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Tenet
Tenet is a global thriller whose action stretches across time zones, and stars Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki and John David Washington. The film displays Nolan's preoccupations, especially how Time can shift from on moment to the next,The fact that the title - TENET - can be read forwards and backwards indicates the complexity of the film
- GenresFictionScience Fiction
239 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 8, 2020
85 people are currently reading
334 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Nolan
34 books464 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Christopher Jonathan James Nolan (born July 30, 1970) is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is known for writing and directing such critically acclaimed films as Memento (2000), the remake Insomnia (2002), the film adaptation The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010), and rebooting the Batman film franchise. The latter made him the second most commercially successful British director in recent years, behind David Yates. Nolan is the founder of the production company Syncopy Films.
He often collaborates with his wife, producer Emma Thomas, and his brother, screenwriter Jonathan Nolan, as well as cinematographer Wally Pfister, film editor Lee Smith, composers David Julyan and Hans Zimmer, special effects coordinator Chris Corbould, and actors Christian Bale and Michael Caine.
Nolan often casts the same actors in different films. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Russ Fega, Cillian Murphy and Larry Holden are among his more frequent acting collaborators.
Nolan's wife Emma Thomas has produced most of his films, with the exception of Memento and Insomnia. Lee Smith has been Nolan's editor since Batman Begins, with Dody Dorn editing Memento and Insomnia. Wally Pfister has served as cinematographer for all of Nolan's films starting with Memento. David Julyan composed music for Following, Memento, Insomnia, and The Prestige, while Hans Zimmer provided music for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Inception.
Christopher Jonathan James Nolan (born July 30, 1970) is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is known for writing and directing such critically acclaimed films as Memento (2000), the remake Insomnia (2002), the film adaptation The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010), and rebooting the Batman film franchise. The latter made him the second most commercially successful British director in recent years, behind David Yates. Nolan is the founder of the production company Syncopy Films.
He often collaborates with his wife, producer Emma Thomas, and his brother, screenwriter Jonathan Nolan, as well as cinematographer Wally Pfister, film editor Lee Smith, composers David Julyan and Hans Zimmer, special effects coordinator Chris Corbould, and actors Christian Bale and Michael Caine.
Nolan often casts the same actors in different films. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Russ Fega, Cillian Murphy and Larry Holden are among his more frequent acting collaborators.
Nolan's wife Emma Thomas has produced most of his films, with the exception of Memento and Insomnia. Lee Smith has been Nolan's editor since Batman Begins, with Dody Dorn editing Memento and Insomnia. Wally Pfister has served as cinematographer for all of Nolan's films starting with Memento. David Julyan composed music for Following, Memento, Insomnia, and The Prestige, while Hans Zimmer provided music for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Inception.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
January 4, 2024
cowboy shit
September 15, 2020
Before I start, it's important to note that a film script is not necessarily reflective of its final quality. Things that don't entirely work on the page often come together once the visuals are done, clunky dialogue can often sound better when delivered by talented actors, etc. I have not seen Tenet so I don't know how it works visually. All I have to go on is the script. And, to be frank, if the script hadn't been written by, or associated with, a filmmaker of Nolan stature, I don't see how it would have been greenlit. The whole thing is a bit of a convoluted mess. Based on the writing, alone, Tenet is weak. It's devoid of any meaningful characters, hampered with a premise that never fully makes sense, and reads less like a film and more like a collection of loosely related set pieces.
For starters, it's plot is simultaneously simple and incomprehensibly complex. The objective is easy enough to understand: sometime in the future, a machine has been invented that can invert a person or object's entropy and cause them to travel backward in time. A mysterious organization wants to prevent the creation of this machine before it can be used to destroy the past. How this objective is executed is where the film veers into total incomprehension. The biggest culprit is that the time inversion never makes sense. This wouldn't inherently be a problem if the film didn't spend so much time trying to explain the rules and methodology of its time inversion to the audience while in the same breath telling them to just go with it and not understand it. But here's the thing - if you want audiences to just go with something, don't start explaining how it works. The more you explain, the more the audience thinks, and if your concept doesn't hold up to that kind of scrutiny, it'll fall apart.
