Every Christopher Nolan Movie Ranked by How Confusing They Would Be to Watch High
Christopher Nolan is known for his mind-bending epics and complex but thrilling ideas. It can be difficult to parse what's going on between his layers of plot normally, so getting stoned off your ass can only improve the experience, right?
#10 Batman Begins
This one is pretty straightforward. Batman’s origin story has been told so many times that most people have learned the cliff notes through osmosis, even if they haven't seen one of the 16 different Batman projects from the past twenty years. You could spend the first 30 minutes of this totally engrossed in the construction of a gravity bong and still hop in without skipping a beat.
#9 The Dark Knight
This one is only marginally more complicated because it is the 2nd in a trilogy, but the effect of Heath Ledger's Joker is just so pervasive. You could probably piece together a good chunk of the plot just from all the bongs and rolling trays at smoke shops covered in Joker iconography. The Wayne Enterprises plotline does get a bit confusing, though.
#8 Dunkirk
A really great war movie, this one should be pretty clear—get the British out of France before the Nazis get there, clean-cut right? No, it's not a Nolan movie without cutting between 3 different perspectives all happening in different places at different times. There's no time travel or dreams, so it's really not that bad, but remembering where everyone is at any given moment in between old-timey gunfire and bombs might make you regret that 50-milligram gummy just a tad.
#7 Inception
I know this one is gonna be controversial, but this movie is actually way less complicated than people give it credit for, and the blissful slowness of being incredibly high will probably make it easier to understand. They spell it out right in the beginning: if the top is spinning, it is a dream; if it stops, it is real—not that confusing!
#6 The Dark Knight Rises
I know this is another one that's gonna upset people, but so much of this movie makes no sense. When Gotham is under threat, who would send the entire police force underground? Why does Bane blow up a football field? What is Bane’s motivation? Is he for the people or for himself? No one has a clear motivation in this. Hitting a joint throughout will enable you to not focus on the strangeness of the plot and just enjoy Batman hitting stuff.
#5 Oppenheimer
If you have a decent understanding of World War II history, this one is actually pretty watchable—only two timelines to switch back and forth. But if you're like me and you see this in IMAX stoned, then the constant cutting to world-ending explosions, quantum particles, and general existential dread will make you forget where you are for a minute while you contemplate the nature of power. Just go to the bathroom and hit your pen, trust me.
#4 The Prestige
A period thriller about two feuding magicians in the late 1800s, structured after a collection of diary entries. Yeah, I had a hard time with this one sober. Everything is dark and dreary and English; it's hard to differentiate between Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman at times, all intentional elements of the movie. But if you have a hard time with magic tricks sober, then the bong won’t help you. Hit your vape when Nikola Tesla shows up and just try to construct an accurate timeline—I dare you.
#3 Interstellar
This is another one that's thoroughly confusing, but being the right kind of stoned will help a little. Actually, “it's just all about love, man, you know?” If you get tripped out by time shenanigans, this one will get you. There are lots of details you’ll miss until a second watch when you know the twist. It's worth all the hardship just to watch Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway work.
#2 Memento
A man who is unable to form memories tries to solve a murder. Being stoned, you’ll actually have a lot in common with the main character here, unable to form complex thoughts and piecing things together as you go. This is a movie that’s not really meant to be fully understood; you just have to sit and enjoy the ride. Did I mention everything happens in reverse order?
#1 Tenet
Speaking of reverse… Tenet is technically Nolan’s best work. Robert Pattinson and John David Washington are really in top form here, and they have to be since they are acting in reverse for about half the movie. It’s difficult to describe much of the movie without spoiling the fun twists, so I’ll just say about half the dialogue is literally incomprehensible because it's spoken backward. Good luck.