The early reviews are in for domestic markets on September 3.
Washington plays an unnamed C.I.A. operative of an organization known as Tenet who is tasked with preventing World War III while facing enemies who have the ability to move backward in time. Washington's character is accompanied by Neil (Pattinson), another agent, and their colleagues from Tenet to save the entire world, with the help of Kat (Debicki), the wife of a Russian oligarch (Kenneth Branagh) who can communicate with the future.
Early reactions to the international espionage thriller from a pre-screening were dropped today, with some reviewers likening the film to James Bond or Nolan's earlier mind-bender Inception. You can read through spoiler-free excerpts below to see what the critics are saying about Tenet. For more, click on the corresponding links to check out the reviews in full.
Leslie Felperin, THR
Altogether, it makes for a chilly, cerebral film — easy to ire, especially since it's so rich in audacity and originality, but almost impossible to love, lacking as it is in a certain humanity.
Jessica Kiang, The New York Times
Seek it out, if only to marvel at the entertainingly inane glory of what we once had and are in danger of never having again. Well, that and the suits.
Mike McCahill, IndieWire
What’s really there to untangle, beyond loops of string and a whole lot of smoke rings? Anyone ready to obsess over a doodad on a backpack as they did over the spinning top of “Inception” can cling to the illusion of Nolan as the movie messiah. On this evidence, though, he’s become a very trying, ungenerous, ever-so-slightly dull boy.
Guy Lodge, Variety
“Tenet” is no holy grail, but for all its stern, solemn posing, it’s dizzy, expensive, bang-up entertainment of both the old and new school.
Nicholas Barber, The Wrap
The plotting is muddled rather than complex, with less to say about the flow of time than “Interstellar” or “Memento.” In the end, “Tenet” isn’t one of Nolan’s most satisfying films. But after I’ve seen it four or five more times, maybe I’ll change my mind.
Jordan Farley, Total Film
Certainly, Tenet’s a more challenging film than some may be comfortable with after a five-month absence, but this is an all-too-rare example of a master filmmaker putting everything on the table with, you sense, not a modicum of his vision compromised. The stakes have never been higher, but Tenet is exactly the film cinemas need right now.
Jonathan Romney, Los Angeles Times
Nolan’s latest may well be full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, or it may signify something imponderably resonant, and signify it forward, backward and inside out. Does your head hurt yet?
Catherine Shoard, The Guardian
Tenet is not a movie it’s worth the nervous braving a trip to the big screen to see, no matter how safe it is. I’m not even sure that, in five years’ time, it’d be worth staying up to catch on telly.
Shannon Connellan, Mashable
Like its title, Tenet is a cinematic palindrome, moving backwards and forwards in a multitude of ways. As novel an idea as this is, the film essentially follows the conventions of a classic spy thriller. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but spices it up with time manipulation.
The early critical responses to Tenet seem divided, with many commenting on the confusing and muddling plot, which was to be expected considering some of the actors even itted to having a hard time understanding it during filming. While some critics suggest that the film is not a worth a trip to the theater, many of the reviews are glowing, as evidenced by its Rotten Tomatoes score of 88 percent.
Similar to Inception or Memento, Nolan's latest project appears to be an ambitious storyline that might take multiple viewings to begin to understand it. Between all the divisive reviews, Tenet is still shaping up to be 2020's biggest hit. With Warner Bros.' commitment to releasing Tenet in theaters despite the coronavirus pandemic, the film might be the movie that will usher audiences back to the theaters. Between the positive and negative reviews, Tenet sounds like it's a very 'Christopher Nolan film,' which some people will either love or hate, but the anticipation surrounding this film is undoubtedly huge.
Source: Various [See the links above]
