There are at least two bands with the title Tenet.

1. A five piece t… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least two bands with the title Tenet.

1. A five piece thrash / death metal band from Vancouver, British Columbia.
2. A five piece rock band from Hartford, Connecticut.

1. TENET is a heavy metal band formed as a side project by Jed Simon and Gene Hoglan of Strapping Young Lad and Zimmers Hole. They originally started out in the summer of 1996 for Jed Simon, founder of the band. Together with Steve Wheeler (Zimmer's Hole drummer at the time), they started getting Jed's ideas down to demo-tape form, but while both continued along with Zimmer's Hole and Strapping Young Lad, nothing much happened for Tenet apart from some casual jam-sessions, which among others also included players like Stu Carruthers (Grip Inc.). Jed then initially met guitar-partner Glen Alvelais (ex-Forbidden) way back in 1997 when SYL was touring with Testament, for who Glen was playing guitar at the time. After quickly becoming friends, Jed eventually asked Glen if he would be interested in playing together in Tenet and long years later when they re-connected, Glen’s first question was “Whatever happened to that album we were gonna record ?”. They laughed and Jed said “Soon, are you still into it ?” His response was “FUCK YEAH!”

After signing a deal with Century Media Records Jed started out working on “Sovereign” with bassist Byron Stroud (SYL, Zimmer's Hole, Fear Factory) as well as drummer Adrian Erlandsson (At The Gates, The Haunted, Cradle Of Filth, Paradise Lost, etc.), but after reviewing the fact that not enough attention could be given to the project by Adrian due to the immense geographical distance and other pending commitments, Jed turned back to his long-time partner in Gene Hoglan (Death, Dark Angel, SYL, Devin Townsend, ...) to take care of the final drum duties. Tenet was still looking for a vocalist though and after a few auditions were done, Steve “Zetro” Souza (Legacy / Exodus) turned out to be the perfect man for the album, as he instantly gave the band that 'classic' metal feel that Jed was looking for. Jed quickly flew to the Bay Area twice to first oversee a very smooth vocal recording with Zetro and then later on to mix the album with Vincent Wojno (Machine Head, Kreator, Trouble, ...). Finally, Andy Sneap (Megadeth, Opeth, Arch Enemy, ...) was recommended for the mastering of “Sovereign” and the album’s artwork comes courtesy of Travis Smith (Opeth, Death, Nevermore).

2. Tenet is an original five-man band based out of Hartford, Connecticut. Their sound covers a plethora of musical genre’s ranging from pop rock to funk jam. They have been compared to styles in the vain of Matchbox 20, 311, and Maroon 5, with vocals diversifying soulful, raspy emotion. Tenet strives to set themselves aside from the rest by generating an artistic sound that people can relate to on the most personal of levels. Furthermore, they will stop at nothing to share their music with the world.

A Misunderstood Masterpiece
Tenet Lyrics

We have lyrics for these tracks by Tenet:

Being And Nothingness Never going to find, always searching Looking for me Who w…
Crown Of Thorns Fate, bring, me, peace No one ever knows, no one ever…
Going Down Do you know what it's like to be me Yeah, you…
Indulge Me Wonders, I have seen through these eyes But all the sounds…
Sovereign You can't say you're sorry, you don't fucking believe it Us…
Take A Long Line Take a long line ... of yourself Take a long line ... bre…
Unnameable You never knew me, you looked right through me To your…
Watching You Burn Ever furious Never heart lost And all I've got Is my ever…
WIll it to Be In the sun Our star of the stars A dark secret lies…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS

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Comments from YouTube:

CJ The X

3y↑12.4K

Tenet is a movie about a man

TheBattleman

3y↑85

Thanks to you both for making this video, it was awesome! 😁

teddy 🤪💅

3y↑17

Agreed.

Mr. Mammuthus Africanavus

3y↑178

This man is Protagonist, he will fight... an Antagonist. :P

Olivia

3y↑48

Good to see you here CJ, it’s important to support your less successful siblings

Woolybear

3y↑49

Or is it a man about a movie?

