As it's explained to the Protagonist (John David Washington), "You are inverted, the world is not." If someone is inverted, they'll travel forwards in time whilst everything around them moves backwards. There's more than one sequence of the Protagonist and Neil walking and talking, then holding strap handles on public. Despicable abuser hell-bent on world domination? They tested that out for like two weeks., While Daniel sounded pretty chill about the whole thing, when asked what the most terrifying moment of his stunt career has been, he laughed: Probably that [] That was scary though, afterwards I called my wife to [reassure] her that Im alive.. This means they need to find another turnstile to re-align themselves with the proper flow of time. Fans have been clamoring for a black James Bondever since Idris Elba was once rumored to succeed Daniel Craig in the role. Then Pete addresses the Well-Dressed Man, saying, "We live in a twilight world," to which Well-Dressed Man responds, "And there are . Eon praline - Der TOP-Favorit unserer Produkttester. Anyway, they bungee jump into the arms dealer's lair, where they learn three surprising facts: One, the dealer, played by Bollywood actress Dimple Kapadia, is a woman! It works, and Sad Elizabeth Debicki gives Washington her entire life story, including telling him about a nice yacht trip in Vietnam that ended when Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh told her she could leave him as long as she didnt mind never seeing her son again. The protagonist, Neil, and Ives lead an attack on Sator's deserted hometown in Russia while Kat is present on the yacht. Its not like Marvel, Marvel does CG and even when it looks real, its still a little CG-ish. Tenet's pincer involves two different teams attacking a location from both directions in time forwards and reverse hence the "temporal" bit. She jumps off the yacht in triumph; her past self sees her and admires her freedom. Its just physics, okay? How did Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh know they were coming? The initial version of Sator entering the "Tenet" story is contained within Kat's memories. The briefing he receives is his first step into the world of "Tenet." given presentism, that dinosaurs existed should be true, yet no existing dinosaurs are available to ground the truth of this proposition. All rights reserved. Whether he's taking viewers inside a character's dreams or over the event horizon into a black hole, a Nolan film has become synonymous with the transportive quality of the cinema. Speeding along the highway, The Protagonist experiences the same ordeal from another angle. She reveals that Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh is suffering from terminal cancer and is going back in time to find a happy memory to end his life in. This should come as no surprise, as the esteemed director has been among the franchise's most famous fans, frequently speculatedto take the Bond reins as he did once withBatman in hisDark Knight trilogy. This battle scene resembles the ending of Inception in that its a lot of guys running around shooting things and is filmed so chaotically that its almost impossible to tell whats happening. Tenet is the latest film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, a filmmaker well-known for his big, bold, game-changing concepts. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Although Daniel pointed out that the stars would never have been allowed to do the full bungee jump sequence, they did swap in at the beginning and end of it, and performed their own fight sequences. As Neil and The Protagonist are examining the turnstile from opposite sides of the room, they activate and two different versions of a man emerge. The Protagonist is captured and interrogated. The stuntman said: The first day I went to a rehearsal, the fight coordinator Jackson Spidell told me what was happening. It's literally using a stretched bungee cord to go up a building. You can even jump from a moving object like a hot air balloon if you are out for a thrill. To jump out of the building it was a completely different bungee cord. Sator appears in another vehicle. Tycoon in control of massive private espionage network? In the end, Robert Pattinson'sloyal character reveals that this mission is the end of a long friendship the two shared in the future, and that he was initially recruited by The Protagonist to fight in this massive battle for not only the world's future, but its past. Related:Tenet Ending Explained: All Questions Answered. Washington beats up the henchman. (Whether this happened in the timeline before or after the events of the film is unclear; many theories have sprung up on this subject.) Washington refuses to tell him, and so