Second Thoughts on Tenet

I saw (and blogged about) Tenet on the big screen shortly after it came out and before Regal Cinemas shut down all their American theaters (they're re-opening at the moment, and I'm planning to go see something Real Soon Now).

I knew I'd want to see it again (and again), but I wasn't going to pay $19.99 to rent it for 24 hours, and didn't really want to pay $19.99 to buy it. Fortunately I found it on sale for $9.99 over the weekend, bought it, and watched it again.

I won't say that the difficulty I had understanding the timeline as applied to the plot is gone, but on a second viewing informed by some good backgrounders it's at least reduced. I recommend this one, but consider yourself forewarned of considerable spoiler content. A non-spoiler quote that summarizes things:

Nolan once again recruited theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, who served as a consultant on Interstellar, to advise on the script and ensure that Tenet was anchored in the real laws of physics and time, while also taking some creative liberties with them.

I don't find Tenet's major premise as easy to suspend disbelief on as, say, Nolan's own Inception, or the Wachowskis' Matrix films. But Nolan does use that premise to do a lot of cool things with and I'm still not wanting my time back. I don't expect Tenet to make my "view at least once a year and usually more often than that" list, but I do expect to watch it several more times.

If you still haven't even noticed Tenet, this trailer should give you a reasonable idea of whether or not it's your kind of movie.