Christopher Nolan Says Radiohead's 'OK Computer' Shaped 'Memento'

Director Christopher Nolan has revealed that Radiohead's 1997 album OK Computer was a major influence on the creative process behind his 2000 film Memento. The remarks were recently compiled and reported by Far Out Magazine, reigniting discussion of the connection.

An album that resists prediction

Nolan used OK Computer as a primary backdrop while making Memento. He noted that the album broke from the listening rhythm of a typical record: "With a normal album, your body almost automatically anticipates the next song, but that's not how OK Computer works — I found it very hard to get a handle on."

He sees that same unpredictable structure echoed in Memento's reverse-chronological editing. Nolan pointed out that despite the film's scrambled scene order, the underlying script is actually rigidly linear: "It's actually the most linear script I've ever written — every scene is locked in place, the connections between A, B, C, D are set in stone, with almost no room to reorder anything in the edit."

Two structures, one spirit

OK Computer is built around themes of alienation in an age of technological capitalism, and its structure and mood have long been described as cinematic. Nolan acknowledged that the album's influence on Memento's structure may have been largely subconscious at the time, but in hindsight the connection between the two feels clear.

Why it matters

Memento was Nolan's first film with a meaningful production budget, following his low-budget debut feature Following, and it helped establish his reputation in the industry. Around the same period, Gaspar Noé's backwards-told film Irreversible (2002) explored similar non-linear territory, pointing to a broader interest in structural experimentation across cinema at the time.