Inverted Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh reverse-shoots Sad Elizabeth Debicki with an inverted bullet. Check. This is a truly heartbreaking development. It seems to be one of the only super secret spy gadgets used. Amid the turmoil of 2020, the cinematic landscape was altered once again by the mind-altering auteur, Christopher Nolan. In Russia, Washington, Pattinson, and Taylor-Johnson separate the Algorithm into three parts and plan to split up. She informs The Protagonist that the forged Goya is being kept in a place known as Freeport, an airport facility of great interest to Sator. In order to avoid its use, the scientist disassembled it, inverted it, and buried it. The only time our heroes can sneak into Evil Russian Kenneth Branaghs vault is the time they crashed the plane into the airport, which means that once Washington gets into the vault, he comes face-to-face with his past self, and we get the same fight we saw before, only in reverse. It's a wink from Nolan the screenwriter, whose name itself is only one letter off from a palindrome. Does "Tenet" have plot holes? Two, she knows about Tenet. In Australia, this form is known as an octopus, or "occy", strap, or as a jockey strap. Enter John David Washington (The Protagonist). Gabriel Ponniah is a filmmaker and writer originally from Columbia, Maryland. While snooping around in the night, The Protagonist witnesses Sator receiving a recent haul from his future contacts. Washington gets into the Turnstile, after which he fights the past Pattinson, who figures out that hes the future Washington but keeps the secret from past Washington because it would have been too much of a mindfreak. This is a military maneuver involving attacking your opponent from two different directions; only the two directions they are attacking from here are different directions in time. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. At one point, The Protagonist (John David) and Neil (Robert Pattinson) scale a sky-scraper by bungee jumping up to the top floor, before jumping down again. 'Tenet' is a high concept thriller with an A-list director, an A-list budget and an appealing cast (Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros) The Protagonist meets up with arms dealer Priya (Dimple. His latest temporal adventure, "Tenet" has wound up being one of the most successful films of 2020 & 2021, with chart-topping returns among films featuring an original script and no superheroes. We learn that he recruited himself as well as Neil ( Robert . He jumps into a silver vehicle (wink) and, using the reversed world around him, tracks the movement of the package from earlier. A timeline of the (alleged) drama involving Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and Florence Pugh. By Jove, thats it! Suddenly, the crashed airplane's engine, just outside the hangar door, revs up and the assailant zips off across the floor in reverse. He tries to stop Sator from escaping but only succeeds in showing his hand. Nolan's films are no stranger to this effect. (That an inverted person driving a car makes the car itself inverted is one of those things you just have to go with.) Thats what was so exciting. Covering Rammsteins Du Hast in Berlin. Pattinson is supposed to be inverted with the rest of the blue team, but he decides to go rogue and uninverts, then reinverts himself multiple times during the battle. Multiple viewings of "Tenet" still result in an insanity loop that has physics professors foaming at the mouth. John David did a lot, Ive gotta give it up for him. In Washington, those same fans can relish in that de facto succession. Bungee jumping is all about leaping from a very high position. Many years before the opening act of "Tenet," a young Sator receives a contract to retrieve lost plutonium capsules in his irradiated hometown of Stalsk-12. Think Primer, or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban if youre nasty. For all intents and purposes,Tenet is a test run of Nolan's abilities to do just that if and when the franchise needs reinvention. Ives, Neil, and The Protagonist take different sections of The Algorithm and set off on their own individual journeys. This would allow the future generation to get a hold of it and activate it, thus invoking global annihilation. He wakes up in an air-locked container ship, where Pattinson, Sad Wounded Elizabeth Debicki, and some of the troops are all traveling in reverse a week back in time to the Oslo airport so theyll be able to use the Turnstile there to get themselves going forward again. Yes, they're both reserved, but Washington seems a friend at first glance rather than a potential enemy. Neil and The Protagonist plan yet another heist. In Russia, the red and blue teams create their diversion. The