Christopher Nolan Regrets Everyone Slept on His Most Underrated Movie
Released years prior to The Dark Knight, the Al Pacino-led thriller remains Nolan’s favorite even now — here’s why.
Hailed as one of the greatest filmmakers of modern times, Christopher Nolan might also be one of few to boast of only highly acclaimed movies in his entire career.
The director’s 1998 debut Following was met with raving reviews and immense success in the box office which Nolan himself never even expected to happen.
It’s easy to see why all the other movies that, well, followed Following went on to even bigger heights, recently culminating with Nolan’s Best Director win for Oppenheimer at the 2024 Oscars ceremony.
His films’ past success, however, doesn’t always say much to Nolan when it comes to his frequently forgotten works — and seeing one of those being ignored hurts the director’s feelings more than twenty years later.
Christopher Nolan Thinks His ‘Insomnia’ Deserves More Credit
The psychological thriller starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams became Nolan’s third feature movie, following the immense success of 2000’s Memento.
Even though the former did play quite well with both critics and viewers, it might be that Nolan’s next movies and their popularity eventually forced Insomnia into hiding, making it one of the director’s earliest and most unnoticed works.
During an interview with Tom Shone for his book “The Nolan Variations”, Nolan revealed that he’s still very proud of Insomnia, even though it remains one of his most underrated movies.
“The reality is it’s one of my most personal films in terms of what it was to make it. It was a very vivid time in my life. It was my first studio film, I was on location, it was the first time I’d worked with huge movie stars”, the director said, also adding that it’s usually Insomnia that beginners in the industry want to talk to him about.
Tom Holland Praises Christopher Nolan as “True Master of His Craft”
Now that the director doesn’t have much time for thinking about Insomnia as he’s preparing The Odyssey for an epic release, the movie’s actor Tom Holland recently gushed over his working experience with Nolan, saying that he now gets why both Nolan and his producer/life partner Emma Thomas are “best in the business for sure”.
“To get a front row seat to that and to be a part of the process and to collaborate with a true master of his craft and learn from him was the best experience I’ve ever had”, Holland revealed in an interview with GQ Sports.
When Will ‘The Odyssey’ Be Released?
The movie will arrive in theatres worldwide on July 17, 2026.
