Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan’s best movie, according to Rotten Tomatoes

❘ Updated: 2023-07-23T16:39:42

Warner Bros.

With Oppenheimer now in cinemas, and most reviews now live, here’s how the historical biopic compares to previous Christopher Nolan movies, via their Rotten Tomatoes scores.

Telling the tale of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the creation of the atomic bomb, and the devastating fallout from that event, Christopher Nolan’s new movie has already received acclaim from pretty much every corner.

There’s already awards talk, with Cillian Murphy (J. Robert Oppenheimer) and Robert Downey Jr. (Lewis Strauss) being singled out for acting praise. While commentators are predicting Oscar nods for Nolan’s writing and his direction.

But how does Oppenheimer compare to his previous celluloid efforts? Here’s a ranking of all his movies, via the Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus.

Christopher Nolan movies ranked by Rotten Tomatoes rating

Christopher Nolan has directed 12 feature films thus far, to pretty much universal acclaim. Here’s how they measure up via the Rotten Tomatoes rating system, ranking them from best to worst:

The Dark Knight: 94%
Oppenheimer: 94%
Memento: 93%
Dunkirk: 92%
Insomnia: 92%
Inception: 87%
The Dark Knight Rises: 87%
Batman Begins: 84%
Following: 82%
The Prestige: 76%
Interstellar: 73%
Tenet: 69%

That means Oppenheimer ties for top spot with the best Batman movie. Though that could change as more reviews drop. In which case we’ll update this list.

Oppenheimer audience score

As for the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, here’s how those same films stack up:

Oppenheimer: 94%
Memento: 94%
Batman Begins: 94%
The Dark Knight: 94%
The Prestige: 92%
Inception: 91%
The Dark Knight Rises: 90%
Interstellar: 86%
Following: 85%
Dunkirk: 81%
Insomnia: 77%
Tenet: 76%

This means the audience puts Oppenheimer in pole position. For now, at least.

What we said about Oppenheimer

Dexerto awarded Oppenheimer five stars. The review can be read here, or you can check out an excerpt below:

“Oppenheimer begins with a quote about Prometheus stealing from the gods, then being punished for all eternity. Which mirrors the tale being told here. But in spite of the fact that this is less biopic, and more horror movie, Oppenheimer nevertheless finds compassion in Robert’s story. Resulting in a towering achievement that’s up there with Nolan’s very best, and a film of both great importance, and true humanity.”

Oppenheimer is in cinemas now, and you can find more coverage below: