In a career spanning 25 years, Chris Nolan has made 12 films that range from historical dramas (Dunkirk, Oppenhemer), to sci-fi thrillers (Interstellar, Tenet) to mysteries (The Prestige, Memento) to his Batman trilogy.

Nolan has risen to become one of the world’s finest and most commercial filmmakers.

Here are all of Nolan’s films, from the weakest to the strongest.

It says a lot about Nolan that the “worst” film he directed is still rather good and worth watching. Insomnia is a remake of the Norwegian title and is perhaps notable that it’s the only movie Nolan directed that he didn’t also write or co-write. Here a Los Angeles detective (Al Pacino) teams with a small town detective (Hilary Swank) to solve a murder in remote Alaska. It’s a nice, moody detective drama, but it lacks Nolan’s usual ambitious scope.

10. Tenet (2020)

John David Washington is compelling as secret agent trying to prevent World War III in a war between the present and future. Tenet feels like a collection of Nolan’s most frustrating habits — from an oppressive soundscape that eclipses dialogue, to stylish-yet-flat characters, to a narrative that’s twisty to the point of losing its own logic–and the audience.

9. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Tom Hardy is marvelous as the menacing terrorist Bane and there are strong sequences in the climax to Nolan’s Batman trilogy (the plane hijacking opener, Bruce’s trial in The Pit).

The film deserves credit for thinking big — criminals taking over Gotham City is a storyline that really goes for it (so long as you don’t think too much about the believability of a police force being conveniently trapped in a sewer for month.

8. The Prestige (2006)

The Prestige is marvelous mystery based on Christopher Priest’s novel about dueling turn-of-the-century obsessive magicians with terrific performances by a dogmatic Bale, a searing Hugh Jackman (“You don’t know?!“), and an all-too-wise Caine. The Nolan brothers script uses voiceover and narrative in such a confident and propulsive way, and there’s an ending twist you’ll never see coming.

7. Interstellar (2014)

Nolan is often described as a cold, or detached filmmaker. But there’s nothing aloof about Matthew McConaughey’s powerful performance as an astronaut who leaves behind his daughter in quest to save humanity by finding a new world to replace a dying Earth.

The combo of the 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired feature wand its emotional core make this one of Nolan’s most popular films; currently, his most successful non-superhero title at the box office).

6. Inception (2010)

From here on, Nolan is hitting home runs. Inception has Nolan putting together so many of his signature talents into one original blockbuster as it follows Leonardo DiCaprio as a man who implants false memories for his corporate clients. It’s visually spectacular, exceedingly clever and has the filmmaker’s coolest ending shot. While Hans Zimmer’s score became a meme for that iconic bwaaaahm, it’s also one of the composer’s greatest efforts.

5. Memento (2000)

The one that got everybody’s attention: Nolan’s sophomore effort (co-written with his brother Jonathan) is a twisty noir thriller starring Guy Pearce as a man unable to make new memories trying to solve his wife’s murder. It’s a compelling puzzle that showed a filmmaker who can blend an accessible genre movie with a challenging narrative and pull it off, all leading to an ending that’s, well, unforgettable.

4. Dunkirk (2017)

Dunkirk is masterfully well made from its very first shot, which smash cuts into falling leaflets on a street amid a ticking clock as World War II British soldiers attempt to flee the Germans as they invade France. Nolan’s skill in staging action is on display in one gripping sequence after another. Yet several of the heroes feel unknowable and interchangeable, which keeps the audience at an emotional distance even as Nolan employs every sweeping cinematic technique to pull us close.

3. Batman Begins (2005)

The first hour of Batman Begins is a fantastic launch of a grown-up Dark Knight trilogy but also a re-imagining of what superhero movies can be, if they’re treated like larger-than-life crime dramas with practical effects instead of quip-filled save-the-world CGI-fueled dramedies.

Christian Bale proved that he’s a fine successor to the cowl and there’s never been a better Alfred than Michael Caine.

2. Oppenheimer (2023)

Nolan creates a dramatic masterpiece that has something that his other, more pulpy films largely lack: Modern-day real-world importance. Based on the biography American Prometheus, Nolan successfully tells the story of a major historical figure, champions science and movingly reminds the world of the dangers of weapons of mass destruction. The score by Ludwig Göransson might be the best yet for a Nolan film. And Nolan’s hellish post-Trinity test pep rally scene is perhaps the most cleverly directed and emotionally powerful scene of his career.

1. The Dark Knight (2008)

It’ may be the best superhero movie ever made with Heath Ledger delivering a legendary (and posthumous Oscar-winning) performance as The Joker that looms over every frame,  appearing in 33 minutes of the 152-minute film.

The script (by the Nolan brothers, and David S. Goyer) is sharp, with many iconic lines (“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain” … “It’s all part of the plan…”). Every supporting cast member shines, Zimmer’s score is ominously tense, and the action sequences are grounded and effective.