Christopher Nolan Movies: Ranking The Rug-Pull Moments

3. Cobb's Motive (Following)

Following is Christopher Nolan's directorial debut and can be seen as an influence in several of his subsequent projects. Leonardo DiCaprio's protagonist in Inception does not only share a name with Following's mysterious thief, Cobb, but also his profession (albeit in a somewhat different manner) and most notably, his influential and manipulative role on other characters. It also shares The Prestige's capricious editing, layering the story to become a multi-faceted narrative. Like Memento it shows repercussions without offering reasons why, leaves the audience as clueless as its protagonist and exploits black and white cinematography to create a visceral step-by-step unfolding of a story. It is also Nolan's most Hitchcockian film and, for a then-first time director, he delivers his rug-pull with a conviction and judgement the 'master of suspense' could be proud of. The twist comes as a deadly second blow, at a point where the audience is still catching their breath from the first. The protagonist (known only as the Young Man) is double crossed by his lover in a robbery orchestrated by the sycophantic Cobb. Whilst the Young Man protests his innocence to the police, Cobb then goes on to betray and murder the lover, to further incriminate the Young Man and silence the one witness to the murder committed by Cobb's employee. Different points in the film's timeline are interwoven, gently piecing together the puzzle until only the key pieces (from all the different chronological points) are left. Nolan then proceeds to rapidly slot these key pieces into the puzzle one after another, leaving the audience's and the protagonist's realizations to deftly coincide at the same point.