Every Christopher Nolan Movie Ranked Worst To Best

12. Following (1998)

Nolan's shoestring budget debut has all the hallmarks of his later work, concerned with an obsessive writer whose passion begins to consume him. But Following stumbles down the rankings here because it's so clearly the work of an (albeit brilliant) first-time director.

Ambitious, trippy, and a bit too complicated for its own good, Following finds Nolan trying to find his feet, his eyes slightly bigger than his stomach, but his keen eye for twisty melodrama and haunting imagery striking a memorable chord.

Like many debuts, Nolan's is a poetically telling project that tells you all you need to know about him, from his sensitive ruminations on obsession and human nature and his meticulous attention to detail. It's just that at this point, he's still testing the water, and you can see its limitations poking through its strengths.

From here, Christopher Nolan would go from strength-to-strength, growing into the director Following hinted he was destined to become, and the rest is history.