20 movies to watch if you like Christopher Nolan

Ah, a classic. Heat is one of those movies you can pop on anytime and not get bored. Michael Mann's action sequences were a big influence on The Dark Knight, especially the shootout on the streets of Los Angeles that went on to inspire the heist in Gotham. In scene after scene, you can see how Mann's framing set the stage for Nolan's action.

Tom Cruise plays a cop who can see crimes before they happen. Does that make him some sort of mind reader? Not exactly. What it does make him is a hero in the cannon of mind-bending blockbusters that went on to inspire Nolan. 

Want a real mind-bender? The Matrix is for you. A movie that deals with time, action and twist endings is going to be compared to Nolan, and this story of a desk worker who enters the cyberverse is certainly Nolan-esque.

If you could go back in time and change an event in your life, what would it be?  Would you buy toilet paper before the pandemic started? Or would you nut up and ask your crush to prom? Ashton Kutcher decides to experience the moments in childhood he missed out on, which causes a butterfly effect of consequences. It's not exactly Inception, but it's a good time. 

Really, any time travel movie could make our list. But if you're looking for one that packs a punch, Looper has the bravado to do just that. This story of a hitman trying to kill himself in the future is full of visceral action, even if the plot can't deliver on the same ideas as Interstellar. 

We've got action. We've got ideas. We've got a dream within a dream within a dream. We've got the perfect movie for Nolan fans, one that inspired the story of Inception. 

Listen, there's no better time to dive into the world of anime than right now. You can't watch the films of Nolan or the Wachowskis without seeing the influence. No other genre plays with time, memory, and the possibilities of cinema more than this one. Ghost in the Shell is the movie that inspired The Matrix, centering on a cyberverse run by robots.  

Christopher Nolan plays with time like silly putty, bending and stretching it to his will. Movies like Memento and Inception have inspired many directors, and Duncan Jones is one of those directors. His movie sees a man trying to find a bomb on a train, only to realize that he's part of an experiment involving time travel. Somehow, this thriller never goes off the rails, largely thanks to the central performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. 

Nolan tried to make his own version of James Bond with Tenet, which didn't really make any sense. But the director's fondness for Bond has found its way into other titles, including Memento and Insomnia. 

If it's a stoner movie you're looking for, pop on Donnie Darko. This film is so far out you can see it from a telescope, with a plane that lands in our protagonist's house and a giant bunny who saves him. It's one of Nolan's favorites, probably because it plays with reality like a kid playing with stuffed animals: the possibilities are as boundless as the imagination. 

Blade Runner is quintessential sci-fi. A headscratcher through and through, this story of a cop tracking down robots makes us question everything on screen, even our protagonist's humanity. Nolan has said that this is one of his favorites, which is not surprising given how often he works in the realm of uncertainty.

Notice how movies like Interstellar are less about the outer depths of space and more about the inner workings of a character's mind. Much of Nolan's action comes from ideas, the idea of a dream within a dream or a father time traveling to see his daughter. This is what makes Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris so special. The movie is about humanity coming in contact with an alien, but it's really about the characters coming in contact with their inner fears.

We've got the need...the need for Speed! This movie pushes the pedal to the medal and never lets up. It's a hoot to watch Keanu Reeves try to stop a bus from exploding while Sandra Bullock does her thing as a pedestrian driver. It's an action flick that plays with time, which makes it quintessentially Nolan.

Nolan and spectacle go together like peanut butter and jelly. They complement each other perfectly. He's always been a fan of sweeping epics, especially those of David Lean, who may very well be the director's greatest influence. Along with Kubrick, Lean found a way to bring human emotion to cold blockbusters, as he did with this 1950s war movie. Let's hope Nolan can bring a litte of that emotion to Oppenheimer as well. 

This indie about a dad who takes his kids to the desert is hard to explain, existing on a wavelength that can only be understood while watching it. Once it's over, you look around wondering, "what the heck did I just watch?" That's what it's like watching Memento or The Prestige, movies where time ticks at a different speed. 

While Rififi doesn't exactly look like a Nolan movie, it has many of the same qualities--a heist, a comraderie and a feeling of being suspended in time. The 20-minute heist sequence feels like two hours, with some of the most tense moments in all of cinema. 

Metropolis is known as one of the greatest science-fiction movies of all time, and while it doesn't look or sound like a Nolan picture (there isn't even sound), it's been a huge influence on the director's work. The story of a city run by slaves has been an influence on everything from Inception to Interstellar. 

David Fincher blurs the line between reality and fantasy in this thriller about a man who is gifted a game for his birthday. This isn't your average game, however. This game starts with a murder that may or may not be real, which sends Michael Douglas into a tailspin toward insanity. 

Speaking of insanity, Shutter Island takes place in what might be the scariest insane asylum out there. Leonardo DiCaprio is sent to investigate the structure but finds himself trapped on the island. It's like Memento meets Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a horror flick that places you in the mind of an increasingly unstable man.

Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece sees humanity come face-to-face with themselves. Well, that and monkeys, monoliths, black holes, and a planet made of baby parts. Get ready to have your mind blown by the best science fiction has to offer.