Christopher Nolan is known for developing complex storylines, jaw-dropping plot twists, and nail-biting narratives. There is no denying that Nolan comes across as a magician while his movies play on screen.
Nolan has laid his hands on a range of genres – be it superheroes, heists, sci-fi, and war – and he is phenomenal in each one of them. Here are the 10 best plot twists from all of Nolan's movies.
Insomnia – Dormer Kills Eckhart
Two LA detectives, Will Dormer and Hap Eckhart, played by Al Pacino and Martin Donovan respectively, travel to an Alaskan small town to investigate the brutal murder of a 17-year old. In a parallel plot, Dormer’s ethical choices in his past cases are being questioned by Internal Affairs and aided by Eckhart himself.
While trying to catch the killer, Dormer accidentally shoots Eckhart. He is paranoid that it will look intentional and, at that moment, the killer comes out of the shadow and becomes the only witness to Dormer’s action.
Following – Bald Man Works With Cobb To Set Bill Up For Blonde's Murder
A young man, Bill has an obsession with following people. He accompanies a burglar Cobb and gets himself involved with a bald man and in the murder of the Blonde.
Bill kills a man and turns himself into the police. It is then revealed that Cobb was working with the Bald Man and planted evidence throughout the film to set Bill up for Blonde’s murder which was actually done by Cobb.
Batman Begins – Ra's al Ghul Wants To Destroy Gotham
Batman begins is Batman’s origin story in which Bruce Wayne’s old trainer, Henri Ducard introduces him to Ra's al-Ghul, the leader of the League of Shadows.
In the final act, it is revealed that Ducard himself is the real Ra's al-Ghul and his actual intention is to destroy Gotham City.
The Dark Knight Rises – Tate Was Ra's al Ghul's Daughter
Batman returns to action after eight years due to the arrival of a powerful mercenary named Bane. Eventually, Bane takes control of Gotham city.
When Batman was beating Bane to force him to spill out the location of the nuclear detonator, Miranda Tate (Batman’s main love interest) stabs Batman in the abdomen. After this twist, Tate reveals she is the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul and that Bane is merely a puppet she is using to destroy Gotham City.
Inception – Was Cobb Reunited With His Family?
In Inception, characters use totems to distinguish dreams from reality, with Cobb’s totem being a spinning top. If the top collapses, this means he is in reality; if it keeps spinning, he is in a dream.
In the end, Inception shows Cobb reuniting with his family. He spins the top and rushes to meet his children instead of waiting to see the result of the spinning top. The audience sees that the top spins, and wobbles a little, but the film ends before it falls.
Interstellar – Cooper Is Murph's Ghost
At the beginning of Interstellar, Cooper's young daughter, Murph, complains about a ghost in her room. Cooper then goes to space on a mission to find a habitable place for humanity.
It's later discovered that the ghost was Cooper himself who was reaching out to Murph through dimensional boundaries. He used gravity to convey the data in Morse code that can save humanity from being destroyed.
The Prestige – Borden's Journal Was Fraud
In The Prestige, two rival magicians trying to outdo each other. Hugh Jackman's Angier desperately wants to perform Borden’s, played by Christian Bale, disappearing/reappearing act.
Angier steals Borden's journal and finds out that Tesla is the key to the transportation trick. Angier goes to America just as Tesla unintentionally invents a cloning machine; in truth, Borden’s plan was simply to waste Angier’s time and money by sending him to America. Angier uses that machine to perform the transportation trick in which he kills himself every time he performs the trick in order to maintain the illusion
Dark Knight – Harvey Becomes Two-Face Evil
Batman meets Harvey Dent, a District Attorney, and takes a liking to him as he believes he is the inspiration that Gotham City needs.
Throughout the movie, Joker forces Batman, Gordon, and Dent to make difficult ethical choices. Ultimately, Joker ends up breaking Dent and turning him into Two-Face. Dent falls into Joker’s trap, makes wrong choices, and dies in the end. While anyone familiar with DC's comics knows that Harvey Dent is Two-Face, it is still a shocking plot development within the context of the movie.
The Prestige – Borden Had An Identical Twin
In the final act of The Prestige, it is revealed that Borden’s disappearing/reappearing act was possible because he had a secret identical twin brother. However, Borden also ends up a loser since the trick destroys his personal life.
Borden loved his wife but his twin didn’t, which led to her hanging herself. Borden ends up shooting Angier and, in the process, leaves nothing for himself as well.
Memento – Leonard Is The Killer
The protagonist Leonard is trying to find the man who raped and killed his wife. However, Leonard suffers from a rare form of memory loss in which he can recall his life before his accident, but cannot anything beyond the last fifteen minutes.
Memento's plot twist sees Leonard learning that he is Sammy Jankis, the person who accidentally killed his wife. Teddy, who was helping Leonard to find the killer, was manipulating him to get away from his own crimes.