This is exactly what happens in Tenet. There are several expository scenes where the minutiae of the time inversion gets explained, but it's so complicated, and the more they try to explain it, the less sense it makes. Had they just said something simple like "once something goes through the machine, it travels backward in time," it might have been fine. Instead, Tenet's time inversion is filled with tiny details that never coalesce into an understandable whole. There were several scenes that I had to read multiple times and still never managed to understand. I honestly can't imagine how frustrating watching those scenes must be. Maybe I have just thrown my hands up and gone with it, but reading them just made me think about the concept too much. It's way easier to just accept that something doesn't make sense if the film doesn't try to continuously explain it to you. It doesn't get to have it both ways, either they need to make it make sense or they need to embrace that it doesn't and not even bother. But Tenet tries to have it both ways and completely fails.
And without an understanding of what this time inversion actually means, it becomes increasingly difficult to follow what's happening in the script. Several action sequences feature multiple timelines happening simultaneously, but, without understanding the time inversion concept, it's nearly impossible to track what's happening in those scenes. It just devolves into various people trying to do a thing and it's so disengaging. Maybe these scenes work better visually. I hope they do. But you'd think one of the script's jobs would be to describe them in a manner where the reader could picture and follow what's happening. And the script totally fails to do that, making the film's narrative feel dull and convoluted.
The other element that contributes to the script's woes is the total lack of any characterization. As written, the characters of Tenet range from archetypal to paper-thin. Aside from Kat (who merely fills the damsel-in-distress role), none of the characters seem to have any real personality or emotional stakes in the narrative. The Protagonist - he literally remains unnamed for the entire script – has no character arc. There is no emotional journey for him to embark on, no lesson that he must learn, nothing that gives him any reason for doing anything he does. He just does stuff because the plot needs him to. With a plot as obtuse as Tenet's, the script needed well-developed characters with whom the audience could relate to in order to get us to care about the story. But it fails to do this. I don't know what anyone in the film wants or why they're doing what they're doing, so I don't care about what's happening. And if that's not bad enough, much of Tenet's dialogue is just bad. It's a level of pretentious that I haven't seen in quite a while. It's a mixture of clunky and cringy and it sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm sure the actors do a lot of work to make their characters and dialogue more dynamic, but on paper, it's all extremely weak.
And that's really the case for Tenet's screenplay overall. It's weak. As written, the plot never makes sense, so it never coalesces into a satisfying narrative. The characters have no depth, no development, and no emotional stakes that tie them to the plotline and make them interesting to follow. And the central premise of the film is over-explained to such a degree that its total lack of coherence sinks what could have been a fun idea for an action film. Now, to be fair, there are positives to the script – it moves fast, the action is fun when it's coherent, and it's filled with some cool ideas. But it never goes anywhere or comes together into a good read. Scripts never represent their films' full potential - but they're usually better than this. Many of Nolan's past films had much stronger scripts. And, to be fair, maybe this all really works on screen. I don't know. But on paper? It's a mess and I didn't like it.
For starters, it's plot is simultaneously simple and incomprehensibly complex. The objective is easy enough to understand: sometime in the future, a machine has been invented that can invert a person or object's entropy and cause them to travel backward in time. A mysterious organization wants to prevent the creation of this machine before it can be used to destroy the past. How this objective is executed is where the film veers into total incomprehension. The biggest culprit is that the time inversion never makes sense. This wouldn't inherently be a problem if the film didn't spend so much time trying to explain the rules and methodology of its time inversion to the audience while in the same breath telling them to just go with it and not understand it. But here's the thing - if you want audiences to just go with something, don't start explaining how it works. The more you explain, the more the audience thinks, and if your concept doesn't hold up to that kind of scrutiny, it'll fall apart.
This is exactly what happens in Tenet. There are several expository scenes where the minutiae of the time inversion gets explained, but it's so complicated, and the more they try to explain it, the less sense it makes. Had they just said something simple like "once something goes through the machine, it travels backward in time," it might have been fine. Instead, Tenet's time inversion is filled with tiny details that never coalesce into an understandable whole. There were several scenes that I had to read multiple times and still never managed to understand. I honestly can't imagine how frustrating watching those scenes must be. Maybe I have just thrown my hands up and gone with it, but reading them just made me think about the concept too much. It's way easier to just accept that something doesn't make sense if the film doesn't try to continuously explain it to you. It doesn't get to have it both ways, either they need to make it make sense or they need to embrace that it doesn't and not even bother. But Tenet tries to have it both ways and completely fails.
And without an understanding of what this time inversion actually means, it becomes increasingly difficult to follow what's happening in the script. Several action sequences feature multiple timelines happening simultaneously, but, without understanding the time inversion concept, it's nearly impossible to track what's happening in those scenes. It just devolves into various people trying to do a thing and it's so disengaging. Maybe these scenes work better visually. I hope they do. But you'd think one of the script's jobs would be to describe them in a manner where the reader could picture and follow what's happening. And the script totally fails to do that, making the film's narrative feel dull and convoluted.
