Tenet Review: Time Travel Just Got More Confusing

2/9/2021

Finnian Waldron

Christopher Nolan’s latest film is another mind-boggling sci-fi thriller.

Combining the thrilling plot of action-espionage with a complex and fascinating take on time travel, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet is available for streaming after being exclusive to theaters for five months. Reminiscent of some of Nolan’s previous works like Inception and Interstellar, Tenet is an action-thriller with a heavy sci-fi twist.

From its hectic beginning to its beautifully complicated climax, Tenet does not hold the viewer’s hand in the face of a deceptively simple science-fiction idea: it is possible to reverse the flow of time for specific objects or people. The movie’s central conflict revolves around this tenet, the implications of which the film does a wonderful job of barely explaining. Though some exposition is given at the beginning of the film, the viewer mainly learns the intricacies of the film’s take on time travel through watching the unnamed Protagonist (John David Washington) combat the threats posed by temporal inversion in real-time.

The various applications and threats posed by the concept of temporal inversion multiply as the plot progresses. Wrapped up in thrilling action, the movie’s escapades are on par in theatrics and creativity with titles from the James Bond and Mission Impossible franchises, as well as Nolan’s own Inception. Though thriller-action movies aren’t usually known for the depth of their characters, Tenet does a remarkable job developing the Protagonist’s relationships with Neil (Robert Pattinson), his enigmatic buddy, and Kat (Elizabeth Debicki), the tortured wife of the antagonist, Sator (Kenneth Branagh).

Tenet’s release on July 31 of 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, was clouded by some minor controversy since it was available only in theaters from its July release to December 15. Nolan himself was partly responsible for keeping the film from streaming for so long, saying, “This is a film whose image and sound really needs to be enjoyed in your theaters on the big screen and we’re very very excited for you to see what it is we’ve done.” This was a rather bold decision, considering the risk of infection that comes with watching movies in-theater during the pandemic. However, Tenet can now be streamed for around six dollars on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, and Google Play.

Unapologetically complex, the film demands one’s entire concentration for the whole two and a half hours. Nolan attests that Tenet is one of his best works, and it’s hard to disagree.

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Ms. Scott is an expert in communications, both spoken and written. Besides leading the staff of student journalists at B-Line, she teaches Advanced Debate and middle school Introduction to Debate, International Studies and Current Events.

She attended high school in the Wichita area where she occupied herself with debate and writing. Ms. Scott obtained her degree in secondary education (speech/ theatre) with a minor in communication studies from Kansas State University. She received her master’s degree in communication from Baylor University in 2018.

She believes every student should be a capable communicator and self-advocate shaping their own future. She finds that both mass communication settings like B-Line and rhetorical settings like debate prepare students for their future.