Nolan. Ranked.

Tenet is actually hitting movie theaters! What?! You know what that means. Another faceless dude on the internet arbitrarily ranks the filmography of the 21st century’s greatest, most iconic, and most huh?-inducing filmmaker. Is this list different than any other Nolan catalog you could find on the interwebs? Nope. Are there any flashy hot-takes? Not particularly. You ready? Let’s go.

10. Following. 1998.

Unless you’ve lived inside of a glass tank of water for the past decade you’re familiar with Christopher Nolan. While he’s known for mind-bending twists, huge blockbuster set pieces, and non-linear storytelling, it’s easy to forget how small and personal Nolan’s career began. Produced by Nolan and his wife, Emma; written, directed, photographed, and edited all by Nolan himself; utilizing a cast and crew who were all in full-time employment on weekdays; and almost entirely paid for out of his own pocket; Following tells the tale of an unemployed writer who stalks strangers around the streets of London and gets caught up in a criminal underworld. His first feature takes a bit too long to get off the ground, doesn’t soar to any of the heights that an audience expects from the auteur, and may or may not quite stick the landing, but the 69-minute noir crime thriller puts him on the map and gives the world its first Nolan non-linear narrative. It’s his first film, and you can tell.

09. Insomnia. 2002.

The only film in Nolan’s filmography on which he does not possess any sort of writing credit, Insomnia stars three power-house performances from three Academy Award winners: Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, and Robin Williams, the latter in a rare villainous role. Pacino’s Detective Will Dormer follows a murder case up to middle-of-nowhere Alaska where the constant sunshine messes with his head and leads him to suffer from…..you guessed it. Dramatics ensue. Outside of Nolan’s lack of a writing credit, this film stands alone in the fact that it is a remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, the only remake with Nolan’s name on it. All three stars give career-high performances, and Nolan’s early mastery of suspense is obvious, but without the questions that had already started to become synonymous with the Nolan name–“wait, what just happened?,” “when is this again?,” and “how did they think this up?!,” Insomnia just isn’t the Nolan high I want to hit.

08. Dunkirk. 2017.

War movies aren’t my thing. If this was a list of Nolan’s “best” then Dunkirk would undoubtedly be significantly further down, but as it is a ranking of favorites, here we are. Nolan takes his non-linear storytelling to new heights with a story split into three different perspectives with three different time-spans. It can be confusing for those not paying close attention, but those that stick it out will reap the rewards. It’s truly brilliant. Dunkirk, Nolan’s tenth full-length feature, finally garnered him a best director nomination at the Oscars (surely not his last) and went on to win in three production categories, but it also reminded the world that Christopher Nolan can do more than make superhero flicks and flashy sci-fi romps. Taking a cast of completely unknown young actors (plus Tom Hardy), throwing them into a timey-wimey British war movie, and creating a masterpiece that both critics and audiences fell in love with is not something that many directors could do. #nolanforthewin

07. The Dark Knight Rises. 2012.

I’m a sucker for Batman. Just getting that out of the way now. While the final installment in the Dark Knight trilogy is a bit messy and undeniably over-stuffed, I’ll be damned if it’s not the epitome of an entertaining summer blockbuster. From the first scene, in which Tom Hardy’s ICONIC villain, Bane, rips open a plane in midair to catch his connecting flight, to the final moments of Christian Bale sipping a mochaccino in France, The Dark Knight Rises is a non-stop joyride for Batman lovers of all ages. Starting with Batman Begins in 2005, Nolan starts to find his troupe that he’ll continue to work with again and again, and DKR is a great example. In addition to Hardy & Bale, we’ll see Nolan team up with Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, Cillian Murphy, Wally Pfister, Jonathan Nolan, and Hans Zimmer on countless other occasions. A man needs his crew, and Nolan found his. At the end of the day, DKR gave us Tom Hardy’s Bane, and truly, that is all I’ll ever need.

06. Batman Begins. 2005.

Even in the wake of Avengers: Endgame and the massive success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy still reigns supreme over all comic book trilogies. And it started, of course, with 2005’s Batman Begins. Nolan started his career in 1998 with a film budgeted at $6,000; less than a decade later he’s given the reigns to a huge studio movie starring the most famous superhero of all time with a budget of $150 million. Insane. This series completely revolutionized the way audiences see comic book films and, by extension, the way studios make them. Gone are the flashy costumes and larger-than-life villains, and in their place are mob bosses, dull color pallets, and schizophrenic drug lords peddling hallucinogens. Dark & gritty would go on to become the standard for Warner Bros and DC for better or for worse. Thanks Christopher Nolan. While the film lacks the “iconic villain” turn, it lays out the origin and sets up The Dark Knight to utterly dominate.