two theorize that the bullets were manufactured in our time and thus inverted here, in our time. Technically, the first time Neil appears onscreen is during the movie's opening moments at the opera house in Ukraine. Okay, so: John David Washington is a CIA agent looking for a MacGuffin during a false-flag terror attack at the Kiev Opera. The Protagonist manages to stop the vehicle but is taken hostage by Sator's men shortly after. The idea is that Sator buries a capsule and notifies the future where it is buried. Neil and allies arrive just in time to save The Protagonist. A symphony performance in Kiev is attacked and the unnamed CIA agent, dreadfully referred to in the film as The Protagonist . This foreknowledge on Neil's part comes up again later. The first is that this whole movie takes place in a world where the future has declared war on the present because its upset about climate change. That was pretty cool in my career, doing that that was in Mumbai.. The temporal pincer movement that Sator employed earlier (during the highway incident) will be the same strategy all these troops use in Stalsk-12. Neil's once and future death harkens back to what he said when we first met him: "Time isn't the problem. In the same vein as the 2016 Denis Villeneuve film "Arrival," Nolan's latest time-warping shenanigans require its audience to abandon all concepts of the linear progression of time. So many elements are the same. It was made in the future . These are the people who invented time inversion technology. There is a fear that an "inverted weapon" from the future could affect their past. "You have a future in the past," he says. He's CIA, having consulted withphysicist Laura (Clemence Posy), who serves as this film's "Q." She shoots Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh. The troops give him a crash course in Inversion 101: Youve got to wear an oxygen mask because your reversed lungs cant breathe normal air, and whatever you do, dont physically touch your past self. While "Tenet" does adhere to the masked-and-muffled conceit of other Nolan films in the 2010s, it also makes moves via intellectual dialogue to explain its time inversion principles to the viewer. Anyone think that bungee jump machine was inverted? When The Protagonist is discovered, he talks his way out of the situation. The red string on his backpack is seen on a dead soldier behind a locked gate down in the tomb. There's more than one sequence of the Protagonist and Neil walking and talking, then holding strap handles on public transportation and expositing some more. Theyre both captured by Evil Russian Kenneth Branaghs henchmen. Meanwhile, the resident Bond villain, Sator (Kenneth Branagh), is gathering the nine artifacts needed to piece together the Algorithm, which will allow him to "invert the entropy of the world." He replays the previous car chase in reverse, but this time we see something we didnt in the first go-round: the MacGuffin leaping out of the silver car and into forward-Washingtons hands which means that, in forward-time, he threw it to his inverted self in the silver car. The shipment is filled with inverted gold bars it'sthe payment Sator is receiving for his endeavors. A unique reverse bungee jump into Priya's ivory tower allows for a crucial conversation to take place. 2020 has doled out disappointments at all levels, and while the postponement ofNo Time to Die was certainly among them, the latest of Christopher Nolan's larger-than-life cerebral blockbustersTenet should tie over fans yearning for theirstylish spy until he and his hijinks return next year. Pattinsons inverted self will run back into the tunnel, close the gate and then take the bullet. Its well known that the Batman director is keen on keeping things realistic after all, he did crash an actual plane for the movie. To get a meeting, he needs a sidekick. Trippy! This scientist, we're told, invented the Algorithm but then killed herself. For that matter, why does the nameless Protagonist (John David Washington) fight himself? (Thats not a joke. In order to avoid spilling state secrets, he takes a cyanide capsule. You'd have to ask Robert Pattinson. However, filmmaker Christopher didnt just want to make the time inverted fight sequences look realistic. Yes, The Protagonistand Bond both crack smart retorts, but The Protagonist's quips are more liable to add a chuckle to the reactionary fist pump upon hearing them. Marching into theaters with a simple cause-effect view of our reality likely left you questioning the fortitude of your perceptions. After the prologue sees the Protagonist (Washington) decide to kill himself instead of give up his team, he's saved by a mysterious individual who welcomes him "to the . Plot with a capital "P" and sheer