Two decades of critical and box office success along with the impending Oscar wins for Oppenheimer has cemented Christopher Nolan’s status as an all-time great director – alongside the likes ofSpielbergand Scorsese. But did you know he’s been quietly building his own movie universe? It’s no MCU-level saga, but apparently many of his films are connected.
I was watching a recent interview he gave with comedian Stephen Colbert and noticed an interesting response he gave to a question about a connection between Oppenheimer and Tenet. (There’s a reference in Tenet, where the possibility that a nuclear ignition could destroy the entire world.) When asked if that moment is related to him making Oppenhiemer, Nolan said, “I attempt to leave each film with interesting questions, that maybe in some unrelated form or possibly related form, to pick up in the next film.”
You can see the clip here:
That got me thinking, as a Nolan fan, is there a way to watch his movies in chronological order, where the films are connected in one universe? A Nolanverse, if you will.
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How to watch Christopher Nolan movies in chronological order
Outside of Oppenheimer and Dunkirk, which are historically accurate epics, there aren’t many obvious connections between Nolan’s films. Still, that hasn’t stopped the internet from speculating and finding connections between Nolan’s films. After doing some research, I found two fan theories online that suggest Nolan’s films exist in the same universe.
The first theory:If you’ve seen Memento, you’ll be familiar with the film’s protagonist, Leonard Shelby, who suffers from amnesia that makes his memory reset every few minutes. This theory states that all of Nolan’s films are a result of Shelby’s hallucinations… as he completely loses his mind. This theory puts films like Dunkirk first, and the time-bending films like Interstellar, Inception, and Tenet at the end, with the idea that, as his mind deteriorates, his fantasies get more detached from reality.
The second theory: This theory suggests a fascinating, albeit speculative, link across Christopher Nolan’s films. It argues that Nolan’s movies collectively tell a story of scientists and inventors battling to prevent Earth’s destruction and the unraveling of time. This connection is evident in films like The Prestige, Oppenheimer, Inception, Tenet, and Interstellar, where the main characters grapple with the fallout of their revolutionary inventions. Not every Nolan film fits neatly into this theory, but the recurring themes of groundbreaking science and time manipulation hint at a larger narrative. Even Nolan’s less directly connected films lay the groundwork for a story about the impact of scientific progress on humanity’s future and the nature of reality itself. Essentially, this theory frames Nolan’s work as a nuanced exploration of how scientific breakthroughs can both save and threaten the world.
To watch Christopher Nolan movies in chronological order, we suggest following the second theory. We’re including the Batman trilogy as optional – just because those films personally feel more to me like they’re part of the Batman universe than the Nolan-universe.
1The Prestige
Rival magicians square off in the 1890s
The Prestige (2006)
Two magicians go to great lengths to outdo each other, eventually destroying themselves.
The Prestige follows two English magicians in the 1890s, named Robert Angier (played by Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (played by Christian Bale). After Angier’s wife dies during one of Borden’s illusions, Angier becomes obsessed with revealing all the secrets behind Borden’s performances and tricks. This leads Angier to enlist real-life inventor Nikola Tesla (played by David Bowie), to help him copy Borden’s most impressive trick, The Transporting Man.
The inclusion of Nikola Tesla, and some impossible science fiction in the form of transporting/cloning machines, show some of the early impacts of science on the world Nolan has created.
The English Army’s most desperate hour
Dunkirk (2017)
An Academy Award-winning retelling of the English Army’s rescue from Dunkirk, where they were trapped by the Nazis early in World War II.
Reeling from its first fight with the Nazi war machine, the 338,000 men in the English Army find themselves trapped on the beaches of northern France and Belgium. Dunkirk tells the story of how the soldiers staved off the Nazi army, while English Airmen protected them until a flotilla of citizen sailors crossed the English Channel in order to pull off a daring rescue attempt.
3Oppenheimer
The Atomic age begins
Oppenheimer (2023)
This biopic follows the inventor of the atomic bomb as he races against the Nazis to complete the device without thinking through its implications.
Oppenheimer is Nolan’s most recent film. It was a huge hit, taking in $950 million at the box office and racking up 13 Oscar nominations. The film follows Robert Oppenheimer’s life creating the atomic bomb, from leading the Manhattan Project to being investigated for his ties to socialist activities. The film is based on the bookAmerican Prometheusby Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
Oppenheimer is cited later on in Tenet – as the unnamed scientist of a formula that controls the flow of time through objects is called the Oppenheimer of her time, because her creation has the power to destroy all life. Nolan said he was inspired to write Oppenheimer after actor Robert Pattinson gave him a book about Oppenheimer’s speeches during the filming of Tenet.
