Christopher Nolan Explains Why He Wants To Make A Horror Movie (& What He Thinks Is Key To The Genre)

Auteur director Christopher Nolan explains why he would like to make a horror movie. Working in the industry for over two decades, Nolan is the mastermind behind a number of high-concept films including Inception, Dunkirk, Interstellar, and Tenet. Last year, Nolan directed the acclaimed biopic Oppenheimer, which is up for multiple Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

Speaking at an event with the British Film Institute (via Variety), the director says why he would want to make a horror film. The director said that he would “love to make a horror film” because the genre “depend[s] on very cinematic devices.” Nolan elaborated that it is “one of the few genres where the studios make a lot of these films, and they are films that have a lot of bleakness, a lot of abstraction,” which is liberating within an otherwise-constricting Hollywood. Check out the full quote from Nolan below:

“‘Oppenheimer‘ has elements of horror in it definitely, as I think is appropriate to the subject matter. I think horror films are very interesting because they depend on very cinematic devices, it really is about a visceral response to things and so, at some point, I’d love to make a horror film. But I think a really good horror film requires a really exceptional idea. And those are few and far between. So I haven’t found a story that lends itself to that.”

“But I think it’s a very interesting genre from a cinematic point of view. It’s also one of the few genres where the studios make a lot of these films, and they are films that have a lot of bleakness, a lot of abstraction. They have a lot of the qualities that Hollywood is generally very resistant to putting in films, but that’s a genre where it’s allowable.”

Why A Christopher Nolan Horror Film Would Work So Well

As Nolan alludes to, Oppenheimer absolutely contains elements that could cross over into the horror genre. These qualities are exemplified in the press conference scene following the dropping of the bombs. As onlookers chatter and snap photos of Oppenheimer, the sound suddenly cuts, and the protagonist is left to witness a phantasmagoria of intense visions of victims and dead bodies. This scene lends itself to horror not only in the grotesque imagery but also in its visceral catapult into a character’s psyche, something a psychological horror film could take advantage of.

There is another major element of Nolan’s filmography that could be transferable to the horror genre: his obsession with time. As it stands, Nolan uses time as a sort of sci-fi device, as witnessed in films like Inception and Tenet. If Nolan were to combine his psychological horror tendencies with a subversive portrayal of time, however, it could make for a fascinating horror film. With a slightly different spin, it does not take much for Interstellar’s warped and discordant aging to turn into something like M. Night Shyamalan’s Old.

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Known for his creative use of time and its themes, Christopher Nolan’s entire filmography boasts some of cinema’s most impressive moments ever seen.

While Nolan has not announced the full details of his next film yet, his acknowledgment that he hasn’t “found a story that lends itself to” horror implies that it will not be a genre film. With Nolan’s clout and sway in Hollywood, however, he can make just about anything he wants. Hopefully, that will someday manifest in a horror film once the auteur finds the right narrative to craft in the genre.

Source: Variety