Tenet (2020)
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A CIA officer is recruited into a secret organization to track objects moving backward through time to prevent a future attack.
The story
The film follows a CIA officer who is recruited into a secret organization, tasked with tracing the origin of objects that are traveling backward through time and their connection to an attack by the future. After being exposed to a mysterious artifact during a staged terrorist siege in Kyiv, the Protagonist is recruited by 'Tenet'. He must work with a handler named Neil to track 'inverted' munitions and items that move backward through time. The mission leads them to an arms dealer in Mumbai, where they discover a conspiracy involving a Russian oligarch who is communicating with the future to manipulate the present.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
During a staged terrorist siege at an Opera House in Kyiv, the Protagonist is saved by a masked operative and discovers an artifact. He is recruited by the organization 'Tenet' and learns about 'inverted' entropy. He and his handler, Neil, track these items to Mumbai, where they meet Priya Singh. They learn that a Russian oligarch, Andrei Sator, is communicating with the future. The plot involves a 'turnstile' device that inverts entropy. The Protagonist and Neil attempt to steal a forged Goya painting from Sator, leading to a series of maneuvers across Oslo, Tallinn, and Italy. In Tallinn, they are confronted by an inverted Sator. To save Kat, a woman involved in the plot, they must also invert. The Protagonist eventually realizes the true threat is a nuclear hypocenter in Stalsk-12. In a 'temporal' pincer movement, they attempt to secure the 'Algorithm' before it can be used by future antagonists to destroy the past. The film concludes with the Protagonist discovering that Neil was recruited by his future self, and he ultimately kills Priya to maintain the secrecy of the organization.
- First release year
- 2020
- Runtime (minutes)
- 150
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Christopher Nolan
- Writers
- Christopher Nolan · writer
- Cast and characters
- John David Washington · the Protagonist; Robert Pattinson · Neil; Elizabeth Debicki · Kat; Dimple Kapadia · Priya Singh; Michael Caine · Sator; Kenneth Branagh · Sator
- Genres
- science fiction; action
- Themes
- determinism; free will; time travel; entropy
- Tone and mood
- cerebral; action-packed
- Setting
- Various international locations including Kyiv, Mumbai, Oslo, Tallinn, Italy, and Stalsk-12 during the present day.
- Premise and plot tags
- time travel; spy thriller; secret organization
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews but divided critics more than the director's previous works, being described as a visually dazzling puzzle and a complex, high-concept action film.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 70% · scale: percentage · review count: 380; Metacritic · score: 69 · scale: 100 · review count: 50
- Awards and nominations
- Best Visual Effects · Academy Awards · 93rd · win; Best Special Visual Effects · British Academy Film Awards · 74th · win; Best Special Visual Effects · Critics' Choice Awards · 26th · win; Best Original Score · Golden Globe Awards · 78th · nomination
- Production trivia
- The title is a palindrome and an allusion to the Sator Square.; The film is considered a 'temporal palindrome' as it ends at the same time as the beginning.; The score features melodies that sound the same forward and backward.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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