Following

"You're never alone."

1999 1h 9m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 1,988

DramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Bill, an idle, unemployed aspiring writer, walks the crowded streets of London following randomly chosen strangers, a seemingly innocent entertainment that becomes dangerous when he crosses paths with a mysterious character.

“You're never alone.”

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Cast

Jeremy Theobald
The Young Man
Alex Haw
Cobb
Lucy Russell
The Blonde
John Nolan
The Policeman
Dick Bradsell
The Bald Guy
Gillian El-Kadi
Home Owner
Jennifer Angel
Waitress
Nicolas Carlotti
Barman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 69-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $0M — a 21.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Christopher Nolan, shot by Christopher Nolan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Julyan. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Gareth Heal shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Christopher Nolan directs. Christopher Nolan behind the camera. David Julyan scores. Gareth Heal cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 69-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $0M — a 21.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
427 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
6Directed by Christopher Nolan, shot by Christopher Nolan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by David Julyan. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Gareth Heal shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Jeremy Theobald and Alex Haw and Lucy Russell carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "You're never alone.".
11IMDB entry: tt0154506 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 14 themes, including "london, england", "robbery", "stalker", "thief".

The technical file

Cinematography: Christopher Nolan
Original score: David Julyan
Editing: Gareth Heal
Makeup / hair: Miranda Gunning
Runtime: 69 min · 1h 9m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000
Box office: $126,052
Return: 2101% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Following (1999)

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Christopher Nolan

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Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2024-05-12
★ 9/10
An impressive, given the budget et al., feature film debut from Mr. Nolan! Not that the aforementioned is a surprise, of course. Still, this is a great watch, no doubt about it for me. I particularly appreciated the score, which is very good. Jeremy Theobald and Alex Haw give strong performances, especially the latter; who kept reminding me of a young Kevin Durand. As you'd expect, this has many early hallmarks of Nolan's work - the obvious being the non-linear storytelling. I really like how the story is told here, the premise is intriguing and it ends up wrapping up nicely. The 70 minute run time, although not unwelcome, is shorter than I wanted, only because I happily would've watched this flick develop further. I still gotta tick off 'Memento', 'Insomnia' and 'The Prestige' to complete Christopher Nolan's filmography. 'Following' is now logged and I'd recommend it. On the topic of this director's movies, I'd rank this higher than (the still very good) 'Dunkirk', 'The Dark Knight Rises' and, narrowly, 'Tenet'.
Alunauwie2025-09-23
★ 9/10
Following is Christopher Nolan’s low-budget debut film, crafted almost entirely on his own—from writing to editing—using non-professional actors and friends’ homes as sets. Despite its modest resources, the film delivers a compelling and complex narrative about a writer’s descent into deception after following the wrong person. With its clever dual meaning and signature nonlinear storytelling, Following demands full attention from viewers to fully grasp its layered plot and early glimpse of Nolan’s distinct filmmaking style. Read the full review here: (Indonesian version : alunauwie.com)