Christopher Nolan's Interstellar releasing all the way back in 2014, the film has maintained tons of cultural relevancy, with the themes and story still being discussed to this day. Interstellar's 10-year anniversary has led to an even greater resurgence in discussion surrounding the film, causing me to give the film a watch in celebration of this milestone, and it made me realize 10 things about Nolan's sci-fi blockbuster.

2014's Interstellar isn't the first sci-fi movie that Christopher Nolan has released, but it is the most scientific of the sci-fi movies that he has released. The film attempts to mix a personal story about an astronaut on a dying future Earth with real-world scientific concepts, with all kinds of real-world scientists immediately discussing the film after its release. Interstellar has been a controversial movie since its release, with it being one of the more divisive in Nolan's filmography. However, many are starting to come around on it, including myself after seeing it again in 2024.

10 It Is Incredible How Scientifically Accurate Interstellar Proved To Be

The Science Has Held Up For A Decade

Although some general audiences may not have cared about this, I am shocked at how scientifically accurate Christopher Nolan's movie turned out to be. In the immediate aftermath of Interstellar's release, many real-world scientists took to the internet to discuss the scientific theories that the film discussed, with physicists, astrophysicists, agriculturalists, and space travel experts discussing the film. The scientific accuracy of Interstellar's hypothetical wormholes and black holes was praised across the board, with many saying that if these things could be seen, they would look like their Interstellar versions.

Since Interstellar was released, the first images of a black hole have been captured, and it looks almost exactly like the black hole in Interstellar. On top of that, further studies on things like time dilation and other scientific concepts have proven that Interstellar is still in line with real-world science, proving how impressive the film's accuracy remains a decade later.

9 Reading About The Concepts Interstellar Tackles Makes The Movie So Much Better

It Allowed Me To Focus On The Story Rather Than The Science

Interstellar can be a bit hard to follow at points, as the film constantly throws new high-concept scientific ideas at you throughout. Luckily, in the 10 years since the film was released, I have had the chance to read up on some of these ideas, and this has made the movie a lot more enjoyable. I am no longer completely lost when the characters are discussing some of the ideas that are integral to the film's plot, and while I am obviously no expert, just knowing the basics makes things so much better.

For example, Interstellar's tesseract scene makes so much more sense upon reading about what that moment is attempting to represent. While Interstellar does want the audience to be as confused as Cooper, knowing what the film's science is doing makes it a lot easier to engage with the story and emotional beats of Interstellar's ending.

8 Interstellar Solidified Nolan's "Confusing Movies" Reputation

Since It Followed Inception

In recent years, Christopher Nolan has gotten a reputation for making confusing movies, and in retrospect, I think this is Interstellar's fault. Nolan's Memento did have a non-chronological timeline, but it wasn't confusing, and all of his other movies were fairly straightforward until Inception in 2010. Interstellar was Nolan's first non-Batman movie after Inception, and it is the one that solidified Inception's confusion as a Christopher Nolan staple.

Interstellar was then followed up by Dunkirk, which plays around with the timeline, Tenet, which is Nolan's most confusing movie, and Oppenheimer, which also uses a non-chronological timeline in an attempt to tell the real-world story. If Inception was Nolan dipping his toe into the water of confusion, Interstellar was when he did a cannonball, with the public realizing Nolan was going down the path of high-concept and stylized movies after Interstellar's release.

7 Nolan's Dialogue Got Better After Interstellar

& Oppenheimer Proves It

I absolutely love Interstellar, and upon rewatching the film, there was one massive flaw when it came to the artistry of the film: the dialogue. Interstellar's dialogue is the biggest flaw in the film, with it being a bit clunky and absolutely full of exposition. The biggest example of this is the infamous line in which Anne Hathaway's Dr. Brand spells out the themes of Interstellar in a way that is far too on the nose, highlighting this flaw.

However, Nolan has released Oppenheimer since Interstellar was released, and it proves how much Nolan's dialogue has evolved in just under a decade. Oppenheimer's dialogue was some of the best of the year, with each line packing in so much subtext, subtlety, and creativity that each exchange in the film felt like music. It seems like Nolan took this Interstellar criticism to heart and decided to fix it, with Oppenheimer proving that he did so masterfully.

