Christopher Nolan Reveals Horror Is the Last Genre He Wants to Conquer after ‘The Odyssey’

Christopher Nolan has spent the last two decades masterfully bending genres, from the noir puzzle of ‘Memento’ to the gritty war epic of ‘Dunkirk’ and the courtroom drama of ‘Oppenheimer.’ His filmography showcases a director systematically exploring every facet of cinema, consistently finding new structures to shape around his obsessions with time, memory, and morality.

This relentless curiosity has led fans to ponder which genre Nolan has yet to explore. He has tackled heist films, war films, superhero films, and now, with ‘The Odyssey,’ a grand mythological epic.

It turns out there is still one genre that has eluded him completely, and Nolan confirmed it himself. In a conversation with Fred Asquith while promoting ‘The Odyssey,’ Nolan revealed that horror is the genre still on his wish list.

“I’d love to do a horror movie,” Nolan expressed during the interview. He clarified that his absence from the genre has never stemmed from a lack of interest, but rather from not finding the right story.

He elaborated on what draws him to horror as a filmmaker, stating, “It’s all about the idea. It’s all about whether there is a story that really compels you,” emphasizing the search for a premise strong enough to justify venturing into the genre.

Nolan also noted that horror elements have subtly woven through his work over the years without taking center stage. He specifically mentioned ‘Oppenheimer’ as the closest he has come to horror, describing its subject matter as requiring the audience to engage with genuinely unsettling material for an extended period.

“There’s a sense in which ‘Oppenheimer’ is a horror movie,” he remarked, highlighting how the film compelled viewers to confront “very dark material for that long.”

For Nolan, horror transcends jump scares; it’s about creating a specific relationship with the audience. He explained that the genre aims to immerse viewers in a character’s experience rather than allowing them to observe from afar.

“It’s one where you’re really trying to give the audience a feeling of what the characters are experiencing,” he said, linking this concept back to the immersive filmmaking that has defined his career.

The timing of these comments is significant as Nolan is currently at a pivotal point in his career. ‘The Odyssey’ premiered in London on July 6, and early reactions describe it as his most emotionally intimate large-scale production to date, featuring monsters, gods, and a decade-long journey home for Matt Damon’s Odysseus.

Universal Pictures will release ‘The Odyssey’ in theaters across the United States and the United Kingdom on July 17, placing it in direct competition with a packed summer slate. This means Nolan’s next project, whether horror or otherwise, is likely still a ways off, but this is the clearest indication of where his thoughts drift when the cameras stop rolling.

It’s also important to note that Nolan has previously ventured into horror-adjacent territory, even if he has never produced a straightforward horror film. The psychological tension in ‘Memento,’ the sleep-deprived paranoia of ‘Insomnia,’ and the suffocating tension created by Hans Zimmer’s score in ‘Dunkirk’ demonstrate that the director is unafraid to use discomfort as a storytelling device.

What remains uncertain is what kind of premise could finally motivate him to officially dive into horror. Nolan has built a reputation for demanding original and structurally ambitious ideas, and horror is a genre that thrives or falters based on its central hook.

For now, fans will need to read between the lines of interviews like this one and enjoy any glimpses of horror sensibility that may appear in ‘The Odyssey’ when it finally hits theaters.

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