Film Critic Ranks Every Christopher Nolan Movie From Best To Worst

Oppenheimer enters its second weekend with $265+ million in global box office after strong weekday attendance. It should top $350+ million this weekend, and could land as high as $375 million. Oppenheimer is writer-director Christopher Nolan’s twelfth feature film, so let’s look back and rank every one of his movies from best to worst (or “least best,” as is the case for almost all of them).

It’s no secret I’ve been a huge fan of Nolan’s work since the early days. At the time when he was hired to take over the Batman franchise at Warner Bros., I’d only seen Memento and Insomnia, but those were enough to make me instantly enthusiastic about his filmmaking and the prospect of his Caped Crusader. And I’ve strongly liked or loved every film Nolan has made, with the exception of two — one of which I still like, just not “strongly,” and one of which…well, we’ll get to that.

This is of course my own list, based on my own opinions and tastes and interpretations of Nolan’s movies. If you disagree, that’s fine, you can make your own list. For me, there are three tiers of quality in his filmography — the top five movie on the list are five-star pictures, the next four movies on the list are all four-star pictures, and then the final three movies on the list are 3.5, 3, and 2.5 star pictures, respectively.

Rather than count down from #12 to #1, I’ll start at the top of the list and work my way down — honestly, I’m doing this partly just so people don’t stop reading my list in anger as soon as they see the film(s) that came in last place.

Besides, I prefer to talk more about what I like and love in cinema, so I rarely discuss films I dislike unless it’s an offensive movie that needs to be called out for its ills; or if it’s a popular movie where I feel the discussions are overlooking important counter-points; or if it’s a filmmaker I usually love and praise, and so feel in fairness I shouldn’t just refuse to talk about the rare times I feel they’ve made mistakes.

So, without further ado, here are my rankings and mini-reviews of all of Christopher Nolan’s movies!

1. Dunkirk — Not only Christopher Nolan’s greatest film, but also the film that should’ve won both Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards (it lost to The Shape of Water and Guillermo del Toro). Brilliantly realized at every level, this is the film Nolan was born to create, and he rose to the occasion with a masterpiece that will stand forever as one of the greatest war films and most moving representations of the human capacity to create our own miracles when we need them most.

2. Batman Begins — While its sequel gets most of the attention and is widely regarded as the best of the trilogy, this is a more visionary and epic approach, treating Batman’s story as a classic legend that’s rooted in grounded sensibilities yet plays out as grand mythology. Inspired by films including Blade Runner, Superman: The Movie, and Excalibur, Nolan’s approach inspired Marvel Studios’ Iron Man a few years later and helped perfect the superhero template established by Superman.

Read my exclusive interview with Christopher Nolan on the 10-year anniversary of Batman Begins.

3. Inception — A mindbending action-thriller tour de force proving Nolan’s original ideas are every bit as spectacular as his blockbuster branded franchise work, it’s also practically an audition to helm the 007 series. Audiences still debate the meaning of its twist/not-a-twist ending. I believe there’s a definite correct answer, and Nolan has strongly suggested as much, but the point is to question whether or not the literal implication of the ending matters in a quest for meaning in what defines our reality.

4. The Dark Knight — Nolan’s most famous movie, and featuring an iconic and Oscar-winning performance from Heath Ledger. As I wrote in my recent 15-year retrospective, it was the first billion dollar superhero film and helped firmly establish the superhero genre as ruler of the cinematic box office. It also gave Nolan the Hollywood clout ensuring a blank check to pursue his future original and even more ambitious cinematic vision, including the previously discussed Inception.

5. The Dark Knight Rises — If anyone still believed Nolan’s success with the billion dollar blockbuster The Dark Knight was a one-off, Inception should have silenced them. But in case doubters remained, he capped his Batman trilogy with an even bigger blockbuster result and continued critical/audience acclaim. A rare epic conclusion to a branded franchise while it’s still on top and a satisfying ending for a character nobody expected to bid adieu. Batman returned, but not this Batman.

Read my review of The Dark Knight Rises.

6. Following — Nolan’s first theatrical feature film is still among his greatest. He perfectly achieves a surreal sense of time, place, and identity all within an entirely realistic, naturalistic world of characters. It’s a noir thriller, and a sort of character study within the trappings of a mini-heist/mystery, but also a surreal examination of perception defining and changing our reality. It makes a good double feature with Fight Club, just don’t misunderstand either film’s real messages and warnings.

7. The Prestige — A marvelously bizarre, twisty tale unlike anything else Nolan has made to date. It’s about magic and science and art, it’s about love and hate, and it’s about how obsession in all of these things leads to ruin. The film reveals itself like a magic trick, with payoffs as clever and satisfying as they are unexpected. The lush cinematography is Wally Pfister’s best work, and the script by Jonathan Nolan with brother Christopher captures the insanity and passion of compulsive ambition.

8. Memento — The film that put Nolan’s name on the lips of Hollywood studios is a testament to Nolan’s courage as a filmmaker, and to what a wonderful team he and his screenwriting brother Jonathan made. Nolan didn’t invent nonlinear storytelling, but he took it about as far as you can go without just running a film entirely backward from start to finish. Even at the small-budget indie level, his imagination never seemed constrained, nor did his willingness to take bigger, bolder risks.

9. Interstellar — In the operatic tradition of 2001: A Space Odyssey and with unexpected but welcome Hitchcockian sensibilities, Nolan’s glorious space travel saga was somehow still mostly as down-to-earth-realistic as his famously “grounded” superhero features. With mesmerizing visual effects that include a mind-blowing (and, as it turns out, pretty scientifically accurate) depiction of a black hole in sequences that are among the most stunning and exciting in sci-fi cinema history.

Read my review of Interstellar.

10. Insomnia — Here is where I point out that the “bottom tier” of Nolan’s films on my list represent films that would still (mostly, depending on who you listen to) be welcome and well-received additions to any artist’s filmography. This remake of a Norwegian crime thriller was a work for hire, and thus the only time Nolan wasn’t involved in writing the screenplay. But the result is still compelling and entertaining.

11. Tenet — Nolan restrains himself when opportunities arise here to do something transformative with storytelling and visuals, to fully live up to the promise of the premise. But even when his reach exceeds his grasp, the results are still interesting, innovative, and worth watching. Like Inception, Tenet mixes the grounded sensibilities of Daniel Craig’s Bond with the sci-fi outrageousness of Roger Moore’s.

12. Oppenheimer — You can read my full review here, so I’ll just say this is unfortunately the only entry in Nolan’s filmography in which I feel the flaws overpower what he wanted to communicate and undermine the whole picture. But there is still much that impresses and it’s an excellent technical achievement in many regards, so I’m not surprised my own negative review is in the minority of opinion.

And there you have it, dear readers, my ranking of every Christopher Nolan movie. It’s a masterful set of films, and even the few times I had negative things to say it doesn’t erase the ambition, vision, and skill that went into those particular productions.

Nolan is one of the greatest filmmakers of the modern era, with even his most commercial franchise-driven work packed full of subtext, important resonant themes, serious philosophical questions, and relatable characters in situations reflecting our own world’s struggles and choices today.

Be sure to check back here again soon, dear readers, for more updates about Oppenheimer and other films at the box office, as well as more reviews and movie lists from yours truly.