With a staggering 78% (7 out of 9) of his films in IMDbs Top 250, it is hard to dispute that Christopher Nolan is one of the most influential directors of the 21st century. Only Alfred Hitchcock (9 out of 52) and Stanley Kubrick (8 out of 13) have a higher total of entries on the list, but with no sign that Nolan is slowing down his career, he looks set to surpass his fellows and firmly establish himself as one of Hollywoods defining auteurs. One of the directors key strengths is how he weaves complex narratives with blockbuster set pieces and mainstream Hollywood appeal, marking his work popular with critics and audience alike. Of particular note is his penchant for dramatic twists or rug-pulls in the final act of his films. Whilst some directors can get bogged down in the complexity and pseudo-intelligence of their own story (M. Night Shyamalan being the cliched and yet entirely indisputable example of this), Nolan appears (for the majority) to have confidence in both his story and his audience to deliver a twist only when it can be absolutely justified within the context of the film as a whole. As such, this article will explore each of Nolans films and their respective rug-pulls, how they effect the tone of the movie and whether or not they have a justifiable place to be there. It should be noted that the ranking is not based on the film as a whole but on the effectiveness of these plot twists. Naturally, this article will contain detailed recounts of all of Nolan's twists (including recent release Interstellar), however spoilers will not be made in the individual headings of each page, giving you the opportunity to skip over any films you haven't seen without fear of reading something you might not want to.
