{"id":694545,"date":"2026-07-16T09:25:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T09:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/694545\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T09:25:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T09:25:14","slug":"the-odyssey-christopher-nolan-movie-ranking-from-worst-to-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/694545\/","title":{"rendered":"The Odyssey: Christopher Nolan movie ranking, from worst to best"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

Christopher Nolan is one of our last true visionaries. It\u2019s a term that\u2019s been diluted in recent years, with movie trailers heralding the alleged \u201cvisions\u201d of any two-bit Russo Brother. Nolan, however, is of a different sort.<\/p>\n

With even Martin Scorsese<\/a> struggling to get his expensive epics financed and something like Ryan Coogler\u2019s Sinners considered a risky venture for a skittish studio system, Nolan is a veritable last man standing. Thanks to his Batman<\/a> trilogy, and the continued success of Inception<\/a> and his Best Picture-winning Oppenheimer, he\u2019s able to get big, original and vaguely subversive extravaganzas green-lit on his name alone, his budgets remaining sky high.<\/p>\n

To celebrate the release of The Odyssey, we\u2019ve surveyed his back catalogue, ranking all 13 of his films from worst to best \u2013\u00a0with the caveat that even the worst of the Nolan oeuvre is uniquely compelling in one way or another.<\/p>\n

\"MattMatt Damon in ‘The Odyssey’ and Christian Bale in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (Universal Pictures\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

13. Following (1998)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s doubtful that Following was many people\u2019s introduction to Nolan, but it\u2019s the film where it all began. On display in his black-and-white independent debut, about a young writer who finds himself dragged into a criminal underworld, is the tenacity and dedication that has gone on to shape his career \u2013 it even hides a Batman logo in plain sight. Yet it feels like a film he would baulk at making today: the shoestring budget (\u00a36,000) and minimal use of professional equipment is worlds away from The Dark Knight\u2019s Batpod sequence or the rotating corridor of Inception. JS <\/p>\n

12. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)<\/p>\n

Nolan reportedly had to be strong-armed into finishing his Dark Knight trilogy, unsure that he could successfully follow up its immediate predecessor. That uncertainty is visible on screen. This is a decent closer, with a number of strong elements (it\u2019s arguably the best-looking Batman movie, while franchise newbies Anne Hathaway<\/a> and Joseph Gordon-Levitt<\/a> are brilliant), but it\u2019s also a bloated jumble of ideas and extraneous plot detours. The Occupy Wall Street-inspired narrative never hangs together, while Nolan deserves some kind of medal for being the only director to coax a bad performance out of Marion Cotillard<\/a>. AW<\/p>\n

11. Insomnia (2002)<\/p>\n

Insomnia is the Christopher Nolan movie that doesn\u2019t look, feel or sound like a Christopher Nolan movie. Mirroring David Lynch<\/a>\u2019s regretful adaptation of Dune, Insomnia found Nolan embodying the role of a fresh indie-film wunderkind wooed by a major studio and a big (for 2002-era Nolan, anyway) budget \u2013 even if the film he was tasked with directing wasn\u2019t particularly in his wheelhouse. Unlike Dune, Insomnia isn\u2019t a disaster, just a little forgettable. Al Pacino<\/a> and Robin Williams<\/a>, as an LAPD detective and his murder suspect, are marvellous, and the film itself has atmosphere for days, but it\u2019s otherwise a bit of an ill-fitting suit. AW<\/p>\n

10. Dunkirk (2017)<\/p>\n

Dunkirk is unlike any other war film. Instead of simply showing the evacuation of Second World War troops from the French commune, Nolan concurrently tells the story from three perspectives \u2013 land, air and sea \u2013 that all play out across different lengths of time. You can feel the director right there with his actors as they run for cover, dogfight and escape sinking warships in scenes with little-to-no dialogue. Look beyond the impressive bravado, too, and there are small horrors to unearth. A scene in which the young British privates silently watch as a fellow soldier walks out to sea is easily Nolan\u2019s most chilling moment. JS<\/p>\n

9. Tenet (2020)<\/p>\n

\"ElizabethElizabeth Debicki and John David Washington in \u2018Tenet\u2019 (Warner Bros)<\/p>\n

Before Tenet<\/a> was released, Christopher Nolan, in typical Nolan style, said the film was not about time travel but \u201ctime inversion\u201d. Quite what that means<\/a> might remain a mystery to those hoping to dip their toe into a frothy summer blockbuster. For Nolan fans, though, it\u2019s their introduction to what is evidently the director\u2019s most complex film to date. Nolan is interested in grand ideas, and with Tenet, he somehow weaves them into a head-spinning thriller that\u2019s surprisingly taut for its 150 minutes. Its concept is so high that you might suffer from altitude sickness, but should you go along with it, you\u2019ll be bowled over by the cleverness on display. JS<\/p>\n

8. Interstellar (2014)<\/p>\n

With Interstellar, Nolan somehow made a sci-fi spectacle featuring tidal waves the size of skyscrapers feel like an understated family drama. The film, following a space crew\u2019s search for a new habitable planet, is anchored by a rapturous performance from Matthew McConaughey<\/a>; if it\u2019s not his best role, it\u2019s one of them. Interstellar is blockbuster filmmaking at its most ambitious, and wears its influences (2001: A Space Odyssey and The Right Stuff are clear inspirations) on the sleeve of its spacesuit. JS<\/p>\n