4Following
Nolan’s first film
Following (1998)
A struggling writer who enjoys following strangers finds his way into London’s criminal underworld
Following is Nolan’s first film. It shows a struggling young writer, played by Jeremy Theobald, who enjoys watching strangers and following them around. When one of his stalking sessions leads him to meet a career criminal, played by Alex Haw, and the young writer begins a slow descent into crime. Following was produced on a shoestring budget, which shows on a re-watch, but it’s also a fantastic movie that lays the groundwork for how Nolan will use time throughout his films.
An amnesiac out for revenge
Memento (2000)
A man with short-term memory loss attempts to avenge his wife’s murder.
Guy Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, a man who’s developed severe amnesia that doesn’t allow him to form new memories after him and his wife were attacked by home-invaders. Leonard managed to kill one of the attackers, but his wife died in the process, so he’s looking to find the other killer and avenge her. The only problem is Leonard’s form of amnesia won’t allow him to form new memories, so he is forced to constantly leave himself clues, in the form of tattoos and Polaroid photos pointing him in the right direction.
6Optional: Batman Begins
Batman’s origin, Nolan style
Christian Bale stars as Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, in the first film of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. It’s an origin story that sees Wayne leave Gotham City and spend seven years traveling the world before ending up training in an organization known as the League of Shadows, which is led by Henri Duccard (Liam Neeson). Afterward, Wayne returns to Gotham, dawns his cape and cowl, and takes on a plot to poison Gotham’s water supply.
7Optional: The Dark Knight
Why so serious?
The Dark Knight (2008)
Batman’s arrival in Gotham prompts the emergence of the Joker, who quickly seizes control of the city’s organized crime underworld.
Christian Bale returns as Batman in one of the greatest sequels of all time. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including best supporting actor for Heath Ledger’s iconic turn as the Joker. The film sees organized crime bosses of Gotham desperate for an answer to their Batman problem, and in that desperation, they turn to the Joker. Meanwhile, Gotham has a new district attorney in Harvey Dent, who could finally end Gotham’s need for Batman.
8Optional: The Dark Knight Rises
Batman takes on Bane
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Batman returns from a self-enforced exile to take on a new villain terrorizing Gotham, Bane.
After living in exile for eight years, Bruce Wayne is forced to return as Batman when Bane, a former member of the League of Shadows, begins a reign of terror over Gotham. Unfortunately, Batman isn’t as spry as he’s used to be, thanks to the years of crime fighting. Thomas Lennon, who also appeared as a doctor in Memento, fills in all the details about the damage done to Batman’s body, but it’s going to be an uphill battle for him to be able to defeat Bane.
Al Pacino tracks down a killer Robin Williams
Insomnia (2002)
An LA detective, played by Al Pacino, is sent to a small town in Alaska to find a killer.
Al Pacino plays Will Dormer, a successful LA detective dispatched to Alaska to help find the killer of a 17-year-old girl with his partner. Once they arrive, his partner, played by Martin Donovan, reveals that he plans to testify against Dormer for fabricating evidence. This leads to Dormer navigating a career-threatening investigation while tracking down a dangerous killer, who happens to be played by Robin Williams. It’s worth noting Insomnia is Nolan’s only film he didn’t have a hand in writing himself.
10Inception
Walking in dreams
Inception (2010)
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a thief who steals from peoples' dreams. He’s offered a chance to wipe away his criminal past for a price.
Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb, a man who enters people’s dreams and convinces them to reveal valuable secrets. He’s approached with a deal to “incept” an idea into a man’s dream that would cause him to destroy his father’s corporation. In return, Dom will get his entire criminal history erased, which would allow him to return to the US and his young children, but in order to accomplish this task, Dom will have to deal with the memory of his haunted wife who haunts his dreams.
The Nolanverse really picks up with this film, as fans have theorized that Dom’s two young children, Phillipa and James, go onto become members of the organization known as Tenet in the next film. The character have different names, now going by Neil and Barbara, but that’s explained away by the mysterious nature of Tenet. The age difference between them fits for the characte’s to be a match, and fans find it suspicious that the casting call for the character of Neil called for the same hair color as James in Inception.
There’s also another connection between this film and Tenet. Dom and his team are in hiding because of a failed job they pulled involving a company known as Cobol Engineering. In Tenet, the Protagonist is also involved with a company called Cobol.
