. The feature centers on a man who follows strangers around London and becomes embroiled in more than he expected after breaking his rule never to follow the same person twice. At just 70 minutes, some might argue it’s not a feature-length movie, but Nolan — who put three years of his life into scraping it together — has said it’s just as valid as anything he’s made.

Tom Hardy is marvelous as the menacing terrorist Bane and pulls off the unenviable task of having to follow Heath Ledger’s Joker. There are also some strong sequences in the climax to Nolan’s Batman trilogy — such as the riveting plane hijacking opener, and Bruce’s trial in The Pit. Also, the film deserves credit for thinking big — criminals taking complete control of Gotham City for months is a storyline that really goes for it (so long as you don’t think too much about the believability of the city’s police force being conveniently trapped in a sewer all that time). A fine conclusion to the Batman trilogy that’s just that — fine (THR’s review.)

The one that got everybody’s attention: Nolan’s sophomore effort (based on a story by his brother Jonathan) is a twisty noir thriller starring Guy Pearce as a man unable to make new memories trying to solve his wife’s murder. It’s a compelling puzzle that showed a filmmaker who can blend an accessible genre movie with a challenging narrative and pull it off, all leading to an ending that’s, well, unforgettable.

Dunkirk is masterfully well made from its very first shot, which smash cuts onto a street with falling leaflets amid a ticking clock as British World War II soldiers attempt to flee France as German forces close in. Nolan’s skill in staging action results in one gripping sequence after another. Yet several of the heroes feel unknowable and interchangeable, which keeps the audience at an emotional distance even as Nolan employs so many cinematic techniques in an effort to pull us closer. (THR’s review.)

The first hour of Batman Begins is a fantastic launch to not only a grown-up Dark Knight trilogy but also a total re-imagining of what superhero movies can be if they’re treated like larger-than-life crime dramas with practical effects instead of quip-filled, save-the-world, CGI-fueled dramedies. Christian Bale quickly proved he’s a fine heir to the cowl and there’s never been a better Alfred than Michael Caine. Still, the film’s final act staggers a bit.

From here on, Nolan is hitting nothing but home runs. Inception finds the director bringing together so many of his signature talents into one highly original blockbuster as it follows Leonardo DiCaprio as a man who steals information from people’s subconscious for corporate clients. It’s visually spectacular, exceedingly clever, and has the filmmaker’s coolest ending. Hans Zimmer’s score became a meme for that iconic bwaaaahm, but it’s also one of the composer’s greatest efforts, one that was robbed for a best score Oscar (listen to “Time”). (THR’s review.)

Nolan is often accused of being a cold filmmaker, and can be. But there’s nothing chilly about Matthew McConaughey’s powerful performance as an astronaut who leaves behind his daughter (Mackenzie Foy, Jessica Chastain) in a quest to save humanity by finding a new world to replace a dying Earth. While the story has some plot holes, the resulting combination of 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired cinematic wonder and emotional heft makes this one of Nolan’s most popular films, a title whose reputation has grown since its release. (THR’s review.)

The Prestige is a marvelous mystery based on Christopher Priest’s novel about dueling turn-of-the-century obsessive magicians with terrific performances by a dogmatic Bale, a searing Hugh Jackman (“You don’t know?!“), and an all-too-wise Caine. The Nolan brothers’ perfect script uses voiceover and narrative in such a confident and propulsive way, and there’s an ending twist you won’t see coming (and then wonder how you could have missed it). The Prestige was a modest hit upon release, and has grown over the years to become a favorite of Nolan fans.

Oppenheimer is too long, overly chatty and its final act goes from fate-of-the-world stakes to men sitting around tables arguing over a security clearance (imagine if Batman defeated Scarecrow in Batman Begins and then spent another 40 minutes discussing how to best fix Gotham City’s damaged monorail system). And yet, Nolan creates a dramatic masterpiece that has something his other, more pulpy films largely lack: real-world urgency. In the film, based on the biography American Prometheus, Nolan tells the story of a major historical figure, champions science and movingly reminds the world of the dangers of weapons of mass destruction. The score by Ludwig Göransson might be the best yet for a Nolan film. And Nolan’s hellish post-Trinity test pep rally scene is perhaps the most smartly directed and emotionally powerful sequence of his career. (THR’s review and cover story.)

Nolan uses all his cinematic powers to bring Homer’s seemingly impossible-to-adapt 2,800-year-old tale to life in a way that somehow feels contemporary and grounded. The writer-director’s almost ridiculously star-stuffed cast and Herculean practical production efforts make the film feel like a throwback to Hollywood’s midcentury run of sandal-and-toga epics such as Spartacus and Ben-Hur (one half expects Peter Ustinov to show up). Nolan delivers one fantastical set piece after another to test Matt Damon’s Odysseus, while keeping the audience equally compelled by the palace intrigue back at Ithaca as Anne Hathaway’s Penelope holds off a brutish gaggle of suitors. When the two storylines collide, Nolan stages a clash of A-list titans that throws the director’s usual cerebral machinations aside and instead satisfies his audience with some good old-fashion bloodlust. Filmmakers literally don’t — or can’t —make them like this anymore.

Because, the paraphrase the clown, The Dark Knight is “just too much fun.” This is still the best superhero movie ever made, with Heath Ledger delivering a legendary (and posthumous Oscar-winning) performance as the Joker that looms over every frame, despite the character only appearing in 33 of the film’s 152 minutes. The script (written by the Nolan brothers, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer) is fantastic, with so many iconic lines (“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain” … “It’s all part of the plan…”). Every supporting cast member pops, Zimmer’s score is ominously tense, and the action sequences are grounded and effective. A massive hit upon release, The Dark Knight was Nolan’s first film to hit $1 billion — more than double the box office take of Batman Begins. So many of Nolan’s movies have lengthy run times, but this is a film you never want to end. (THR’s review.)