Christopher Nolan Slams Netflix for Sidestepping Cinema Innovation

Christopher Nolan has thoughts about streaming, and when he says them out loud, people tend to perk up. The latest: a fresh clip of his go-to take on why Netflix and its peers are not actually 'innovating cinema' made the rounds again, and yes, the ketchup line is back.

Nolan's newest-old stance, in his own words

On Nov 3, 2025, a Nolan Archive post on X resurfaced the director comparing the movie business to, of all things, Heinz. The gist: films are a mature product, not an app, and the real breakthroughs should happen on the screen, not in how we deliver the file to your couch.

'We work in a mature business. I like to say we're Heinz, we make ketchup. We're not a tech company. The innovation in our industry has always been and should always be what goes on the screen, not...'

He also frames Netflix as a repackaged version of something the industry already did in the 80s and 90s: direct-to-video. Instead of driving to a store, now it is a menu on your TV. Useful, absolutely. New idea, not really, in his view. His bigger point is that the delivery method is not the art. The art is the art.

But he did soften that take before

Worth remembering: Nolan dialed back the heat years ago. In a 2017 chat with Variety, he admitted his earlier Netflix critiques were phrased too bluntly. He even emailed then-Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos to apologize for the tone. He stood by the principle, but said he was undiplomatic in how he put it, and he acknowledged the 'frankly revolutionary' shift Netflix triggered in the business. Translation: he still prefers theaters and sees tech hype as a distraction, but he is not blind to the fact that Netflix changed how and when we watch things and deserves credit for that scale-shift.

So what is he actually saying?

• Streaming, in his view, is a digital evolution of an old distribution idea — think direct-to-video and rentals — not a creative leap in filmmaking itself.
• Movies are a mature product. He compares the industry to making ketchup, not launching software. The real place to innovate is the picture and sound on the screen.
• Despite the critique, he has publicly respected Netflix for reshaping the landscape and admitted his earlier wording was too sharp, even sending Sarandos an apology note back in 2017.

My read: this is classic Nolan. He is a theatrical purist who wants money and imagination poured into what you see and hear in the auditorium, not into the pitch deck for a platform. And he can hold two thoughts at once: streaming changed everything about access and habits, but the next great leap in cinema will still come from the filmmakers, not the app menu.