Before we proceed, it has to be pointed out. While the headline clearly reads "best Christopher Nolan movies of all time," this is every Christopher Nolan movie. Ranked from most groundbreaking to least groundbreaking, as chosen by us.
Over his illustrious quarter-decade career as a director, Hollywood's king of high-concept filmmaking has clearly favoured quality > quantity. Hence why his films are either Oscar-winning biopics that generate more than US$1 billion at the box office, sweeping epics that bring a 3000 year old story to the contemporary lexicon, or cult-classic trilogies that proved that superhero movies didn’t have to be bound to a wider cinematic universe.
Here's where we landed on the talented Mr Nolan's oeuvre.
Ranked: The Best Christopher Nolan Movies Of All Time
Following (1998)
It's almost unfair to stack this humble US$6,000 indie against world-renowned blockbusters like Interstellar (2014) and Oppenheimer (2023), but Following, Nolan’s neo-noir crime thriller released in 1998, was where it all began for this iconic filmmaker – his debut feature.
He'd also recycle the name of Alex Haw's Cobb for another thief character – Leonardo DiCaprio's in Inception – and upscale a good deal of the story elements for Memento (2000).
Of course, Following isn’t remembered in quite the same way as some of Nolan’s other titles, but it was the perfect playground for the young British American director to develop what we now consider Nolan’s signature: manifestations of internal psychology, a non-linear narrative, and a superb twist ending.
Insomnia (2002)
Insomnia (2002) is perhaps the most underrated Christopher Nolan flick to date. This taut psychological thriller remake highlighted both Al Pacino and the late Robin Williams' capacity for claustrophobically introspective acting; it's a crying shame these two never shared the screen more.
No major wins or nominations, but with two of Hollywood’s leading men directed by Nolan just as he was starting to find his voice, this 2002 flick generated upwards of US$113.8 million worldwide.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
There's no question why The Dark Knight Rises (2012) ranks so low. Despite the billion-dollar-grossing spectacle, Tom Hardy's transformative performance, and the wildly impressive practical effects, it's the weakest of both Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy and his filmography.
The writing was, more often than not, slightly clunky (something that’s been levelled against Nolan before) in comparison to the visuals. And whilst it was a satisfying conclusion to Nolan’s generational trilogy, it just didn't live up to the standard set by The Dark Knight (2008).
Batman Begins (2005)
This is yet another film that suffers from comparison. But something has to be placed around the bottom.
Batman Begins (2005) is objectively a brilliant entry that effectively revolutionised the superhero genre with its gritty, grounded change of direction post-Schumacher's campy Batmans.
In hindsight, I’m reminded of Dune: Part One – incredible world-building, laying down the foundation for the second instalment to blow everyone away. The cinematic world is better off for it, though we’re not exactly rushing to stick it back on.
Tenet (2020)
Is it a tad convoluted? Yes, to the point of being overwritten. Is it bloody hard to hear? Also yes, but that's arguably just as integral to the Christopher Nolan signature as practical effects.
Tenet (2020) is a film that benefits from multiple viewings and proves to be greater than what you remember each time. And now that Denis Villeneuve has been sworn in as the next Bond director, this far-reaching story could be the closest we'll ever get to a Nolan-directed Bond movie. The magnetic performances of John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, and Kenneth Branagh also don't hurt.
Dunkirk (2017)
Controversial opinion: I didn't particularly enjoy Dunkirk (2017). Personally speaking, it was a gorgeously shot drag à la Alejandro G. Iñárritu's The Revenant (2015), but from my own perspective, quite possibly the least enjoyable Christopher Nolan to date.
Told across land, sea, and air, Nolan’s triumphant war film clearly garnered high praise from the critics, however, winning three Oscars (Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing) from eight nominations, including Best Picture and Nolan's first Best Director nod. Even I can recognise what a stunning technical achievement both were – which is why it isn't ranked dead last.
Inception (2010)
You can nitpick at the Inception script all you want. That doesn't change the fact this was next-level storytelling complete with actual rotating corridors, a real-life MC Escher staircase, a replica steam train barrelling through the street, and an exploding alpine fortress.
The full-scale approach and universe-building surrounding the concept of lucid dreaming was only rivalled by the sheer star power of a cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Ken Watanabe.
Side note: the documentary covering this production's behind-the-scenes process is as entertaining as Inception (2010) itself... if not more so.
The Prestige (2006)
Any film that casts David Bowie as Nikola Tesla and blatantly reveals the twist at the very beginning, only to have you still marvelling at the latter's execution by the third act, is a winner in my books.
The Prestige is every part high-concept as it is psychological, wielding heartbreak like a switchblade, and elevates the source material to all-new brooding heights. It’s a stunning masterclass in showcasing human obsession (and, frankly, would be higher if Nolan’s filmography wasn’t already stacked).
