Top 5 Christopher Nolan Movies
Thirteen films to choose from, and our top three lined up exactly, in the same order.
Hear it on episode 6 at 46:43 →
Jeff's picks
№ 1
Inception (2010)Christopher Nolan
Aggressive, bold ideas and a genuine departure from the status quo, with real heart underneath all the action.
№ 2
The Prestige (2006)Christopher Nolan
Nolan storytelling at its finest, engaging start to finish with no slow points.
№ 3
Batman Begins (2005)Christopher Nolan
A compelling rethink of Batman's origin story that took the character to a new level of depth.
№ 4
Interstellar (2014)Christopher Nolan
Extremely well made and a compelling thought piece on time, with one of Nolan's best endings.
№ 5
Oppenheimer (2023)Christopher Nolan
A compelling, emotional thought piece on the impact of nuclear weapons, even if the Florence Pugh scenes felt unnecessary and strange.
Matt's picks
№ 1
Inception (2010)Christopher Nolan
Aggressive, bold world-building across the dream levels, balanced with real heart. He's watched it around twenty times.
№ 2
The Prestige (2006)Christopher Nolan
Thought-provoking and well acted even without the superhero scale or nonstop action.
№ 3
Batman Begins (2005)Christopher Nolan
Bruce Wayne's self-imposed exile and search for his own way to fight crime spoke to him, with Liam Neeson's character as a sharp foil.
№ 4
Oppenheimer (2023)Christopher Nolan
Loved the technical detail, the Los Alamos setup, and the practical effects on the bomb shots, plus Cillian Murphy's acting.
№ 5
The Dark Knight (2008)Christopher Nolan
Spectacular performances and a strong character study of Harvey Dent, but it loses him a bit in the stretched-out final act.
Our top three lined up exactly, same films, same order: Inception at #1, The Prestige at #2, and Batman Begins at #3. We split from there. Matt put The Dark Knight at #5, where Jeff felt it ran too long; Jeff put Interstellar at #4, where Matt only gave it an honorable mention, slotting Oppenheimer into his own #4 instead. Memento and The Odyssey both got honorable-mention shoutouts without cracking either list.