7. Batman Begins (2005)<\/p>\n

This was perhaps the first film to prove Nolan\u2019s staying power. Hiring him to relaunch Batman in a fresh franchise was an inspired choice by Warner Bros, and one that reworked the blueprint for a new era of superhero films. The studio\u2019s willingness to sit back and let this burgeoning talent place his imprint on Gotham City paved the way for a thrilling and sophisticated origin story. Batman Begins can be cruelly overlooked as mere set-up for what came next. In actuality, it\u2019s just as good. Well, almost. JS<\/p>\n

6. The Prestige (2006)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t really want to know the secret; you want to be fooled.\u201d So goes the gambit of The Prestige, Nolan\u2019s riveting drama about rival magicians in the late 19th century that pits Hugh Jackman<\/a> and Christian Bale<\/a> on a fatal battle of one-upmanship. Its elusively told story, tied together by unforeseen twists and turns, make this a satisfyingly sturdy slice of cinema \u2013 and the last of Nolan\u2019s films to cost less than $100m (it cost just $40m). It scores points for David Bowie<\/a>\u2019s cameo as the fastidious Nikola Tesla, too. JS <\/p>\n

5. Oppenheimer (2023)<\/p>\n

\"CillianCillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer (Warner Bros)<\/p>\n

Oppenheimer is one of Nolan\u2019s least commercial movies yet: a chewy, three-hour-long pressure-cooker of a film that\u2019s partly shot in black and white \u2013 and yet, it became one of his biggest. It won him that coveted Best Picture and Best Director Oscar, too. There\u2019s more than a little Alan J Pakula and Sidney Lumet in the film\u2019s political intrigue, and it\u2019s set apart by its unsettling close-ups of Cillian Murphy, as the man who masterminded the birth of the atomic bomb. JS<\/p>\n

4. Memento (2000)<\/p>\n

Nolan\u2019s directorial trajectory hasn\u2019t been one of enormous leaps, but of gently honing the same handful of ideas. Memento, his first proper movie after his low-budget debut Following, features many of the same tropes he would return to later on. This is a puzzle box of a film, one that plays with narrative and structure as an amnesiac Guy Pearce<\/a> attempts to piece together his wife\u2019s murder. Smartly, it demands your attention but is never smug with its mystery, its structure inventive but never gimmicky. AW<\/p>\n

3. The Odyssey (2026)<\/p>\n

\"MattMatt Damon in Christopher Nolan\u2019s \u2018The Odyssey\u2019 (Universal Pictures)<\/p>\n

Making The Odyssey was no small task \u2013 but Nolan was more than up to it. After 12 films, he\u2019s made a film that\u2019s as mature as Oppenheimer (and unexpectedly tackles similar themes), as moving as Interstellar \u2013 but that also has about triple the set-pieces from his more action-oriented output. His adaptation of Homer\u2019s Greek poem \u2013 led by a career-best Matt Damon \u2013\u00a0is so breathtakingly steeped in realism, despite its mythical roots, and is as accessible as anything he\u2019s done, while also showcasing those usual flourishes Nolan diehards will lap up. JS<\/p>\n

2. Inception (2010)<\/p>\n

Inception is a masterpiece, but also the Nolan film that most overtly exposes his problem areas. Like many of his movies, women waft through Inception to deliver exposition or be pined over; there\u2019s also a noticeable chilliness that helps make his work more admirable than cosy. It also reflects his own disposition \u2013 the upper-class Brit who doesn\u2019t like people sitting down on his sets and is resolutely, almost supernaturally humourless. Still (and the heavy lifting that \u201cstill\u201d is doing depends on your own Nolan views), Inception is stunning.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s arguably the film Nolan was always building up to, one that steals elements from so much of his past work and properly runs riot with them. There\u2019s his fascination with time, dreams and grief, the cinematic power of pure spectacle, and his child-like excitement over grown men flinging themselves through zero gravity. Everything coalesces here, from every one of composer Hans Zimmer<\/a>\u2019s dramatic \u201cBraaams\u201d to the teasing, gasping ambiguity of that final shot. AW<\/p>\n

1. The Dark Knight (2008)<\/p>\n

\"HeathHeath Ledger as the Joker in \u2018The Dark Knight\u2019 (Warner Bros)<\/p>\n

So much of what made The Dark Knight a phenomenon wasn\u2019t related to The Dark Knight itself. There was the death of Heath Ledger<\/a>; the cultural baggage surrounding The Joker as a character; the galvanising divisions between rich and poor in 2008\u2019s presidential election; and how the film seemed to reflect them back at us. In the years that followed, Ledger\u2019s dialogue became a meme; The Joker himself became a tool for exhausting actors to go \u201cmethod\u201d for Oscar attention; there were mass shootings and online harassment done in its name. It\u2019s easy to forget there was an actual movie there, too.<\/p>\n

But sit and actually watch the thing again, and you\u2019re likely to be floored anew. Building on Batman Begins, The Dark Knight grips with a powerful intensity, Nolan landing somewhere between Michael Mann<\/a> and Frank Miller<\/a>. So many of the film\u2019s many imitators additionally seem to confuse its darkness for plodding angst. In truth, The Dark Knight is about chaos \u2013 how fear can grip a populace, what happens when all hope seems to be lost, and how close we all are to the edge. It captured a cultural mood and offered an unsightly glimpse into the future. It may not be Nolan\u2019s greatest bit of storytelling, some of its plot detours more than a little baggy, but it\u2019s undeniably his most important film, along with one of the most ground-shaking films in recent memory. You can\u2019t really imagine modern cinema without it. AW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-694545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}