Ranking Christopher Nolan's Filmography: Where Does 'The Odyssey' Rank?
- Jul 21
- 4 min read
By Jack Ransom - July 21, 2026
Few filmmakers have built a body of work as consistently ambitious as Christopher Nolan. Across more than two decades, the British director has redefined blockbuster cinema, blending high-concept storytelling with emotional depth and breath-taking spectacle. From the noir-inspired mystery of Following to the Oscar-winning success of Oppenheimer, every new release has felt like a cinematic event.
With The Odyssey now joining his impressive catalogue, there's no better time to revisit Nolan's complete filmography. Ranking these films is no easy task, with each offering something unique, but here's how every Christopher Nolan feature stacks up, from the very good to the undeniable masterpieces.
13 Following (1998)
Nolan’s debut is admittedly a far cry in quality, scope and scale of his later features, but it showcases the building blocks that would lead into his earlier thriller works.
12 Interstellar (2014)
Controversial placement I know, but I just don’t have the love for this as everyone else. It’s a very solid sci-fi drama that boasts high concept ideas, staggering visuals, sound and design and strong performances. However I find myself drifting focus wise due to the slow burn pacing, procedural presentation of it all, and whenever the human drama would dissipate into fully fledged scientific essays.
11 Dunkirk (2017)
A unique, tense technical master craft that stands out in the war genre. Nolan’s stripped back narrative approach does have a few foibles, but when the action kicks into gear and the score, sound and thrills ratchet up, it is an unstoppable feature and some of his best work.
10 Insomnia (2002)
A quality crime mystery thriller and certainly an underrated instalment in Nolan’s filmography. Excellent performances, an engrossing and brooding narrative and brilliant shot and directed. I really hope Nolan returns to this genre in the future.
9 Memento (2000)
A clever, twisty, engaging and extremely well paced spin on the murder mystery formula. Guy Pearce is a captivating lead, Nolan already begins to establish the prominent recognisable stylistic elements of his craft and the story delivers unpredictability aplenty.
8 Tenet (2020)
A time and mind bending blast of fast paced, original action set pieces utilising excellent visual effects and thrilling choreography. The cast line-up all deliver great performances and do add personality to quite thinly veiled characters and the pacing can feel jumpy at times.
7 The Odyssey (2026)
What the big screen experience should be. Ambitious, thrilling, otherworldly and wholly atmospheric in its presentation of the otherworldly interactions. It takes a little while to adjust to its choppy opening act and the length is noticeable at points, however for the majority of the runtime it’s completely engrossing, exciting, mysterious and feels like a true epic.
6 The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
This was never going to be as good as its predecessor and it had a huge amount of expectation riding on it pre-release. However there is no denying the sheer epic nature and brilliant set pieces and sheer spectacle delivering filmmaking throughout and impressive performances. Though the plot is overstuffed and clunky at times, this is still a very satisfying trilogy conclusion.
5 Batman Begins (2005)
Cements itself as one of the best comic book origin films of all time and one of the best superhero films. A near perfect start to Nolan’s trilogy. Blending reality and comic book stylistic choices with excellent action set pieces and brilliant cast line-up. Still definitely holds up over 20 years later.
4 Inception (2010)
A mind bending thrill ride of consistently creative ideas and set pieces. Visually staggering at times with excellent implementation of slow motion and camera trickery. The plot is deep and engaging and driven by brilliant performances from a top ensemble cast. Nolan needs to work with Leo again!
3 Oppenheimer (2023)
A true behemoth of a feature. A thoroughly engrossing 180 minutes that takes you deep into the mindset of the titular scientist, thrills with Nolan’s expectedly masterful, calculated and thunderous technical prowess and boasting a phenomenal supporting cast that rotate around a career best performance from Cillian Murphy.
2 The Prestige (2006)
“Are you watching closely?” A hypnotic, clever and fiercely original mystery thriller which is paced perfectly and features one unexpected twist and turn after the other. The characters and performances are fantastic and the direction, set design and cinematography is stellar throughout. Often overlooked as it was released between Batman Begins & The Dark Knight.
1 The Dark Knight (2008)
A landmark in the comic book genre and a film that has its legacy fully cemented in pop culture. The direction, story pacing, escalation and unpredictability of the events throughout make for a constantly engaging thrill ride. The action and stunt work all look incredible and the performances are what many consider the definitive on screen versions of these characters and it is hard to argue with that. A modern masterpiece that still hasn’t been topped in nearly 20 years.
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