The other element that contributes to the script's woes is the total lack of any characterization. As written, the characters of Tenet range from archetypal to paper-thin. Aside from Kat (who merely fills the damsel-in-distress role), none of the characters seem to have any real personality or emotional stakes in the narrative. The Protagonist - he literally remains unnamed for the entire script – has no character arc. There is no emotional journey for him to embark on, no lesson that he must learn, nothing that gives him any reason for doing anything he does. He just does stuff because the plot needs him to. With a plot as obtuse as Tenet's, the script needed well-developed characters with whom the audience could relate to in order to get us to care about the story. But it fails to do this. I don't know what anyone in the film wants or why they're doing what they're doing, so I don't care about what's happening. And if that's not bad enough, much of Tenet's dialogue is just bad. It's a level of pretentious that I haven't seen in quite a while. It's a mixture of clunky and cringy and it sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm sure the actors do a lot of work to make their characters and dialogue more dynamic, but on paper, it's all extremely weak.
And that's really the case for Tenet's screenplay overall. It's weak. As written, the plot never makes sense, so it never coalesces into a satisfying narrative. The characters have no depth, no development, and no emotional stakes that tie them to the plotline and make them interesting to follow. And the central premise of the film is over-explained to such a degree that its total lack of coherence sinks what could have been a fun idea for an action film. Now, to be fair, there are positives to the script – it moves fast, the action is fun when it's coherent, and it's filled with some cool ideas. But it never goes anywhere or comes together into a good read. Scripts never represent their films' full potential - but they're usually better than this. Many of Nolan's past films had much stronger scripts. And, to be fair, maybe this all really works on screen. I don't know. But on paper? It's a mess and I didn't like it.
October 26, 2020
True to Nolan's best, this is a complex and epically interconnected story.
~
One thing I love about Christopher Nolan's movies that feature time travel, is that there is always only one timeline. If the character goes into the past, then he shows the character in the past, before he got there, so to speak. That probably doesn't make any sense. What I'm trying to say is, the characters never change the past by going back in time. What's happened has happened.
~
I love that, because it makes more sense to me. And it forces the storyteller not to be lazy in his telling. And of course, Nolan does not disappoint in this department.
~
As for differences in the Screenplay and the movie:
1) The fight scenes (specifically the ones in the Freeport Vault) are longer/more complex in the movie. That's understandable, though. When you're writing a screenplay, and you describe a fight in it, you really won't know what you can do with said fight until you get a choreographer on the job.
2) There are a couple lines cut here and there. But, again, as per usual for Nolan, there is very little superfluous material in the screenplay.
~
And that's pretty much it as far as differences go. The story is basically the same. I am happy to read it, though. A lot of the lines were obscured by the soundtrack/sound effects when I saw the movie.
~
Super happy to own my own copy of this script, and I'm sure I'll be reading it again and again.
~~~
Having read it a second time, and as more of the details of the movie came back to me as I read, I've come to the conclusion that the movie is better.
~
One thing I love about Christopher Nolan's movies that feature time travel, is that there is always only one timeline. If the character goes into the past, then he shows the character in the past, before he got there, so to speak. That probably doesn't make any sense. What I'm trying to say is, the characters never change the past by going back in time. What's happened has happened.
~
I love that, because it makes more sense to me. And it forces the storyteller not to be lazy in his telling. And of course, Nolan does not disappoint in this department.
~
As for differences in the Screenplay and the movie:
1) The fight scenes (specifically the ones in the Freeport Vault) are longer/more complex in the movie. That's understandable, though. When you're writing a screenplay, and you describe a fight in it, you really won't know what you can do with said fight until you get a choreographer on the job.
2) There are a couple lines cut here and there. But, again, as per usual for Nolan, there is very little superfluous material in the screenplay.
~
And that's pretty much it as far as differences go. The story is basically the same. I am happy to read it, though. A lot of the lines were obscured by the soundtrack/sound effects when I saw the movie.
~
Super happy to own my own copy of this script, and I'm sure I'll be reading it again and again.
~~~
Having read it a second time, and as more of the details of the movie came back to me as I read, I've come to the conclusion that the movie is better.
January 28, 2021
I found the time travel fun, interesting, and believable until Nolan pulled an "Interstellar" on me. If it weren't for some torture at the beginning, I'd be tempted to watch the movie. It'd be really cool to see the action scenes. It was a little hard to wrap my mind around just reading.
