Review: "Tenet" is a Messy Achievement in Time and Regret

Scene from Tenet (2020)

*NOTE: Contains vague spoilers

Even as a human construct, time is a precious commodity. It is a constant reminder that we are mortal, that one day we will run out of time. Nobody has done more to explore man's relationship to this structure than director Christopher Nolan. Going back to his sophomore film Memento, he has continually explored the compromise of an uncertain future with a past we are quickly forgetting. We exist in the moment, and it's unclear how fragile the road ahead will be. He's made it into an art form, turning space travel into these time trials with Interstellar, and (most cleverly) history into its own maze of madness with Dunkirk. One can argue that his peak exploration of time came with Inception, when a dream within a dream found time-shifting in new and innovative was, finding him at his biggest galaxy brain, quite literally. This is the epitome of Nolan. We just have to trust him to handle our time wisely.

In what has been called an "in-law" sequel by actor John David Washington, Tenet is his most exciting and strange movie yet. Not since The Dark  Knight Rises has he been so off-kilter, taking risks that don't always land. Still, it's what makes it one of his most interesting movies, finding time moving forward and backward, usually at the same time. There has been nothing like Tenet, though mostly because few directors have the competency of Nolan to make it work. It's a miracle that this works as well as it does. It may not all make sense, but it's the perfect example of what cinema should be: constantly challenging expectations, meddling with the unknown, and thinking about it for years upon years. Tenet is one of his most imperfect movies, but it's one that asks to be talked about, and in that right makes it one of his most enjoyable films to nitpick maybe even get a physics degree. To like Tenet is difficult, though rewarding to those nerdy enough to do so. Press play and sit back. Don't expect to get it all on the first watch. Just know you'll be spending a lot of time here, if you want to.

Much like the title, Tenet exists as a palindrome of cinematic language. As explained early on, the physics find the narrative constantly at odds with each other, moving forward and into the past. It is arguable that Protagonist (Washington) and Neil (Robert Pattinson) even exist on the same timeline. Then again, the viewer will be so overwhelmed from the opening frame that a lot of the exposition may be missed entirely. This is Nolan at his most abrupt, starting with an unexplained raid scene at a concert hall that ends in a glorious explosion, set to the queasy aches of Ludwig Goransson's swirling electronic score. Some of the dialogue is buried underneath the thuds of a sound design that exists to rattle the audience. So much is happening at once that it can be construed as one of the best action set pieces of the year... and there's still over two hours to go. By the time we get to the next scene, a trainyard with trains going the opposite direction, the viewer is being hypnotized, subliminally thinking about the world that Nolan is about to bestow on his audience. Will we be heading in a linear motion?

Following a perceived suicide by Protagonist, he is assigned by Tenet to stop a nuclear war. There are a handful of obstacles that are as much establishment of ideas as they are plot progression. The issue is that so much happens at once, jumping from moment to moment, that you'll be forgiven for losing your mind. It becomes especially apparent in one scene featuring an airplane running into an air carrier simply to set off an alarm and retrieve a painting. Why does the painting matter? Because it has connections to the past. So long as Protagonist is selective of what he touches, he can ricochet into the past, forming inverses. He's constantly finding pathways to the past, finding clues to whatever this story entails. At a certain point, Nolan does it so subtly that you're left questioning just where we are. 

Considering how major of a headache this high-science ends up being, it's to Nolan's credit that he's created another incredible experience. Take out any narrative device and you'll begin to see a master at work, in control of every last second of this story. It feels like he's stopped and questioned the direction each movement will be going in, preparing for a cavalcade of practical effects that continually surprise. It's true that the big pieces (the airplane, a car crash scene from multiple perspectives) are some of his most impressive since Inception, but it's even more true of his smaller moments, where the audience is stuck in mysterious fights, watching something illogical unfold before us. How could people move in this way? While some could call things as simple as watching a gun slide from far away into Protagonist's hand to be gimmicky, there's no denying that Nolan has a passion for getting these details right. It may come at the cost of warm and lively characters, but even then they're in an espionage story where the jokes feel cloistered, used as currency to determine how personal they can be to these odd forces.

That's the thing about Tenet. While every other Nolan feels in some ways grounded in a realism that allows him to explore philosophy, he's created his own personalized franchise to question human's relationship with time. Not since he announced his production company as Syncopy during the release of Inception has things been so wonderfully absurd. This feels like Nolan at his most enjoyably creative, taking risks on a studio budget that makes his legacy all the more impressive. It's clear that he wants you to buy a whiteboard and solve his math problem, and this may be his most complicated one yet. Not since Inception asked the question "Whose dream are we in?" has he challenged his audience to care about his personal interests. Is Neil really the son of Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) and Sator (Kenneth Branagh)? Was Barbra (Clemence Poesy) the real master of The Algorithm? The film has a nature of feeling so open-ended that to think you understand it right away is downright foolish.

Washington once again proves his weight as a lead, able to reflect strong masculinity even while using million-dollar words to explore the philosophy that hasn't been this enjoyably dense since The Matrix. For those wanting to understand every word mentioned in this film, prepare for a challenge. It's best to slowly dig yourself in, starting with the concepts before testing their validity. Nolan has this way of making you feel like you're witnessing the smartest conversations in the world, though they're also impenetrable. By the time you figure out their meaning or symbolism, he's onto the next scene. Tenet could be a dumb movie full of flaws, but it only adds to the mystery of what works so well about the film. Nothing feels half-baked here. He's clearly wanting you to have a full-body experience at the cinema, and more importantly, talk to your friends about what it all means.

It's a hypnotic portrait of something that's arguably very simple. Amid a story of ever-winding plot devices, finding characters running into their past and future selves, it's a story of something more personal, reflective of human vulnerability. It's Nolan's quest to understand what drives humanity to be cruel in the first place. It's as much an investigation into the roots of war as it is a failed marriage, relationships frayed by circumstance. Can you possibly reverse the heartache and make the world a better place? By the end, he is once again ambiguous about how true that is. There is optimism to be found, but does it remove the cycle, or can the right connections reenact the past, bringing its violent existence back to life? Amid a mystery that is designed for Reddit conspiracy theorists, it's very personal and alludes to questions of what the audience would change, if just for their own happiness. 

Tenet, in this regard, is the perfect movie for 2020. It's a story of incomprehensible depth that wants to right the wrongs, finding the moment that ignited the proverbial bomb and defuse it. In this case, it's Coronavirus, which has also impacted the overall reputation of Nolan and his decision to release the film theatrically. It's impacted not only how many people see it, but how it's discussed. This should be the most celebrated and discussed Nolan film in eight years. It should be leading to a cult-like obsession not seen since Inception. Instead, life has made the plot a bit ironic, not allowing everyone to experience its booming excellence on a big screen, surrounded by likewise people who love cinema. While the home release is sure to compensate a bit for its reputation, it's only going to make people miss theater all the more.

Overall, Tenet is a messy movie that is high on concept and riveting spectacle, but one has to wonder if it all amounts to something greater. Maybe this is an inherently empty film without a bigger point. Maybe the answer is even more special than what viewers have found so far. That's what makes the whole thing so appealing, worthy of consistent thought. It's maybe the most personal story from Nolan yet about humanity's relationship to time. It's a tale of regret, and trying to make everything better at a great sacrifice. Then again, can it actually be achieved, or will everyone cease to exist? It's a philosophy course hidden inside a giant spectacle full of falling buildings and ticking time bombs. This is the greatest exploration of time as a compromise, testing our emotions into a crippling fear that any happiness or sadness will impact an outcome. It may seem cold, but deep down it has to be for all of our survival.