A man is tasked to save the world with a mission that defies the laws of physics as we know them, given only the word Tenet.
Like any other Nolan film, Tenet requires an analysis rather than a review. But I’ll simplify things as best I can. A type of film like this requires a humongous preproduction time. And they have spent that time wisely. That is why, from both the production and postproduction point of view, the film is immaculate and unlike anything you have ever seen. No matter what I say, it won’t make it better.
The problem lies right off the bat with the script, though. A similar opening to The Dark Knight (2008) poses a significant issue. There is a preexisting knowledge of the Joker, which means you know who he is and what he is capable of. And if you don’t know the full extent, you find out in a brilliant manner in minutes. Then, the film cuts to people you have already met from Batman Begins (2005), and gradually, it escalates, keeping everyone in the loop. In Tenet, no one is aware of anyone or anything, and without any ado, Nolan keeps bombarding you with more and more information, which everyone seems to start getting, but the viewer. Fear not, though. The science is fictional – pun intended – so please, don’t feel bad if you don’t get it. You won’t get it if you watch it a second time. Nolan himself doesn’t get it (hence, leaving out certain details), but the impressive filmmaking and the delusion that you might get it if you pay close attention compensate. The similarities in narrative can be compared to Interstellar (2014).
For a film that examines paradox, it is interesting how, for something that no one knows anything about, no one thinks twice before they instantly and unhesitatingly say what they have to say. The same applies to planning and acting. At the end of one sequence, they find out about something. At the beginning of the next one, they already have the equipment, have already travelled around the globe, and have already devised a meticulous plan.
George Méliès was running the camera backwards over a hundred years ago, so even though from a filmmaking point of view, Tenet is not parthenogenesis, it surely is a unique concept, extremely well planned, and amazingly executed. If it weren’t for this goddamn pandemic, it would have easily joined the billion-dollar club.
P.S. The indie and unfathomably much lower-budget version of Tenet is Primer (2004)
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