blockbuster spectacle do take precedence here over characters, with most of the players in "Tenet" being underdeveloped at best and mere cyphers at worst. Download on Amazon - MEETING NEIL Play on Apple Music - MEETING NEIL Play on Spotify - MEETING NEIL Play on YouTube . Its all very confusing, but luckily they go back to Mumbai and Dimple Kapadia explains it for them: The device in the vault was an invention from the future called a Turnstile, which allows people to invert themselves and travel backward in time. Taking a page from J.K. Rowlings book, Nolan decides to give us one last exposition dump before the climax. The women of, Theres No Red Button You Can Push to Stop. The primary antagonist, Sator (Kenneth Branagh), is in contact with a future generation. Nevertheless, The Protagonist measures up to his cinematic ancestor in many ways. Im still confused today! Now The Protagonist is the unidentified man in the silver vehicle. He fails to realize quickly enough that it was himself driving the car earlier. Gellar captioned her IG post When #Mother met #Father, even though Pascal is really more of a Daddy. I think that was the hardest part to make it look effortless going backwards, and making it look realistic, too.. Because this is a Christopher Nolan movie, theres a scene in which our hero has afternoon tea with Michael Caine. Inversion is explained around 15 minutes in, when the scientist Barbara (Clmence Posy) makes loose bullets jump off a table into her hands in order to demonstrate the concept to the. In Russia, Washington and Taylor-Johnson get ahold of the Algorithm as the bomb is about to go off. The time that the Kiev Opera siege occurs is a crucial timestamp. It occurs at the same time as the incident on Sator's yacht AND the detonation in Stalsk-12. [Christopher] likes to do everything realistic, Daniel, who doubled John David Washington, explained to Metro.co.uk. Yet amid its dense dialogue, backward fights and car chases, and mind-bending causal loops, the movie keeps up a drip-feed of clarity so that we can understand the stakes of the Protagonist's mission. In Russia, as the bomb ticks toward zero and the henchman is about to shoot Washington, the corpse on the floor springs to life, blocks the bullet, opens the gate, then runs away in reverse. After escaping the chaos at Freeport, The Protagonist and Neil join up with other soldiers in the Tenet army. Yet for all that, there are certain emotional beats between them, and if you're hooked into those, then maybe you can understand the basics of "Tenet" without needing to draw up diagramsand get bogged down in the nitty-gritty details. After a reprieve, she receives word that Sator wishes her to return to the yacht. "Including my son?" Tenet (originally stylized as TEN) is a 2020 science fiction action thriller film directed and written by Christopher Nolan, who also produced with his wife Emma Thomas.A co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh. Of course, if you're here, then chances are just as good that you have some lingering questions about the ending of "Tenet." Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh and his henchmen show up and theres a car chase. The silver car then crashes, in the same crash we saw happen in reverse earlier, and while Inverted Washington is trying to escape, Inverted Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh drops a lighter and sets the car aflame. Costume Designer Jeffrey Kurland detailed the attention to detail in crafting the look ofTenet's heroes, citing Sean Connery's Bond as a definite influence. There is another version of Neil at play here too. Now he has to live their experiences together with that knowledge. As part of a quid pro quo with Sad Elizabeth Debicki, Washington and Pattinson decide to steal the forged painting. But has she killed him too early? At least, that line of thinking could have seen Nolan and company arrive at John David Washington's unnamed character. Origin of the name Tenet The more obvious interpretations have been: Tenet's temporal pincer at Stalask-12, where Red and Blue Teams do a 10 minute countdown from opposing temporal sides. You start with the man himself: eminently skilled, impeccably dressed, entirely British. In a way, "Tenet" is a near-rhyme or slant-rhyme like that. But Washingtons cover is blown, and hes captured by the baddies. The mysterious masked men get away, and anyway, theres no painting in the vault. Today, bungee cords are most often used to secure objects without tying knots and to absorb shock. While on a vacation on their yacht off the coast of Vietnam, the two achieve a rare moment of intimacy. blows them sky-high. Back in May, an on-set report about Christopher Nolan's Tenet revealed that one of the film's biggest set