Inception and Interstellar director Christopher Nolan reaffirms his twisty new thriller Tenet is not a time-travel film, describing his latest as a mind-bender that deals with time through the concept of inversion. The key term, revealed in the films most recent trailer, is about reversing the flow of time and is used by the Protagonist (John David Washington) when he corrects an operative (Robert Pattinson) who questions the rewinding process of time travel. Like the films tight-lipped official synopsis which describes Tenet as an international espionage adventure unfolding in something beyond real time the Protagonist says its not time travel. Instead, its inversion.
This film is not a time travel film, Nolan told Entertainment Weekly. It deals with time and the different ways in which time can function. Not to get into a physics lesson, but inversion is this idea of material that has had its entropy inverted, so its running backwards through time, relative to us.
Washington earlier admitted he was surprised the films latest trailer revealed plot hints about Nolans top-secret twister, described by co-star Kenneth Branagh as a mind-boggling treatment of time.
Its an espionage piece thats dealing with a global threat to the world, Branagh said. A nuclear holocaust is not the greatest disaster that could befall the human race. Tenet discusses an even worse possibility, and it is wrapped up in this mind-boggling treatment of time that continues Chris Nolans preoccupations in films way back to Memento, through Interstellar and Inception.
Like his character, Washington was left with many questions as he unraveled the secrets of Tenet also a key codeword in the films plot. During a recent promotional event hosted by Fortnite, Washington said he repeatedly questioned Nolan about the films story and its timeline.
Every day I had questions for him. But he was very gracious, and he answered them very calmly and patiently, Washington said. It was important that the actors could track the story correctly so we could tell it the best way we could, and he was very patient with us. I say that very politely [laughs].
John David Washington is the new Protagonist in Christopher Nolans original sci-fi action spectacle Tenet. Armed with only one wordTenetand fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time. Not time travel. Inversion. The international cast of Tenet also includes Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Clémence Poésy, with Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh.
Tenet is scheduled to open only in theaters July 31.
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