Every Christopher Nolan Movie, Ranked
Originally published in 2020. Updated July 2023 to add Oppenheimer.
Whether it is by taking existing franchises (Batman) to new heights or creating memorable original works in genres ranging from sci-fi to war drama, Christopher Nolan has established himself as one of the top directors of the 21st century. In the gallery on this page we rank every film directed by Nolan throughout his career from worst to best by Metascore, a number from 0-100 that captures the opinions of top professional critics (with higher numbers indicating better reviews).
Nolan's buzz-generating second feature (following Following, his little-seen debut) and final indie film centers on a man (Guy Pearce) who seeks revenge for an attack on his wife—only to be hampered by a severe and unusual form of amnesia in which he can only hold on to short term memories for about 15 minutes, forcing him to turn to Polaroids and tattoos to record important information. Released in 2000, the cleverly structured film marked Nolan's first collaboration with his oft-used cinematographer Wally Pfister, while the story originally comes from another of the director's frequent collaborators: his brother, Jonathan Nolan. The siblings picked up their first career Oscar nominations in the process. (Despite being nominated again in the future, Christopher Nolan has never won an Academy Award.)
“Operates in an orbit somewhere between Oliver Sacks and Lewis Carroll. I can't remember when a movie has seemed so clever, strangely affecting and slyly funny at the very same time.” —Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
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