05. The Prestige. 2006.

The Pledge. The Turn. The Prestige. Something ordinary turns extraordinary and back again. A simple feud between magicians goes haywire and costs them both dearly. Now is when the decisions get tough. Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Christopher Priest, The Prestige marks Nolan’s last time working with composer David Julyan (who composed 4 out of his 5 films so far), and the last film before the director starts his award-winning, 5-movie run with Hans Zimmer. No shots at Julyan, but…shots at Julyan. Way to level up, Chris. While the screenplay by Nolan & Nolan expertly keeps you guessing until the bitter end, the heart of the film belongs to duel-headliners Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, without whom the movie’s spell breaks. Chock-full of Nolan-isms, The Prestige smoothly clicks into place with a supporting cast of Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, a non-CGI’ed Andy Serkis, and David freakin’ Bowie. The result is (please forgive me) magical.

04. Interstellar. 2014.

Interstellar is nothing short of remarkable. The screenplay (written in tandem with long-time collaborator Jonathan Nolan), the score (written by long-time collaborator Hans Zimmer), the cinematography (done by Hoyte Van Hoytema who will go on to do Nolan’s next three films), the onslaught of home run performances in front of the camera, and the science (from theoretical physicist Kip Thorne??) all work together to create a truly awe-inspiring film that is at the same time 100% original and 100% an homage to the Nolan-favorite 2001: A Space Odyssey. With life on earth no longer sustainable, Matthew McConaughey looks to the stars (and to the fifth dimension??) to save humanity…and to finally connect with his daughter. What a plot. The most visually stunning of all of Nolan’s work (and that is saying something), Interstellar soars through space, flies through black holes, visits new worlds, and opens new dimensions. Astonishing.

03. Memento. 2000.

The can of worms is open; Nolan is unleashed. Memento tells the story of a man who’s memory resets every five minutes on the hunt for his wife’s murderer. The films starts with the story’s final scene, cuts back to the very first scene, and then goes back and forth until the story meets itself in the middle. What. A. Take. After his humble beginnings with Following, Nolan dives deep into his signature trademarks with a hard to follow film starring a hero who willingly believes questionable truths that ends without answering your questions. One of five films that Nolan co-wrote with his brother, Jonathan, the script is truly one of a kind–a stroke of sheer genius that will never be duplicated–and expertly brought to life by Guy Pearce’s central performance. It’s worth noting that the top seven films on this list all have heroes with a dead wife/girlfriend in their harrowing backstory. Maybe someone check in with Christopher & Emma to make sure they’re okay? Just a thought.

02. The Dark Knight. 2008.

Spoiler alert: there’s nothing that I can say about The Dark Knight that hasn’t already been said. The opening bank heist is sensational. The semi-truck flip in the second act is one of the best scenes of all time. Heather Ledger’s Joker is a revelation. The closing scene is truly what dreams are made of. And the movie changed both comic book movies and the Academy Awards forever. Nolan is truly at his peak. He has producer Emma Thomas, he has cinematographer Wally Pfister, he has composer Hans Zimmer, he has co-screenwriter Jonathan Nolan, and he has Michael Caine. What more could a guy possibly ask for? On literally any list that doesn’t include Inception, The Dark Knight would take the number one spot–tough luck, Batman–but that doesn’t take away any clout from the (insanely stupefying) second installment in Nolan’s trilogy. Endlessly quotable and endlessly meme-able, The Dark Knight gave us it all. “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

01. Inception. 2010.

Inception is my favorite movie of all time. It’s not perfect a film, but it is the perfect blockbuster. Delightfully dazzling yet painstakingly scripted. Incessantly sleek yet annoyingly smart. Blatantly mind-numbing yet undeniably entertaining. It shouldn’t work, but it does. And it’s beautiful. Leonardo DiCaprio drags along Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy & Ellen Page as he navigates the inner workings of Cillian Murphy’s mind while simultaneously fighting and falling in love with Marion Cotillard. And Michael Caine’s there, too. Obviously. The action is electrifying, Hans Zimmer’s score is breathtaking, the visuals are jaw-dropping, Leo & the rest of the cast are unmatched, the story is equal parts mind-blowing & heart-breaking, and Nolan shines through every last frame. This is why Christopher Nolan’s unique brand of staggering and scintillating cinema strikes audiences like no one else. This is why we go to the movies.