In a year where popcorn machines and soda dispensers in movie theater lobbies seem like a thing of the distant past, Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” was a badly needed distraction, and it didn’t disappoint.
However, the downside of Tenet is that unlike most of the other movies that were released during COVID-19, it’s only being offered in theaters for now.
“It’s both financial and symbolic,” Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, told CNN Business. “It’s one thing if smaller or independent films go to digital, but blockbusters are a different animal. If they skip theaters, it shatters the setup the industry has had for decades, which has benefited both theaters and studios.”
While that may be a disappointment to many who are under strict quarantines, it may be worth the wait to watch “Tenet” in theatres to truly get the full movie experience, even if it releases digitally before a vaccine is released.
In this “Donnie Darko” meets “007” hybrid, an unnamed CIA agent (John David Washington) is recruited to save humanity from a Russian oligarch (Kenneth Branagh), who seeks to destroy the world with help from a mysterious group in the distant future.
The CIA agent teams up with a fellow agent named Neil (Robert Pattinson), as well as the oligarch’s wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki), and the three of them embark on a wild adventure spanning multiple countries as well as time and space. While fighting against forces from both the future and the present, they must also learn the rules of this new world where objects and even people can be “inverted” to travel backward in time.
The casting choices were perfect, with Washington playing the stoic hero, Pattinson as the charming sidekick, Debicki as the strong and independent wife and Branagh doing what he does best as the narcissistic villain. However, it is the directing and atmosphere of the movie that really make it stand out.
Nolan, who has also directed movies such as “Interstellar” and “Inception,” is no stranger to mixing Sci-Fi with present-day reality, but this may be his most ambitious and abstract project to date. While he could have easily followed the basic “agent saves the world” formula for movies, the complexity of “Tenet” goes far beyond that and manages to avoid turning into a tired trope.
Nolan uses both time and space to force the audience into rethinking not only time as a linear construct, but the way they watch movies as well.
On the first watch through, “Tenet” is a confusing and wild adventure, akin to trying to put together a puzzle while someone rotates the table. Even after the movie ends, you’re still left trying to put together the pieces. However on the second watch through, the pieces start to fall into place, and it’s an entirely different experience.
“Tenet’s” rewatchability makes it a perfect fit for 2020, where few other movies have been released in theaters due to COVID-19. Add on to that the hyper-realistic feel that came from the camera work, acting and dialogue that can usually only be found in Indie films today, and you’ve got a truly unique feel.
That being said, it’s definitely not for everyone. If you’re hoping for something as straightforward and critically acclaimed as Nolan’s “Dark Knight,” this isn’t it. But, if you’re looking for something that forces you to think and unlike any other movie you’ve watched, “Tenet” is a must-see.