6 Interstellar's "Ghost" Reveal Still Works (Despite Knowing The Twist)

It Makes The Time Loop More Impressive

Interstellar sets up a lot of mysteries early in the film, but the biggest of these is the identity of the so-called ghost that is sending messages to Murph. It is clear that something is haunting Murph's childhood bedroom, and a number of possibilities are set up throughout the film, such as extra-dimensional beings, something even more fantastical, or it all being a coincidence. By the end of the film, however, it is revealed that the ghost is actually Coop from within the tesseract.

This is the biggest reveal in Interstellar, and I think that it actually works better having already known the twist. Interstellar's time loop paradox is one of the most well-written elements in the film, and since I knew what was coming this time, I was able to pay attention to the meticulous setups that the film employed. I felt a lot more satisfied with the reveal this time, meaning that the Interstellar ghost twist still works perfectly.

5 The Dying Dust Bowl Earth Is One Of Interstellar's Most Interesting Parts

The Worldbuilding In Interstellar Is Incredible

Interstellar is nearly a three-hour-long film, and despite the majority of the film taking place in space, it spends a surprising amount of time on Earth. Interstellar's long first act spends tons of time setting up its future Earth, explaining why the Earth is dying and how this new society works, and drawing parallels to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

When watching Interstellar for the first time, I was a bit bored during this opening segment, wanting the film to hurry up and get to the exciting space scenes that it had promised. However, I now find myself more interested in this worldbuilding. The idea that this future society has propagandized public opinion on the mood landing to the extent that the film shows, for example, is immensely interesting to me, and I would love to see a film entirely set in Interstellar's 2060s Earth society.

4 Interstellar Proves That Matthew McConaughey Should Still Be A Blockbuster Leading Man

It Is One Of His Best Performances

I thought Matthew McConaughey was absolutely incredible in Interstellar, especially considering the fact that he is playing the character archetype that he has been typecasted as for so many years. Interstellar has to be one of my favorite Matthew McConaughey performances, with his range and realism (especially during the film's emotional ending) being absolutely stunning.

When looking back at McConaughey's other roles, however, I realized that Interstellar is one of the only blockbusters that the actor has starred in. It could be that McConaughey prefers to be in smaller films like Dallas Buyers Club and Mud, and while he is great in these films, I would love to see him in more movies on the scale of Interstellar. Whether McConaughey appears in franchise movies or original properties, Interstellar makes me confident that he could do an incredible job.

3 Interstellar's Sound Mixing Is Its Biggest Flaw

It Is Impossible To Hear Some Lines

I already discussed Interstellar's biggest artistic flaw, with that being the film's dialogue, but it also has a massive technical flaw: the sound mixing. It is possible that Interstellar sounded much better in theaters, as I did not see the film with its original cinema sound mix. However, Interstellar's sound mixing was notably bad when I watched it on streaming, with some scenes being nearly impossible to hear.

Interstellar had moments of dialogue that were absolutely incomprehensible, with the otherwise stellar soundtrack being far too loud. I found myself having to constantly adjust the volume settings in order to properly hear important sections of the film. This was a huge problem and did hinder my enjoyment in some parts, with this being a constant issue.

2 Interstellar's Visual Effects Are Still Better Than Most Modern Movies

It Looks Better Than Most 2024 Movies

In the modern era of Hollywood, CGI has been developing so fast that movies that once looked incredible now look primitive. However, this is shockingly not the case with Interstellar, as the film's visual effects still look fantastic. Each planet that the characters visit looks absolutely gorgeous, and things like the wormhole and the black hole still look incredible despite being computer-generated effects.

Like many of Nolan's other films, Interstellar attempts to use practical effects wherever possible, with this being a massive factor in why the movie holds up so well. However, the fact that the CGI still looks near-perfect wherever it is used is shocking, with 2014's Interstellar still looking leagues better than any film that I have seen in 2024.

1 Interstellar's Story Isn't That Hard To Follow

The Story Beats Are Pretty Simple

As was already mentioned, Interstellar contributed to Nolan's reputation for making confusing movies. However, the film isn't that hard to follow. Of Nolan's filmography, the actual narrative beats of Interstellar are incredibly simple. While the film involves time travel, the film's events are told chronologically from Coop's point of view, meaning that viewers don't have to keep track of out-of-order story beats.

The only part of Interstellar that can seem confusing is the high-concept scientific ideas, and it isn't the story's fault that it is utilizing real science that most audience aren't aware of. I think that Interstellar isn't even in the top 5 when it comes to Christopher Nolan movies that are hard to follow, with the film being relatively simple as long as viewers are paying attention.