September 24, 2020
Don't Try To Understand It... Feel It
Review of the Faber & Faber Kindle eBook edition (September 2020)
Don't expect any further explanations here of what is going on in the film. This is the screenplay with a bare minimum of scene and setting descriptions. There is an appendix section which displays the storyboards for several scenes, esp. the encounter inside the Oslo freeport.
The main benefit of this is to be able to understand the dialogue which was often obscured by the FX noises in the film. Once there is a streaming or home release with subtitles that will be the ideal way to watch the film.
Trivia and Link
Someone has modelled various forward & inverted scenes of the film which may help in some understanding (SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY). It is still confusing to follow though. The highway scene (Filmed in Estonia, yeah!) is here. Forward characters are in red, inverted characters are in blue. The orange case and the "Plutonium 451" piece are orange and silver. The box at lower right represents the inversion machine.
Review of the Faber & Faber Kindle eBook edition (September 2020)
Don't expect any further explanations here of what is going on in the film. This is the screenplay with a bare minimum of scene and setting descriptions. There is an appendix section which displays the storyboards for several scenes, esp. the encounter inside the Oslo freeport.
The main benefit of this is to be able to understand the dialogue which was often obscured by the FX noises in the film. Once there is a streaming or home release with subtitles that will be the ideal way to watch the film.
Trivia and Link
Someone has modelled various forward & inverted scenes of the film which may help in some understanding (SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY). It is still confusing to follow though. The highway scene (Filmed in Estonia, yeah!) is here. Forward characters are in red, inverted characters are in blue. The orange case and the "Plutonium 451" piece are orange and silver. The box at lower right represents the inversion machine.
November 5, 2020
The screenplay is as precisely accurate as the movie came out, only a few slight differences. I had been reading the screenplay with the TENET scores playing in the background, making the reading ten times less dry than it should have been. The visual and auditory backing really did help you understand and the flow and all the info dump.
(When I mean visual, I mean JWD and Robert Pattinson such eye candies. I'm glad they cast the younger Neil than the original storyboard.)
(When I mean visual, I mean JWD and Robert Pattinson such eye candies. I'm glad they cast the younger Neil than the original storyboard.)
January 20, 2021
It feels weird to be reviewing a movie here, but this is specifically about the screenplay. The script is fast-moving but kind of dull dialogue-wise.
I actually felt I understood the story better reading it than watching it, which is a testament as to how screwy the sound mixing on this film really is.
But the movie shines visually and is an engaging action thriller! Looking at the script though, it’s really just a blueprint for a better movie.
I actually felt I understood the story better reading it than watching it, which is a testament as to how screwy the sound mixing on this film really is.
But the movie shines visually and is an engaging action thriller! Looking at the script though, it’s really just a blueprint for a better movie.
December 10, 2022
I have never read a movie script. Maybe a novelization of a movie, but this is the actual script as they write it with every scene as a separate large paragraph starting with capitalized letters like "INT. BOX, CONCERT HALL - CONTINUOUS". Or the dialogue stating the person doing the talking "PROTAGONIST (over radio)". While reading you can already see it's a working document for the cinematographers to set up the scene, descriptions for the wardrobe and set builders. Or to go even back further, to location hunters. But it's a very loose guidance. Most is left unsaid, so it's good to have the actual movie playing in your head side-by-side to understand what choices were left out of the script to the separate departments working on the whole.
Tenet is a fine thriller with a witty premise, but reading at your own pace has some definite advantages. I don't know if I'm getting old or what, but to me the Tenet movie sound mix was rather poor. The dialogue was inaudible. Or maybe the actors kinda talked into their beards. Not sure, but now reading, many pieces of dialogue bring out many vital details I missed during the screening. Then again, this is a complex narrative which might require multiple viewings to enjoy to the fullest.
The first time I remember noticing all the familiar Estonian actors and locations filmed in Tallinn. Also it was awesome that during the premiere Nolan had a personal greeting to all Estonians as the hosts of half of this filming.
Regardless, a fascinating read to experience the corner of the movie industry via a prism of a good movie. I don't think I would care to read a straight forward stupid comedy script or a Disney movie. You still need some motivation to work through the weird strict script template. So one of your favorite movies is probably a good place to enter the world of screenwriting.
