Director Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has been nominated for over a dozen Academy Awards this season, including Best Picture. Longtime fans of Nolan’s work wouldn’t expect anything less, but newbies to his more-is-more style of filmmaking might be curious as to what came before the juggernaut historical drama of summer 2023.
Let’s take a look at Nolan’s 22-year directorial filmography and where you can stream all of his movies. (Though he’d prefer you see them in a theater.)
Christopher Nolan–directed films and where to stream them
Oppenheimer (2023)
The story of Robert Oppenheimer, “the father of the atomic bomb,” is up for several Oscars across all categories this year, including Best Actor for titular star Cillian Murphy. Oppenheimer is also now the highest-grossing biographical film of all time, beating out 2018’s barely factual Bohemian Rhapsody.
Where to stream Oppenheimer
Tenet (2020)
Nolan’s divisive sci-fi action thriller Tenet was the first big-hype movie to premiere during the COVID-19 pandemic and his most expensive, with a $200 million budget. The time-travel saga has since amassed a cult following that will argue with you over its genius for hours on Reddit.
Where to stream Tenet
Dunkirk (2017)
Dunkirk, a relatively straightforward Nolan film about the Battle of France during WWII, is one of his most unifying works: Nolanheads and normies love it. Its grand scale on land, sea, and in the air made Dunkirk the biggest WWII-related box office success until Nolan’s own Oppenheimer came along.
Where to stream Dunkirk
Interstellar (2014)
Before Tenet, Nolan took his time-travel curiosity to space with Interstellar, a science-fiction epic that’s as heavy on science as it is on fiction. With humankind facing extinction on dying Earth, a NASA team travels through a wormhole to find a habitable planet, and things just get gnarlier from there.
Where to stream Interstellar
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Even though the bar is lower than Aquaman’s bathroom floor, The Dark Knight Rises has been called the greatest DC superhero movie ever made. Nolan’s brutal Batman trilogy also had its critics, which led to Rotten Tomatoes shutting down its comments section after Bane-level fanboy backlash.
Where to stream The Dark Knight Rises
Inception (2010)
The detractors who complained about Tenet‘s density had apparently forgotten about Inception, which twisted minds into subconscious pretzels 10 years earlier. Nolan’s trippy tale about corporate espionage via dream infiltration is a cerebral and visual marvel, even if you’re never quite sure what’s really real.
Where to stream Inception
The Dark Knight (2008)
If nothing else, Nolan’s second Batman movie gave us the most indelible Joker in the history of the brand: Heath Ledger. His chaotically committed performance eclipses everyone else on the screen—even Aaron Eckhart’s malevolent turn as villain Two-Face. The Dark Knight perfectly sets up Rises.
Where to stream The Dark Knight
The Prestige (2006)
Casting Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as warring magicians in 1890s London was already a fantastically preposterous choice, but then Nolan added David Bowie to play real-life inventor Nikola Tesla. The Prestige is so engaging that you’ll forget you’re watching Batman beef with Wolverine.
Where to stream The Prestige
Batman Begins (2005)
After the camptastic Batman & Robin ground the franchise to a halt in the ’90s, there was only one way to revive it: Go dark and deadly serious. Batman Begins nailed it with Nolan at the helm and Christian Bale in the Batsuit—even Tim Burton, who directed 1989’s definitive Batman, hailed it as a triumph.
Where to stream Batman Begins
Insomnia (2002)
Insomnia is the only movie here that Nolan didn’t also write and direct—it’s a remake of a Norwegian film. Two Los Angeles detectives (Al Pacino and Martin Donovan) head to Alaska for a murder investigation, and things go south quickly. Insomnia is one of Nolan’s best-reviewed movies.
Where to stream Insomnia
Memento (2000)
A man (Guy Pearce) out to find his wife’s killer suffers from an acute form of amnesia—he’s unable to sustain memories, so he uses a system of photos, notes, and tattoos to stay on track. The brain-bending Memento unfolds in forward and reverse order and remains one of Nolan’s most fascinating films.
Where to stream Memento
Following (1999)
Nolan’s directorial debut Following was shot for just $6,000 and went on to gross over $126,000—he had the magic touch from the jump. The London-set crime-noir movie clocks in at just over an hour, a storytelling shortfall that Nolan obviously spent the rest of his career correcting.
Where to stream Following
Bill Frost has been a journalist and TV reviewer since the 4:3-aspect-ratio ’90s. His pulse-pounding prose has been featured in The Salt Lake Tribune, Inlander, Coachella Valley Independent, Las Vegas Weekly, and many other dead-tree publications (see BillFrost.tv). In addition to being a Senior Staff Writer at CableTV.com, Bill is a syndicated streaming TV columnist forSalt Lake City Weekly and other alternative weeklies, and host/producer of TV Tan Podcast. By night, Bill cranks a Flying V with his band at the bar.
Related Posts