83 More Replies...

Joe Kerr

2y↑4.3K

The saddest part was that Neil had to pretend he didn't know an old friend the entire time. That always got me.

Sabre Aion

2y↑102

Because of this comment I had to go and watch the movie.

MASTAH

2y↑8

Oh no……

Sabre Aion

2y↑94

@MASTAH That comment got me really curious, it reminded me of 12 Monkeys, 1 of the characters is trapped in a loop watching himself dying.

MASTAH

2y↑15

@Sabre Aion ulala, I havent heard from that movie in a while, Ill watch again today. Great taste there mate

James Moore

2y↑22

Agreed. I felt the loss when i realized what was inevitiable.

22 More Replies...

Jack Bloomer

2y↑525

I remember being super hyped for this movie when I watched it, the first half was generally disappointing to me but the second half was phenomenal. Then I rewatched it and it became one of my favorites from start to finish. At this point, I think I have seen it 7 times and it never gets old

Richard Villier

1y↑8

FULL AGREE

Sujay95

1y↑7

For me it was the complete opposite. Loved the first half, confused by the second but totally in awe. It should've been simplified a little imo.

R. Prins

1y↑3

@Sujay95 That's a bit hard to achieve here I think. Perhaps the plot might've been a bit too long for the movie, and it's already 2 and a half hours long. I've watched it 5 times I think, needed to watch the second time to actually connect all the dots.

stonedvillain79

1y↑5

I believe it to be a deliberate act by Christoper Nolan that the film needs be watched multiple times in order to observe, and absorb all the layers of pardox happening.
Almost like red and blue team, your brain is required to already know what's going to happen, in order to see what you missed last time.

The Business Goose

1y↑1

@stonedvillain79 honestly that's not a good thing. If you're required to watch a movie several times just to understand the basic plot, then that's a major flaw in my eyes.
Especially since people were saying (at the time this was coming to theaters) that this movie would need to be good to keep theaters alive.
Thankfully this movies plot didnt kill off theater because of other easily understood movies coming out lol.

5 More Replies...

Derrick Hotard

2y↑597

One of my favorite things about the temporal pincer is how the protagonist doesn't know really anything in the beginning, but as it turns out he's the temporal pincer head honcho and the reason the plot is happening

A rougue Burrito

2y↑88

at the begging he knows nothing, but at the end he knows everything...which means at the beginning, he knows everything...he just doesn't know it yet

naimas

1y↑4

@A rougue Burrito Mind-boggling

Luis Sierra

1y↑11

@A rougue Burrito He truly is the protagonist

Mercurius87

1y↑15

Bro was lost taking orders from himself 😂

Trent Pacheco

49w

Well what’s cool about it is that he experiences the events. Commits himself to ensuring that the events continue to unfold that way. Then sends a team to move backwards in time with all of the information he has. Sends another team to ensure that he himself is committed to the mission so that a loop is created to preserve time as it is.

PD Zombie

1y↑77

Great analysis!!! But you forgot to mention the subtext: Just like Inception is about filmaking, Tenet is about film watching. The Pincer manouver is just like when you watch a movie for the second time and you already know what's going to happen, and you still feel the same way... This is the underapreciatted genius of Nolan...

Dinara Butasheva

1y↑1

Oh, that’s a great point!

Starbourne

50w↑1

HOLY SHIT

Lord Whippleton

2y↑456

The temporal pincer maneuver isn’t even a fight against an enemy, it’s a planned win for an already won battle.

The big twist is the protagonist has to have the antagonist start the events so he can send Niel back to end it with the past protagonist thus keeping a stable timeline

NoName

1y↑10

or an inevitable loss

John Długosz

49w↑1

@NoName Remember the turnstyle: if you don't see yourself coming on the other side, don't go in! This implies that something similar happens for the Team as a whole. You only have the maneuver if the result is a win. Otherwise, you would decide not to go which is a paradox, so the only consistent timeline is where you don't get news arriving from the future, so you don't go into battle.

chris10

1y↑119

9:58 speaking about baggage! Robert Pattinson also did an amaaaazing job considering my baggage with him is the entire Twilight series, Harry Potter, and The Batman (I watched Tenet after Batman). Maybe because his hair was blond and he was tan, but I didn't see him as Edward Cullen or Bruce Wayne at all. And those characters were huge main characters! It didn't even cross my mind while I was watching the movie. He really sinks into his roles.🍿💯

Hory Smokes

1y↑1

He was great as Batman but sucked as Bruce Wayne.