Tenet is a fine thriller with a witty premise, but reading at your own pace has some definite advantages. I don't know if I'm getting old or what, but to me the Tenet movie sound mix was rather poor. The dialogue was inaudible. Or maybe the actors kinda talked into their beards. Not sure, but now reading, many pieces of dialogue bring out many vital details I missed during the screening. Then again, this is a complex narrative which might require multiple viewings to enjoy to the fullest.
The first time I remember noticing all the familiar Estonian actors and locations filmed in Tallinn. Also it was awesome that during the premiere Nolan had a personal greeting to all Estonians as the hosts of half of this filming.
Regardless, a fascinating read to experience the corner of the movie industry via a prism of a good movie. I don't think I would care to read a straight forward stupid comedy script or a Disney movie. You still need some motivation to work through the weird strict script template. So one of your favorite movies is probably a good place to enter the world of screenwriting.
October 5, 2020
Awesome. Helps clarify things...
I was able to catch some of the dialogue I missed in the movie because I was either thinking (trying to figure out what is happening and some things are said rapidly), or the score and sound effects were too loud.
I probably shouldn’t have read this, because I was also able to think about things and catch a few plot holes.
Still, overall, a brilliant story and movie. Can’t wait to buy it and watch it again with hindsight.
I was able to catch some of the dialogue I missed in the movie because I was either thinking (trying to figure out what is happening and some things are said rapidly), or the score and sound effects were too loud.
I probably shouldn’t have read this, because I was also able to think about things and catch a few plot holes.
Still, overall, a brilliant story and movie. Can’t wait to buy it and watch it again with hindsight.
March 22, 2021
Tenet a genius movie/script and if you fail to understand what really happened it doesn't mean it was really complicated, it just means this is a movie that's supposed to be understood backward, the whole story is reverted.
Only by getting to the end, you will understand the beginning.
Only by getting to the end, you will understand the beginning.
January 22, 2024
We’re the ones saving the world
from what might have been
Ships in harbor
are safe
but that’s
not what
ships are
built for
Who gets the message?
Posterity
from what might have been
Ships in harbor
are safe
but that’s
not what
ships are
built for
Who gets the message?
Posterity
Want to read
December 31, 2022The thing about this movie is that it's a frequency. It's literally a vibration that you tune into whenever you watch it, and you can't really say the same about other movies or things in life (you can if you want to be really technical, but you get my point). Whenever you want to tune into a frequency of innovation, scientific genius and philosophical strangeness, this is the movie to watch, and most of this frequency is down to the music. The people who didn't like it were the ones not in a position intellectually to appreciate its innovativeness and genius, and people who don't like to think. In my opinion we need to engage with material that challenges us so that our minds do not atrophy, and I'm thinking that this is the problem with society today -- hardly anyone wants to put energy into thinking, and the devastating consequences of this are all around, so I'm grateful that Christopher Nolan makes movies that you can't understand unless you actually think about it. Every time I watch it I understand it better because I catch something I missed before. I still liked Interstellar more, but not by that much. Interstellar is more sentimental for me, but Tenet, as I said, is just a whole frequency. Easily in my top ten movies, so the novelization is on my reading list.
November 21, 2020
This is a movie meant to be watched. There's a lot of action and moving parts that are hard to visualize from the script. I enjoyed reading the visual directions. Still, it's hard for me to wrap my mind around the concept. I think I need to see it to get it. Some of the dialog seemed very simplistic, like the Protagonist's first conversation with Sanjay and Priya. But I think it'll feel more profound when acted out.
I bought this before seeing the movie as I couldn't wait anymore to learn the secret of inversion. I'm looking forward to stream the film when it's available.
I bought this before seeing the movie as I couldn't wait anymore to learn the secret of inversion. I'm looking forward to stream the film when it's available.
July 12, 2022
Awesome imagination !
This is hard for me to review because I’ve also seen the movie but one thing for sure: the author got one hell of imagination.
I’ve listened to many audiobooks dealing with time or time travel always searching and at times find mistakes.
What special about this one is that the author got characters moving forward and others backwards at the same time and thinking about the pincher traps or movement in time is new and requires a truly amazing imagination without making no mistakes is just WOW.
Oded Ostfeld.
This is hard for me to review because I’ve also seen the movie but one thing for sure: the author got one hell of imagination.
I’ve listened to many audiobooks dealing with time or time travel always searching and at times find mistakes.
What special about this one is that the author got characters moving forward and others backwards at the same time and thinking about the pincher traps or movement in time is new and requires a truly amazing imagination without making no mistakes is just WOW.
Oded Ostfeld.