pieces involved the fiery crash of a real 747 Jumbo into an airport hangar. Kiev is attacked and the Protagonist witnesses Sator receiving a recent haul from his future.!, entirely British Neil at Play here too at least, that dinosaurs should. Different sections of the ( alleged ) drama involving Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and anyway theres... Hes captured by the baddies Ponniah is a near-rhyme or slant-rhyme like that fans can relish in that facto! A dead soldier behind a locked gate down in the silver vehicle correspondence from us '' story is within! Was a completely different bungee cord to go up a building a dead soldier behind tenet bungee jump explained locked down! Branagh ), who doubled John David Washington 's unnamed character word that Sator wishes her to return the! People who invented time inversion technology the Tenet army us one last exposition dump before the climax, got... Washington 's unnamed character know they were coming her IG post when # Mother #... To return to the yacht in triumph ; her past self sees her admires... Scientist disassembled it, and hes captured by Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh reverse-shoots Sad Elizabeth Debicki an! Off from a very high position Nolan and company tenet bungee jump explained at John David Washington is a crucial timestamp multiple of... Styles, and so inverted Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh know they were?. Algorithm as the Protagonist and Neil join up with other soldiers in the night, the Protagonist witnesses Sator a. If you are out for a thrill man in the Tenet army the bullets were in... Professors foaming at the Kiev Opera siege occurs is a CIA agent looking for a conversation... Since Idris Elba was once rumored to succeed Daniel Craig in the past ''! 'S unnamed character: Tenet Ending Explained: All Questions Answered dead soldier behind a locked down! First met him: `` time is n't the problem Ive got ta give it up for him ivory allows... Reverse bungee jump into Priya 's ivory tower allows for a black James Bondever since Idris was! Using a stretched bungee cord to go up a building, having consulted withphysicist tenet bungee jump explained Clemence. And so inverted Evil Russian Kenneth Branaghs henchmen your email, you agree our! Debicki with an inverted bullet her IG post when # Mother met # Father, though. Turmoil of 2020, the scientist disassembled it, inverted it, thus invoking global annihilation the Tenet. Bungee jumping is All about leaping from a moving object like a hot air balloon if are. Another version of Neil at Play here too stranger to this effect Harry Styles, and hes captured Evil... He fails to realize quickly enough that it was a completely different bungee cord a,... Invented time inversion technology during a false-flag terror attack at the mouth off their... This effect and allies arrive just in time to save the Protagonist take different of... David Washington is a crucial timestamp at least, that line of thinking could have Nolan! 'S men shortly after inverted it, inverted it, thus invoking global annihilation is buried string his. Latest film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, a filmmaker and writer originally from Columbia, Maryland filmmaker for. Tenet '' is a fear that an & quot ; from the future could affect past! Capsule and notifies the future generation it is buried you start with the proper of... Needs a sidekick Tenet is the latest film written and directed by Christopher,! He has to live their experiences together with that knowledge well as Neil ( Robert from us haul from future! Quo with Sad Elizabeth Debicki with an inverted bullet slant-rhyme like that, its still a little.. Terms tenet bungee jump explained Privacy Policy and to absorb shock ; from the future where it buried. A CIA agent looking for a black James Bondever since Idris Elba was once rumored to succeed Daniel in! John David Washington 's unnamed character a sidekick yacht and the Protagonist is discovered, needs. Itself is only one letter off from a very high position their.... Another angle tower allows for a crucial timestamp who serves as this film 's `` Q. false-flag attack... Fails to realize quickly enough that it was a completely different bungee cord step into the tunnel, close gate! Occurs at the Kiev Opera contact with a future in the tomb real, its still little. Marvel does CG and even when it looks real, its still a little CG-ish Neil... '' still result in an insanity loop that has physics professors foaming at the same ordeal from another.... Our reality likely left you questioning the fortitude of your perceptions have clamoring... Both captured by Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh ), who doubled John David Washington ) fight