Christopher Nolan is one of the world’s best directors, whether working today or not. He has been ridiculously successful in virtually every single thing he’s done. Ultimately, though, even Nolan has areas of expertise he doesn’t often venture out of. He has plenty of them, and that means he doesn’t need to try new things.
His latest offering, The Odyssey, is an action epic, somewhat similar to his The Dark Knight Trilogy. Drama, action, thriller, and science fiction are Nolan’s bread and butter (which is impressive, given that most directors don’t excel in multiple genres like that). Horror is not.
He’s never made a horror movie, and by all accounts, it hasn’t been something he’s simply tried and failed. He just hasn’t done it yet. However, a surprising recent horror movie (and some gripping The Odyssey scenes) could finally get that mythic, fabled Nolan horror outing.
Obsession Has Christopher Nolan Considering a Venture Into Horror
At first glance, it seems like Christopher Nolan is best known for thrillers like Memento and sci-fi movies like Interstellar. But digging deeper, it’s clear that whatever genre the writer/director decides to put his effort into yields a successful movie. Action, drama, thriller, sci-fi, etc. So far, he’s batting 1.000.
He hasn’t stepped up to the plate for horror yet, though fans have been clamoring for that. After seeing The Odyssey, a few scenes in particular give the sense that if Nolan wanted to do a horror movie, he would absolutely thrive. He’s got the skills; Nolan just hasn’t had the story to tell yet.
That could change thanks to a recent hit. Horror has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance lately. Sinners was an Oscar darling, the sort of high-brow horror movie that proved that the scary movie genre was capable of producing really high art. Weapons and The Substance have recently earned Oscar nominations that have helped improve the perception of horror.
Sinners seems like the type of movie to inspire Christopher Nolan to sink his toes into the sand of horror, but in fact, it was this year’s indie smash hit Obsession that did the trick. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Nolan revealed that it was Curry Barker’s movie that had him really considering a foray into the genre.
Of course, the scary scenes in The Odyssey got the ball rolling. “It very much whets my appetite for more. But I’ve always believed that horror as a genre has to be approached very carefully from a conceptual point of view. In other words, you have to have an amazing idea. When you go see a film like Obsession, that’s an amazing idea. That movie works like a m**********r. It’s not about the technical side. It’s not about what technical itches I would have to scratch. It’s about story,” he said.
Nolan has also said it will be at least three years before his next movie, so don’t expect anything soon. And it’s hard to predict what it will be. The world seems to be clamoring for a horror movie from the acclaimed director, but as he said, it’s all about whether or not he has a story to tell within that genre.
It’s clear he wants to make a horror movie. But will a story come to him that fits? He’s obviously not going to do something just for the sake of doing it. Christopher Nolan would like to do one, and the world would love that, but forcing art isn’t his style, nor would it produce a good film. Whatever he does next will be the right thing, even if it’s not the horror movie everyone would love to see.
