Syncopy (United Kingdom): 13

Oppenheimer (2023) is an epic biographical drama film written, directed and co-produced by Christopher Nolan. The story follows 22-year-old J. Robert Oppenheimer, a doctoral student studying experimental physics at the Cavendish Laboratory in the University of Cambridge under Patrick Blackett. Struggling with homesickness and frustration towards Blackett, Oppenheimer leaves him a poisoned apple, but ultimately decides against it. Upon the advice of visiting scientist Niels Bohr, he transfers to the University of Göttingen where he meets fellow scientist Isidor Isaac Rabi and later encounters theoretical physicist Werner ...

Tenet (2020), a science fiction action thriller film, was both written and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film was produced by Nolan himself and his wife Emma Thomas. During a staged terrorist siege at an Opera House in Kyiv, the Protagonist leads a covert CIA extraction on ‘the 14th’ date. While facing KORD forces, he is rescued by a mysterious individual wearing a red trinket. Our protagonist successfully secures an artifact but his team is captured and subjected to torture. In a moment of desperation, he ...

Dunkirk (2017) is an epic historical war thriller film written, directed and co-produced by Christopher Nolan, showcasing the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II from multiple perspectives. The small number of primarily-French soldiers guarding the perimeter where the amassed British and French soldiers await evacuation find themselves facing an advancing enemy force, shrinking their territory. Despite being outnumbered, each country takes care of their own as they await rescue on the beach. The wounded are given priority for evacuation, despite taking up more space on the ships. However, a major issue arises with only ...

Based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name, Justice League (2017) is an American film. It opens with footage taken by two kids using their camera phone, capturing Clark Kent/Superman after one of his heroic missions. In an interview, one of the kids asks Superman about his favorite thing on Earth, but before he can answer, the footage abruptly ends. Fast forward several months later in Gotham City where a robbery has just taken place. Perched on a gargoyle, Bruce Wayne/Batman confronts the perpetrator and engages him in a fight. Using fear as his ally, Batman dangles the man over the edge of a building and lures out a strange winged creature. After ...

Directed by Wally Pfister and written by Jack Paglen, Transcendence (2014) is an American science fiction thriller film that follows the story of Dr. Will Caster, a scientist researching artificial intelligence and sapience. His goal is to create a sentient computer capable of achieving what he calls ‘Transcendence’. Assisted by his wife Evelyn, who is also a scientist, he works tirelessly with his team to bring this vision to life. However, their progress is hindered by the anti-technology group R.I.F.T., who carry out targeted attacks on A.I. laboratories ...

Interstellar (2014), an epic science fiction film by Christopher Nolan, follows humanity in the near future as it faces extinction due to ecocide-induced global famine. Cooper’s family, including his children Tom and Murph, and father-in-law Donald, works on a farm like most of the surviving population. One night during a dust storm, Cooper and Murph stumble upon a strange gravitational disturbance in her bedroom. This anomaly ultimately leads them to NASA’s secret facility, long thought to be defunct. There they discover that NASA is planning a mission through a wormhole near Saturn to reach three ...

The superhero film Man of Steel (2013) is based on the DC Comics character Superman. The planet Krypton is in turmoil due to the mining of its core. In a desperate attempt to save their race, Krypton’s leading scientist, Jor-El, infuses the genetics codex into his newborn son, Kal-El – the first naturally born Kryptonian in centuries. Tragically, Jor-El is killed by General Zod during a coup. Kal-El is sent to Earth and adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Kansas, where he goes by the name Clark. As he grows up, his Kryptonian biology and exposure to Earth’s sun give him extraordinary powers that Jonathan urges him to keep secret. However, when ...

The superhero film, The Dark Knight Rises (2012), was helmed by director Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan and the story with David S. Goyer. Bane, a former member of the League of Shadows, leads an attack on a CIA plane over Uzbekistan to abduct nuclear physicist Dr. Leonid Pavel and deceives observers by making it appear that Pavel died in the crash. Meanwhile, eight years have passed since district attorney Harvey Dent’s death in Gotham City. Thanks to the Dent Act, ...

Inception (2010), a science fiction action film by Christopher Nolan, features Cobb and Arthur as skilled ‘extractors’ hired for corporate espionage. They use innovative dream-sharing technology to delve into the subconscious minds of their targets and extract valuable information. Their current task is impressing Saito, who is interested in Cobb’s ability to create multiple layers of dreams. Saito then offers Cobb a seemingly impossible job: to implant an idea into the mind of Robert Fischer, the son of his competitor Maurice Fischer, with the goal of dissolving his father’s company. In exchange ...

The superhero film, The Dark Knight (2008), was directed by Christopher Nolan and co-written with his brother Jonathan. It serves as the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and is the second installment in The Dark Knight Trilogy. In Gotham City, a group of masked criminals stages a robbery at a mafia-owned bank. Amid betrayals and killings, the mastermind behind the heist is revealed to be none other than the Joker, who escapes with the stolen money. To combat organized crime in Gotham, Batman teams up with district attorney Harvey Dent and police lieutenant ...

The Prestige (2006) is a psychological thriller directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan. This film is based on a novel by Christopher Priest that was published in 1995. Set in 1890s London, it follows two shills for a magician named Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, who are both mentored by John Cutter, an engineer responsible for designing stage magic tricks. During one performance involving a water tank, Angier’s wife Julia tragically drowns while attempting to escape. In ...

Directed by Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins (2005) is a superhero film co-written by Nolan and David S. Goyer. After an incident involving bats in his childhood, Bruce Wayne develops a fear of them. Years later, at the opera with his parents, he becomes unsettled by performers dressed as bats and asks to leave. Tragically, they are killed in front of him by Joe Chill, a mugger. Bruce is then taken in and cared for by Alfred Pennyworth, the family’s loyal butler. As an adult, when Chill is released from prison after ...

Following (1998), independent neo-noir crime thriller, was Christopher Nolan’s debut feature film. In order to keep costs low, extensive rehearsals were conducted and only one or two takes were used to conserve the expensive 16mm film stock. As the production’s budget was limited, Nolan utilized natural lighting and his own salary to cover expenses. Additionally, he was involved in various aspects of the production process such as writing, directing, photographing, editing, and producing. The plot centers around a young man in London who becomes entangled in a ...