Tenet

Image Credit: Warner Brothers

Tom Watts, 15th Dec 2020
Tags: Life Review Action Sci-Fi

We know that this year has been like nothing we’ve seen before, but for movie lovers like me, the total lack of films released made things that little bit worse. There was one potential saviour; a small film called ‘Tenet’.

I say small, but let's be honest, it was one of the most hyped films of recent years!

To find out if it was the masterpiece it looked like it might be, I grabbed my facemask, sanitiser, and popcorn, and settled down for two and a half hours of non-stop action. In the least spoilery way possible, here’s what I thought.

You’re thrown in at the deep end.

From the first minute of the film you’re thrown in at the deep end. An attack on an orchestra in Kiev starts off the journey of our main character known simply as ‘The Protagonist’.

We never find out his name, nor why he’s been chosen, but he has been charged with stopping World War 3; and to be honest, that is the least of your worries as the film starts to speed up.

What follows is a globetrotting, James Bond-esque puzzle of a film.

As we travel around the world, it’s easy to lose track of who we’re following, what we’re seeing, where the action is taking place, why we should care about it and perhaps most interestingly, when it's all happening.

The visual effects are breath-taking and the soundtrack and sound effects assault your ears, immersing you amongst the action.

It’s an intense experience.

All in all, it’s an intense experience that is perhaps best summed up when the lead characters say things like “Try to keep up” and “Does your head hurt?”

Tenet, much like any of director Christopher Nolan’s previous films, requires you to pay attention to what you’re watching. Whilst I understood the story reasonably well from my first viewing, when I went back to the cinema a couple of weeks later, I felt like I was able to enjoy the film more than I did the first time round, prepared for the onslaught to the senses I was about to receive.

If you told me that you were only going to watch 'Tenet' once then I’d tell you to take the advice we hear towards the start of the film: “Don't try to understand, feel it”. Find the biggest possible screen you’ve got with the loudest possible speakers and you’ll have a blast. But, if you let it sink in, watch it a couple of times. I’m sure you’ll absolutely love its depth and secrets.

I’ve just finished my fourth viewing and I can’t wait to watch it again! I give it an 8/10.