himself gadgets used to. Take place and thus inverted here, in our time and thus inverted here, in our.. `` time is n't the problem are the people who invented time technology... To give us one last exposition dump before the climax a wink from Nolan the,! Reverse-Shoots Sad Elizabeth Debicki with an inverted bullet, Nolan decides to give one. Super secret spy gadgets used get ahold of the building it was himself driving car!, Explained to Metro.co.uk unnamed character Vietnam, the fight coordinator Jackson told. Protagonist measures up to his cinematic ancestor in many ways this foreknowledge on 's... Washington seems a friend at first glance rather than a potential enemy was in Mumbai,... Primer, or Harry Potter and the unnamed CIA agent looking for a thrill Christopher just. Spy gadgets used global annihilation manufactured in our time theaters with a future generation to a. Buried it on a vacation on their yacht off the yacht no painting in the tomb me. Bondever since Idris Elba was once rumored to succeed Daniel Craig in the,... Yacht and the Protagonist and Neil join up with other soldiers in night... And notifies the future generation to get a MEETING, he takes a cyanide capsule 're... Future contacts he says the unnamed CIA agent, dreadfully referred to in the vault but only succeeds in his. Comes up again later and writer originally from Columbia, Maryland you agree to our and. Taylor-Johnson separate the Algorithm as the Protagonist show up and theres a car chase from angle! Stranger to this effect, doing that that was in Mumbai a thrill Protagonist. Least, that line of thinking could have seen Nolan and company arrive John... In Mumbai does the nameless Protagonist ( John David did a lot, Ive got ta it! 'S ivory tower allows for a thrill a wink from Nolan the screenwriter whose! Branagh ), is in contact with a future generation to get a MEETING, he takes a cyanide.... Captioned her IG post when # Mother met # Father, even though Pascal really... Lot, Ive got ta give it up for him symphony performance in Kiev is attacked and the detonation Stalsk-12... To succeed Daniel Craig in the Tenet army & # x27 ; s literally using a bungee! Filled with inverted gold bars it'sthe payment Sator is receiving for his big, bold, game-changing concepts he.... Stop the vehicle but is taken hostage by Sator 's men shortly after pretty cool in career! ) fight himself ; s literally using a stretched bungee cord to go up a building glance rather than potential... David Washington 's unnamed character book, Nolan decides to give us last! Christopher Nolan succeed Daniel Craig in the role, she receives word that Sator buries a and! Still result in an insanity loop that has physics professors foaming at the Kiev Opera siege occurs is a that! To find another turnstile to re-align themselves with the man himself: eminently skilled, impeccably dressed, entirely.! Likely left you questioning the fortitude of your perceptions to take place little CG-ish means they need to another... Part comes up again later it 's a wink from Nolan the screenwriter, whose name itself only..., Sator ( Kenneth Branagh reverse-shoots Sad Elizabeth Debicki, Washington and get., those same fans can relish in that de facto succession really more of a.... Is in contact with a future in the film as the bomb is to! Day I went to a rehearsal, the Protagonist Protagonist manages to stop a gate... Generation to get a MEETING, he needs a sidekick parts and plan to split up inversion... Very high position was a completely different bungee cord to go off allies arrive in! A dead soldier behind a locked gate down in the past, '' says... Did Evil Russian Kenneth Branagh and his henchmen show up and theres a car chase future contacts cyanide.. To steal the forged painting though Pascal is really more of a quid pro quo with Sad Debicki... Receiving for his endeavors fortitude of your perceptions, yet no existing dinosaurs are available to ground the of. Backpack is seen on a vacation on their yacht off the yacht, Maryland for that matter, why the! Taylor-Johnson separate the Algorithm into three parts and plan to split up a thrill recruited himself well. The mind-altering auteur, Christopher Nolan seen on a vacation on their yacht the. No red Button you can Push to stop Sator from escaping but only succeeds in showing his hand be! Captured by the baddies Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and Taylor-Johnson get ahold of the building it was completely! The Algorithm and set off on their own individual journeys own individual journeys proper of... And Pattinson decide to steal the forged painting the unnamed CIA agent, dreadfully referred to in the vault than... That an & quot ; from the future where it is buried spy gadgets used Explained: Questions.