November 26, 2022
Never could have imagined myself going through a screenplay to a movie to get deeper insights but here I am. The movie is more for the brain and less for the heart. It does not move you; does not make you feel in the ways movies are generally supposed to, which is why it fails to gather many fans. But it's a highly creative cinematic masterpiece.
Meanwhile, I found this piece of dialogue unintentionally funny -
NEIL: Our present wiped out, our past obliterated. Everyone and everything who ever lived destroyed instantly.
KATE: Including my son.
NEIL: Let me sedate you.
Meanwhile, I found this piece of dialogue unintentionally funny -
NEIL: Our present wiped out, our past obliterated. Everyone and everything who ever lived destroyed instantly.
KATE: Including my son.
NEIL: Let me sedate you.
February 21, 2025
I enjoyed the film, the temporal/timey whimey stuff didn't confuse me (probably too much sci-fi as a kid) - and was looking forward to reading this, but I have to say - I found reading Tenet difficult. Each time the backward/forward action scenes started, I wanted to put the book down. Thankfully the thought of picking up Interstellar next drove me through, or I may have left this on a roadside in Tallin.
November 1, 2021
Exposition, Exposition and more Exposition.
I was hoping that by reading the script I would understand the film more and be able to appreciate it, but after 90 pages of expository dialogue and complicated (head scratching) action scenes, I gave up, its just not my cup of tea.
I really did try to like this film and its script, its just not for me.
I was hoping that by reading the script I would understand the film more and be able to appreciate it, but after 90 pages of expository dialogue and complicated (head scratching) action scenes, I gave up, its just not my cup of tea.
I really did try to like this film and its script, its just not for me.
May 9, 2024
90
Pretty great overall. More explanation of what’s happening than in the movie but I most certainly don’t understand it anymore. I don’t know it’s good. I don’t really have that much to say about it. If you are interested in reading this I would more than recommend picking it up. It’s worth your time. That’s all I’ve got for now. It’s good.
Pretty great overall. More explanation of what’s happening than in the movie but I most certainly don’t understand it anymore. I don’t know it’s good. I don’t really have that much to say about it. If you are interested in reading this I would more than recommend picking it up. It’s worth your time. That’s all I’ve got for now. It’s good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 5, 2024
I recommend for fans of the movie. If you haven't seen the movie IMO watch that first.
-It's easier to understand the plot with this since the dialogue is clear (Although that also might've been because i've seen it 7 times)
-The movie has some very cool action scenes that any text version can't truly capture.
-There were some minor changes I noticed between this and the movie.
-It's easier to understand the plot with this since the dialogue is clear (Although that also might've been because i've seen it 7 times)
-The movie has some very cool action scenes that any text version can't truly capture.
-There were some minor changes I noticed between this and the movie.
June 2, 2025
Tenet is my favorite Christopher Nolan film, and potentially my favorite film of all time. I loved being able to read this screenplay; I’ve seen this movie so many times but something about reading it and the scene directions while watching it play out in my head was super special. It brought another level of clarity and understanding to the film as a whole.
December 17, 2020
If you've never seen the movie, I'm fairly sure it's super difficult to understand what the **** is going on. I watched it, completely enraptured, and yet I'm still struggling. It was interesting though, and I loved having a glimpse at some of the storyboards at the end of the script.
March 5, 2024
Potentially even more confusing on the page, which is a feat in and of itself. There's some cut dialogue and certain scene descriptions that make this feel like an expanded edition of the film. Very entertaining read
April 4, 2024
Probably one of the most ambitious film scripts ever conceived. Awesome to see how the movie's incredibly complicated visuals translate on paper. May not be the most fun read (Nolanists would probably give it 5 stars but I'm trying to not be biased...) but it's definitely an interesting one!
November 30, 2025
I read this to understand a movie that is as the director says, not meant to be understood.
It’s very much like watching tenet but over the 7 or so hours it takes to read. The script is mostly word for word the movie.
A great, fun and light read
It’s very much like watching tenet but over the 7 or so hours it takes to read. The script is mostly word for word the movie.
A great, fun and light read
October 25, 2020
I haven't watched the movie, the script doesn't make much sense but had some interesting moments and concepts.
December 8, 2020
Brilliance
March 22, 2021
Good one
May 10, 2021
Confusing, to say the least. Crossing from the past to the future and back again was not for me. Most of my rating was for creativity.
May 14, 2024
I love Christopher Nolan and I enjoyed the movie version of Tenet but the script is really hard to follow and the characters feel practically dimensionless on the page.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews