The full ranking
Time bent, dreams heisted, the atom split. The twelve features of Christopher Nolan, ranked by critics and audiences.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Heath Ledger's Joker turned a comic-book sequel into a sprawling crime epic and won a posthumous Oscar. Still the superhero film every other one is measured against.
Oppenheimer (2023)
The Trinity test, the security hearing, and a chain reaction that may never stop. Nolan's biographical epic swept the 2024 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.
The Prestige (2006)
Two magicians escalate from rivalry to obsession to something unforgivable. Nolan's twistiest construction, and the film his devotees most often call his best.
Inception (2010)
A heist crew breaks into dreams within dreams, with a spinning top for a cliffhanger. The rare blockbuster built from an original idea, and a decade of arguments about the ending.
Memento (2000)
A man with no short-term memory hunts his wife's killer through a story told backwards. The indie puzzle box that announced Nolan as a major filmmaker.
Dunkirk (2017)
Land, sea, and air on three interlocking clocks, with barely any dialogue and unrelenting tension. Nolan's war film is his leanest and most formally daring.
Interstellar (2014)
Through the wormhole to a bookshelf at the end of time, carried by Hans Zimmer's cathedral organ. The space epic audiences rank even higher than the critics do.
Batman Begins (2005)
The reboot that took Bruce Wayne seriously and rebuilt the comic-book movie from the ground up. Fear, training, and a Gotham that feels like a real city.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Bane breaks the Bat and Gotham devours itself in the trilogy's operatic finale. Divisive next to its predecessor, but enormous in scale and ambition.
Insomnia (2002)
A sleepless detective unravels under the midnight sun of an Alaskan summer, opposite a quietly chilling Robin Williams. Nolan's only film from someone else's script, and an underrated one.
Ranked across 7 sources: /Film · All 12 Nolan Movies Ranked 2025; IndieWire · Nolan Movies Ranked 2024; Variety · Nolan Films Ranked 2023; The Hollywood Reporter · Every Nolan Movie Ranked 2023; IMDb · Ranked by User Rating (June 2026); Letterboxd · Ranked by Member Rating (June 2026); Rotten Tomatoes · Ranked by Critic Rating (June 2026). Full scoring is on the Methodology tab above.
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