Oppenheimer (2023)
Now, I know there are many in the room that consider Oppenheimer Nolan’s magnum opus, and few films garnered such a visceral reaction during its cinematic run, but something has to miss out.
This ambitious examination of J. Robert Oppenheimer, as well as the implications of developing nuclear arms, is as powerful in message as it is unforgettable in pathos. Nolan builds three hours of dense, dialogue-heavy physics and politics around Cillian Murphy's haunted, hollowed-out performance, and somehow turns it into the most talked-about cinema event of the decade.
The film's release ignited a cultural phenomenon that reached every corner of the globe. Paired against Greta Gerwig's Barbie on the same July weekend, "Barbenheimer" became its own marketing miracle, dragging audiences into cinemas for a double feature nobody could have engineered on purpose.
Oppenheimer alone pulled in just shy of $1 billion at the global box office, a staggering number for an R-rated, three-hour biopic with no franchise pedigree and barely a special effect in sight (Nolan famously recreated the Trinity test practically, without CGI). Although we probably could've done without all the MCU-style cameos from Tom Conti's Albert Einstein.
The Odyssey (2026)
Christopher Nolan’s Greek epic is still too early in its cinematic run to confirm its final rank, but if the numbers continue, The Odyssey will be closing in on US$1 billion by mid-August 2026, off a US$257.8 million global opening. It’s Nolan's biggest debut ever, ahead of The Dark Knight Rises, The Dark Knight and Oppenheimer.
Shot entirely on IMAX 70mm with zero digital fallback, this is Nolan doing what he does best: taking a three-thousand-year-old story that we all know so well, Homer's elliptical, in medias res storytelling, and treating it like it was purpose-built for Nolan’s delinear style.
Matt Damon's Odysseus carries the film, while Tom Holland's Telemachus quietly walks off with the whole thing, the only performer on screen playing someone still becoming who they are rather than someone already mythologised.
We caught it at the IMAX ahead of release, as Nolan intended (not as some of you are doing). Is it his best film? No, that’s below. But it's close, and we were genuinely unsure where we’d be able to confidently place it. But one thing’s for certain: Nolan remains the only director alive who can get this many people back into a cinema for a near-three-hour, R-rated adaptation of the classics.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Almost zero explanation is required for why it's this high. Although one may be required for why it isn't higher.
Where Batman Begins (2005) changed the game, The Dark Knight (2008) redefined it and set a lofty expectation that has yet to be exceeded by any other within the genre. Bale kills it. The late Heath Ledger kills it. Aaron Eckhart kills it. F–k it... Everyone kills it.
It also happens to be a genuine box office monster – north of US$1 billion worldwide, a figure that we’ve come to expect from MCU’s saturated superhero sequences, but not from anywhere else – not yet. Nolan proved a blockbuster could be this bleak, this morally knotted, and still print money. It seems only Nolan has managed to repeat the trick since, superhero movie or otherwise.
Interstellar (2014)
If I only had one opportunity to demonstrate blockbuster cinema in all its glory with a single film, I think it'd have to be Interstellar (2014).
As bold as it may be to claim, this is (in my eyes) modern film's answer to its direct predecessor in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), with a rare touch of heartfelt sentimentality in what is otherwise a rather cynical body of work. Hands down the most emotional Christopher Nolan movie by a country mile. The only reason it's not #1 is that the fourth dimension is – groan – love.
Matthew McConaughey's Cooper anchors a film that somehow makes wormholes, relativistic time dilation, and a black hole named Gargantua feel like the perfect backdrop to a father-daughter story. It picked up the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, though anyone who's sat through that docking sequence knows it deserved to walk away with more. Commercially, it's held up just as well: north of US$700 million worldwide across its original run and a string of re-releases that keep dragging new audiences back into IMAX. Twenty years into the man's filmography, it's still the one people cry at.
Memento (2000)
Memento (2000) might not be everyone’s choice for the top gong, but it’s the one that put Christopher Nolan on the map… and for very good reason.
With a paltry sub-$10 million production budget, ingenious writing (adapted from his brother Jonathan Nolan's short story Memento Mori), and just a handful of heavyweight screen players, the man crafted an incredibly memorable film for the ages. One that proves even if you take away his expensive bag of tricks, large-scale practical effects sequences and all, he can still keep us all hooked.
Even the United States Library of Congress has deemed it "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" enough for preservation within the National Film Registry.
Best Christopher Nolan Movies — Frequently Asked Questions
According to both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, Christopher Nolan's best film is The Dark Knight (94% | 9/10). But according to BH, it has to be Memento.
Christopher Nolan's highest-grossing film is currently The Dark Knight Rises at US$1.082 billion, followed closely by The Dark Knight at US$1.006 billion — though The Odyssey, still mid-run and closing in on US$1 billion off the biggest opening of Nolan's career, is on track to take the crown before the year's out.
Christopher Nolan's most underrated movie, due to the lack of mentions whenever the conversation involves his work, has to be Insomnia starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams.