How Parenthood Is At The Heart Of 'Interstellar' & Other Christopher Nolan Films

Note: The following contains major spoilers for “Interstellar,” and other Christopher Nolan films.

What sets Christopher Nolan apart from most filmmakers? Any number of things. A dedication to old-school techniques, from shooting on film to utilizing practical effects. An ability to get pretty much anything greenlit. A serious approach to fantastical subject matter, coupled with a desire to explain rather than obfuscate, and a sense of giant scope to his storytelling. But perhaps more than anything, it's that he's a director playing in the blockbuster world who has remained, whether he's making superhero movies or sci-fi mindbenders, resolutely an auteur.

There are several themes that unite Nolan's work: questions of time, morality, memory, justice. But the director's detractors (and even some of his defenders) have sometimes argued that these are principally intellectual pursuits, and that his films can come across as cold exercises, thought experiments, as a result. But this...