UPDATE: It was recently reported that Tenet will be released internationally on August 26
The cinemas have reopened – with plenty of time to spare before one of the most high-profile movies of the year.
Christopher Nolan’s latest mind-bending blockbuster, Tenet, will be in cinemas in August, and for many it’ll mark the first screening back after months away.
There’s a certain mystique surrounding the film, with plot details still under wraps. There’s still a great deal we know for certain – as well as some fascinating speculation that’s been circulating among fan communities online.
This is everything fans need to know about Tenet.
What’s the new movie about?
“An action epic evolving from the world of international espionage,” is how the official plot synopsis reads, which doesn't tell us much.
We do know that the high-concept movie sees John David Washington’s special agent attempt to prevent a conflict "worse than World War III" through the manipulation of time.
The plot has yet to be revealed, although the trailer shows that there’s a powerful group who can be contacted through the use of the word “Tenet”.
Anyone familiar with the director’s work will know his fondness for non-linear narratives and unusual structuring in films like Interstellar, Inception and Memento, and Tenet is no exception. If the film sounds complicated, it’s because it is. Even stars of the film found it difficult to keep up what happens in the movie.
Robert Pattinson told Esquire: “It’s an incredibly complicated movie, like all of Chris’s movies. I mean, you have to watch them when they’re completely finished and edited three or four times to understand what the true meaning is.”
Cast
Washington plays the lead character, known simply as The Protagonist, marking his biggest movie role since making his name in 2018’s excellent Spike Lee movie BlacKkKlansman.
Nolan recently compared the character to James Bond, pointing out the similarities and differences to the spy figure. The character "is very much a presence at the heart of the film, but, unlike a Bond, he has a very warm emotional accessibility," he told Entertainment Weekly.
During the same interview, he also confirmed that Aaron Taylor-Johnson will play a significant role in the film, despite not featuring heavily in the trailer or promotional images for the movie.
"Yes, there are no photographs of him, this is true. He is briefly glimpsed in the [second] trailer. He’s also completely unrecognisable,” Nolan said. “There are all kinds of things that happen in terms of where the story goes as the film develops and where it winds up in the later stages that we don’t want to spoil for people."
Elsewhere, Robert Pattinson completes his journey from blockbuster heartthrob to indie darling and back again with a turn as a suave, as-yet-unnamed agent. Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh are among the other stars involved.
The film might be Nolan’s most ambitious movie to date, and it also has the biggest production budget, with the film being made for between $200–225 million. It's his most recent work since 2017's Dunkirk.
Trailer
The new clips from the film delve into the film’s mysterious premise, following Washington’s special agent as he's tasked with preventing a conflict that could cost the lives of thousands if not millions.
We see him come to terms with the manipulation of time, catching bullets from a target at a firing range, engaging in a high-speed chase with back flipping cars and discussing crashing a plane with Robert Pattinson’s fellow agent in the new clips.
Fan theories
One thing we know for certain is that the film is in some way – directly or indirectly – related to Nolan’s 2010 movie Inception.
“I’d say [Tenet] is an in-law to Inception,” Washington previously told Esquire, joking adding: “They’re related by marriage. They get together for Thanksgivings, family barbecues, like that kind of thing. Other than that, one lives in Europe, the other one lives in Compton.”
What we can take from that, we’re not entirely sure, although fans online think they have an idea. Nolan enthusiasts have been busy looking into possible hidden references in the new trailer and they’ve come across something interesting.
One theory that’s been doing the rounds online suggests the children who famously feature in the final scene of Inception also feature in Tenet. Two children embrace their father Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) in the memorable scene, as viewers were left unsure if they were witnessing a dream sequence or real life. The new theory asserts that these children could in fact be the same characters being played by Tenet’s Robert Pattinson and Clémence Poésy in the new film.
Nolan previously stated that the story for Tenet has been in development for 20 years, meaning the director had the idea for the film in mind when he was working on Inception. If the two films are linked, it could yet prove to be the case the children are all grown up and inhabiting the same world.
It’s pure speculation of course, but we also know that Pattinson dyed his hair blonde for the role – could it have been to match with that of his characters’s father Cobb from Inception? Fans will have to wait and see.
Running time
It's been revealed that Tenet has a run time of 149 minutes and 59 seconds – just one minute longer than the run time of Inception.
Release date
It was recently reported that the film will be released internationally on August 26.
