Few modern directors have had the sustained critical success that Christopher Nolan has found over the last three decades. Sure, there have been weaker moments -- the entirety of "The Dark Knight Rises," some would argue, or any time he's tried to write a woman outside of "Interstellar" -- but it's also impossible to argue with the sheer number of hits. "Inception," "Memento," "Oppenheimer," "The Prestige," "The Dark Knight," "Dunkirk," the list goes on and on.
Though "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Tenet"
are probably the most polarizing of Nolan's movies, neither holds his lowest audience score on IMDb. That "honor" belongs to one of his earliest films: 2002's "Insomnia." A remake of the 1997 Norwegian movie of the same name, "Insomnia" is a psychological crime thriller starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank. Yet, despite that strong core cast, it is the worst-rated movie in Nolan's filmography on IMDb, with a 7.2 user score average.
For most directors, that would be a pretty decent number. And in truth, the title of "worst-rated" obfuscates the greatness of one of Nolan's least-regarded projects. "Insomnia" may not be as tight as "Memento" or as grand as the director's later films, but it's a tense, well-shot, wonderfully acted thriller that's absolutely worth revisiting more than 20 years later -- especially if you consider yourself a fan of Nolan's modern work.
Read more: 15 Best Movies Without An Oscar
What Is Christopher Nolan's Insomnia About?
In "Insomnia," Pacino plays Will Dormer, an LAPD detective who, with his partner, is sent to assist on a murder investigation in the Alaskan town of Nightmute. Due to the town's geographical location, it exists in perpetual daylight during Dormer's stay, which makes it difficult for him to sleep. While pursuing a suspect in the case through a foggy forest, Dormer accidentally shoots and kills his partner, who had recently informed him of his plans to testify against Dormer in an ongoing internal affairs investigation.
This complicated scenario leads Dormer to frame the original murder suspect for the killing of his partner. From there, his sleep gets worse, and the story grows increasingly delirious. Williams stands out, as he often does, as crime author Walter Finch, who becomes implicated over the course of the investigation.
If you enjoy murder shows like "Broadchurch" or "The Killing," you're a fan of Nolan's thrillers in general, or you just like watching great actors chew the scenery, "Insomnia" is well worth the watch. While not the most unique or thematically complex film Nolan's ever made, it's a fun, tight ride with a couple of standout moments. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film actually holds a much more impressive aggregate critical score of 92% -- higher than those for "Tenet," "The Dark Knight Rises," "The Prestige," "Inception," and even "Interstellar." The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw even gave the film a perfect 5/5 in 2002, calling it "a magnificent blanc-noir thriller." So, by that metric, this is actually one of Nolan's more successful films.
Why Is Insomnia Not As Famous As Nolan's Other Movies?
"Insomnia" exists in an odd place in Nolan's filmography. It never made the mark that "Memento" did before it, but it's similarly overshadowed by his next film, "Batman Begins," which started to turn the director into a superstar. Even 1998's "Following," his first feature, has maintained some relevance in recent years because it's Nolan's first full film.
A lot of the complex narrative trickery, the aesthetics, and the character obfuscations of "Insomnia" are developed more fully in later films like "The Prestige" or "Inception." And since the director has become somewhat synonymous with IMAX and the spectacle of modern blockbuster filmmaking, there isn't as much interest in a movie from him that keeps things so quiet and close to the ground.
All that said, if "Insomnia" is your worst-rated film on IMDb, you're doing all right. These days, it's probably most noteworthy for the pairing of Pacino and Williams -- two all-stars in different sectors of cinema who do great, unsettling work together here in Nolan's third feature-length outing. Nolan himself even called "Insomnia" his most underrated film while speaking with author Tom Shone for his 2020 book "The Nolan Variations."
"Of all the films I've made, it sits the most squarely or comfortably within the genre that I was trying to make it in," Nolan said. "It doesn't really challenge the genre, and that's what people have come to expect from the other films I've made. But I think the film holds up very well. That's not really for me to say, but every now and again I meet a filmmaker and that's actually the film that they're interested in or what to talk about." He also noted it's a project that will always be near and dear to his heart, adding that he's "very proud of the film."
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