The world wasn’t ready for Tenet when it was originally released in 2020. That’s both literally true — it was the middle of the pandemic — and spiritually true, because people were still so hung up on the idea of Christopher Nolan as a puzzle-box filmmaker who wanted his movies solved. But now that people are starting to head back to theaters, and Oppenheimer has clued audiences in to Nolan’s earnestness, maybe it’s finally time to appreciate Tenet for the vibey friendship-movie masterpiece it is. With the movie heading back into theaters on Feb. 23 for a one-week revival, there’s no better time for the reevaluation to begin.
From the very first moments in the Kyiv Opera, Tenet feels like a kick in the teeth in the best possible way. It’s big, loud, and emphatically kinetic. John David Washington’s intense physicality, running and sliding through the back rooms of the opera house, gives the movie an instant rush of forward momentum. Meanwhile, Nolan gives all this movement energy, with crashing edits that make the movie feel like it’s bouncing off walls, and an agile camera that’s game to keep up with his actors’ intense pace and chase them down when it has to.
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