Tenet

2020 was a year that promised a number of highly anticipated films but barely any saw the light of day and now sit in a dusty cabinet in Hollywood. Streaming services capitalised on smaller films but during the Hollywood summer period when cinemas started to temporarily reopen, Christopher Nolan's Tenet took a gamble and went for the theatrical release. The director has always been a firm believer in the strength of cinema and with much of this film shot in IMAX, it was surely meant to be seen on the big screen. However, I sadly sat this one out and waited to buy in on Blu-ray to get the best experience possible on a smaller screen at home. The film has a reputation for being a little on the 'overly complex' side of things but after two viewings I think I'm ready to try and put my thoughts into words.

John David Washington stars as a CIA agent tasked with tracking down a Russian oligarch (Kenneth Branagh) who is involved with a type of material that could be catastrophic in the wrong hands. Tenet also stars Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Clémence Poésy, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Nolan's regular Michael Caine in this globe-trotting action thriller.

Nolan is not shy when it comes to playing with film narrative since his early work with Memento to more recently with Dunkirk, and also with exploring scientific theories in Interstellar. He boggled audience's minds over ten years ago in Inception and now with Tenet he takes things a great step further but I'll avoid spoilers. I've always seen Nolan as one of my favourite directors because of his ambition to tell new and exciting stories, and he succeeds here again but when I consider I had to watch Tenet twice (with a bit of extra internet research to answer a few lingering questions), has he gone too far for his own good?

For the casual viewer, Tenet just about succeeds in my opinion offering a satisfying action thriller where, on my first viewing, I was clinging the story with an idea of what was happening and came away pleasantly surprised. The story is ambitious from the very get-go but it was kept exciting by Nolan's confident direction, even towards the end when things take another level. A character even warns at the start "Don't try to understand it" or something to that extent as a reminder that you're in one of Nolan's passion projects.

From a sound and visual perspective, Tenet looks absolutely gorgeous throughout thanks to Hoyte Van Hoytema behind the camera and Ludwig Göransson's score. Washington's charismatic lead performance is great too and a welcome addition to the film's intense plot. The same goes for an equally great Pattinson and the onscreen 'bromance' with Washington gives the film a much needed charm that pays-off. I have sometimes found Nolan's films to be too cold and lacking in emotion where it was needed and there is an argument Tenet is the same but, particularly on my second watch, I think the ending succeeds in completing the story in a satisfying manner that I can overlook some of it shortcomings. 

Tenet is next to Interstellar in terms of being one of Nolan's ambitious films to date but also one of his more alienating experiences. It will leave many puzzled at first but rewards a second viewing and I'm sure even a third. There's never a dull moment or a scene that could be cut but I'm wary about ranking it as one of the director's best because of its overly complex approach.

I can still easily recommend this for the spectacle alone but dare I say this could have been longer, expanding on the ending, which might have offered an even stronger conclusion. The film is already way over two hours long and here I am pondering if three would make it better which must be a good sign. It's not perfect but a Hollywood film with bursting with originality should be applauded and it has left me excited to see where Nolan will venture to next.