Tenet near the bottom in new Nolan rankings with Odyssey
Hollywood Reporter ranks all 13 Christopher Nolan films after The Odyssey’s 2026 release, placing Tenet near the bottom at No. 12—just above Insomnia—while the Homer epic debuts at No. 2 behind The Dark Knight, a reassessment that matters for anyone tracking Nolan’s most debated titles.
Key Takeaways
- THR places Tenet 12th of 13 Nolan features, citing confusing time-travel plotting and muffled dialogue.
- The Odyssey lands at No. 2; The Dark Knight remains No. 1.
- The Washington Post’s Gene Park frames all 13 titles as reshaping modern blockbuster ambition.
- Esquire notes Nolan’s film sticks closely to Homer, with Matt Damon as Odysseus and Anne Hathaway as Penelope.
Where does Tenet rank among Nolan’s movies?
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s worst-to-best list, Tenet sits at No. 12—ahead only of 2002’s Insomnia.
THR calls the 2020 thriller a showcase of Nolan’s most frustrating habits: an oppressive sound mix, stylish but flat characters, and a narrative twisted “to the point of contortion,” while still crediting its cool look and original spin on time travel.
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Why does The Odyssey change the full Nolan ranking?
THR says the release of The Odyssey is the reason to reassess every Nolan title. The writer-director’s Homer adaptation ranks No. 2, praised for star-stuffed casting, practical production scale, and set pieces that test Matt Damon’s Odysseus while Anne Hathaway’s Penelope holds Ithaca against suitors.
When those storylines collide, THR argues Nolan drops cerebral gamesmanship for “good old-fashion bloodlust.” The Dark Knight (2008) stays No. 1—still called the best superhero movie ever made, powered by Heath Ledger’s Joker.
The Washington Post’s July 17 ranking review by Gene Park likewise treats all 13 films as a career that turned Nolan’s name into a franchise of its own and pushed blockbuster ambition beyond franchise IP.
How do the rest of Nolan’s films stack up?
Between Tenet and the top tier, THR slots Following (11), The Dark Knight Rises (10), Memento (9), Dunkirk (8), Batman Begins (7), then home runs from Inception (6) through Interstellar (5), The Prestige (4), and Oscar-era Oppenheimer (3).
Esquire adds context that Nolan’s Odyssey hews closely to Homer’s 2,800-year-old tale—unlike looser screen “odysseys”—and flags Robert Pattinson’s Antinous as a menacing suitor opposite Hathaway’s Penelope.
Bottom line for buzz watchers: Tenet remains near the floor of THR’s list, while The Odyssey enters near the peak—proof Nolan’s catalog is being reordered in real time around the new epic.