The Films of Christopher Nolan Ranked, from Following to Tenet

Now that Tenet has finally been released to audiences globally after months of delay, it is worth reviewing the extensive catalogue of Christopher Nolan’s films that came before it, starting with his feature debut Following (1998) and leading up to the commercial success of his recent Hollywood blockbusters. Over the years Nolan’s films have exponentially increased in scale and budget, turning away from the smaller narratives of Memento (2002) and Insomnia (2002) for the grand ambitions of Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014), vaguely similar to the multiplication of cells in a petri dish. Of course, bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better, and whilst they dazzle audiences with their visual spectacle, many of these films fall short of their original premise, unable to achieve the logic or coherence required. Generally these are male-led narratives, despite trading traditional machismo for intellect, with his women regularly side-lined or undeveloped (see Catherine Shoard’s review in The Guardian for ‘Nolan’s previous litany of saintly dead spouses’). To those viewing Nolan’s impressive backlog for the first time, these varied impressions should be fully considered beforehand.

 

This ranked compendium is therefore entirely subjective, based on my ever-changing preferences and opinions towards Nolan over the years. 

 

11. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

It was reported that Nolan did not want to produce a final segment to the narratives of Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), and unfortunately it does show. Although The Dark Knight Rises (2012) might be one of Nolan’s best-looking films – thanks to regular cinematographer Wally Pfister – in other respects it pales against its predecessors. Hammy acting partners with a confused and dense storyline, neither of which are helped by the sound mixing which makes Tom Hardy’s Bane impossible to properly understand. 

 

10. Following (1998)

Inexpensive and filmed straight after Nolan graduated from University College London, Following tells the story of a young man unknowingly drawn into the criminal underworld. Filmed with hand-held cameras, in grainy 16mm monochrome visuals, it effectively demonstrated Nolan as a fledgling talent. Impressively made but minor viewing.

 

9. The Prestige (2006)

In retrospect, the narrative structures of both Inception and Tenet owe a significant debt to Nolan’s three-act illusion in The Prestige (2006). Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale compete as magicians in Victorian London, and whose friendship sours after the on-stage death of Jackman’s wife, Julia (played by Piper Perabo). Nolan hides many tricks up his sleeve, but unfortunately they are visible from the start, and what should be a grand pay-off culminates with a disappointing and contrived flutter of cards. (David Bowie’s cameo as Nikola Tesla is worth waiting for).

 

8. Interstellar (2014)

In Interstellar, Nolan pays tribute to the science fiction influences of his childhood: otherwise a gigantic, top-heavy ode to George Lucas’ 1977 Star Wars franchise and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Spectacular in all respects, Interstellar might be Nolan’s biggest film, sweeping between planetary surfaces and zipping through wormholes with stars Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway for company. Unfortunately, the ending is a colossal, incomprehensible dud, and despite the script pleading to its audience for emotional depth, it brims with clichés and ultimately fails to emotionally connect.

 

7. Tenet (2020)

Tenet gave me a headache, but Nolan’s eleventh feature was worth paying for and sitting through for its 150-minute runtime. How to explain the plot? Clémence Poésy’s Laura advises John David Washington (cryptically named ‘The Protagonist’) to “try [not] to understand it. Feel it.” Aaron Taylor-Johnson later offers similar advice, recommending Washington to not “get on the chopper if you can't stop thinking in linear terms.” Time moves forward and backwards and forwards again in Tenet, with tense car chases being played and replayed in reverse to stunning effect, and battle sequences taking place in both the past and future simultaneously. For anyone familiar with Adam Sandler’s 2005 comedy Click, then the experience of watching Tenet is reminiscent of Sandler handling the universal television remote, able to pause, rewind or forward ahead certain scenes to his delight.

 

6. Batman Begins (2005)

Batman Begins relaunched the DC anti-hero with incredible confidence and originality, rejecting the prior Tim Burton pantomimes for a gritty and bold modernisation. Christian Bale’s performance draws from the unsympathetic arrogance of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man (2008) whilst suggesting a greater fragility to his superhero image. Co-writers Nolan and David S. Goyer spend much of the runtime establishing groundworks for character arcs and future sequels, but the final product is nevertheless magnificent and deserving of all its critical praise.

 

5. The Dark Knight (2012)

Heath Ledger succeeds Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Nolan’s impressive sequel to Batman Begins, trading Chaplin-esque antics for a series of high-profile terror attacks on Gotham city. Filmed with cumbersome IMAX cameras, The Dark Knight is extravagant and visually spectacular from the opening bank robbery to the climactic ferry scene. However, it is also a film of ideas, and much of the narrative (now co-written with his brother, Jonathan Nolan) transitions from one moral set piece to another.

 

4. Insomnia (2002)

Supremely underrated, Nolan’s chilling adaptation of Erik Skjoldbjaerg’s Norwegian thriller inspires mesmerising performances from both Al Pacino and Robin Williams. Together with Following and his Oscar-nominated feature Memento, Insomnia established Nolan’s control of small-scale material, with his directorial style perfectly suited to the murder investigation in the Alaskan wilderness.

 

3. Inception (2010)

Inception is a difficult film on first viewing, but an even greater on the second and third. You are supposed to get lost in trying to understand the stages of its dream logic, whilst being accompanied by a similarly perplexed cast of actors, headed by Leonardo DiCaprio, attempting to steal information through an act of psychological subterfuge. The critical and commercial success of Inception proved that audiences were not incapable of appreciating intelligent cinema, whilst confirming Nolan as a financial asset for Warner Bros. Pictures. James Bond-inspired action sequences combine with dreamtime surrealism to boast one of Nolan’s most impressive films yet.

 

2. Memento (2000)

Nolan’s Memento was so challenging for US audiences that producers distributed a 3-disc DVD special containing the re-edited film in chronological order. Once again with Nolan’s screenplays, the narrative moves in different and puzzling ways, following the character of Leonard Shelby (played by Guy Pearce) across two sequences of time: one in black-and-white, and a second in colour though arranged in reverse order (to simulate the anterograde amnesia of its main protagonist). Here, Nolan translates trauma and grief into the fractured, non-linearity of the timeline, demonstrating pure originality and flare.

 

1. Dunkirk (2017)

I worked in a cinema the summer of Dunkirk’s release and spent every day watching the opening scenes of Allied soldiers running through Dunkirk, with gunfire close behind, and the closing credits over which Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch’s variations on Edward Elgar played. Everything about Dunkirk is purely cinematic, with its notable absence of dialogue further emphasising the visual landscape of the historic mass evacuation (either from the ground, sea or air). Nolan’s success with Dunkirk is due to the fact that it tempered the scope of Interstellar and Inception with the smallness of its cast and runtime, neither allowing the film to exhaust itself with exposition nor lose control of the many elements it was attempting to handle. Nolan has yet to again balance these elements so well, and since the release of Tenet, it would appear his films now sacrifice cohesion for showiness and intellect. Dunkirk is one of the great war films of the past decade, and likely Nolan’s greatest film to date.