Real Daftheed

52w

Tbf he was larping Christopher Hitchens which helps.

look him up, hes....got a way of speaking thats very very distinct
Pattinson clearly took inspiration

swissayy

48w

Lighthouse 100% got rid of the Pattinson baggage for me.

Lucki Lefty

3y↑7.2K

It's funny because I'm black and I never thought about the fact that JDW was "black" as the protagonist because it was never brought up or focused on. It literally had nothing to do with the plot and I love that. Let an artist just be an artist.

Cynical Warlock

3y↑261

This.

arthur summers

3y↑596

That's hilarious because I am also black, and when he brought up JDW being black in the movie, it felt like I just realized it.

Sheep Last Name

3y↑167

"He must not like the look of me"

"The look of you is fine"

It is brought up once.

ES

3y↑259

literally nothing to do with the plot at all. very refreshing. JDW is just as amazing an actor as his father man

S W

3y↑94

@Sheep Last Name Here's the thing ,there were certain dialog (as the one you mentioned) that would suggest it was there , however because of the scenes in which those dialog were written it leaves room for other interpretations .

152 More Replies...

Ranmaru

2y↑125

Once I understood Tenet is meant to be a "palandromic" viewing, it became easier to understand what Nolan was going for. I can't recall if other reviewers or critics who made essays on Tenet ever pointed it out or if it's that obvious, but the inspiration for the movie was how the Sator Square is a palindrome, so the movie plays out as sort of a palindrome with how the events play out. The puzzle aspect comes with how you can catch all the details happening in the background in when you rewatch it, like when you re-read a palindrome forwards and backwards.

HockeyNinja

1y↑18

Ya, I'm not sure why this isn't mentioned more often. The title of the movie is a literal palindrome.

Sir Thursday

1y↑4

@HockeyNinja it's not mentioned because it's obvious

Kamran Kambang

50w

@HockeyNinja im sorry, it need to be mentioned? Haha

John Długosz

49w

@HockeyNinja It's not only a famous palindrome, it's a unique word that isn't used elsewhere, so Google takes you right to it. Well, now it finds the movie. But try "Tenet palindrome"
FWIW, the Sator Square was brought up at-length as videos after the movie was announced.

1 More Replies...

yunan the observer

2y↑119

The way you explain the plot of tenet/Temporal Pincer Movement is the same as someone who finally understands a difficult question and got to coach other people into it. It's like my friend who's so pleased with himself once he figured out how to do algebra and he's teaching it to us in this fun manner while at the same time, he's excited that we're learning it as well. Like myself, when I'm trying to explain the complexity of a show with a very confusing lore that I get to understand. It's a very Eureka type of feeling.

Edit: I have the feeling that tenet will be one of those movies people several years or maybe even decades from now, would look back to and be appalled at how many don't seem to like it during it's release.

Konstantinos Stag

1y↑3

Let's have an online bet with a timeframe of let's say 15 - 20 years. I say Tenet is never going to be considered a good film let alone a masterpiece.

North BASE UK

1y↑1

A good concept does not a good movie make. The character development was none existent in this movie, the acting was poor. I had zero empathy or emotion for any of them and honestly couldn't have given a rats arse when whoever's wife was shot by whoever. It SUCKED. The physics were cherry picked to suit the erratic plot, bullet holes appear and disappear where they should have stayed, things that were supposed to be going backwards in time still obeyed the laws of physics going forwards. It was a complete mess of a movie. Coming from a Nolan fan I wish it was better, but it failed to impress me at all.

TheFiendishFive

1y↑2

@North BASE UK muh character development ;__; yeah for tenet to be a good movie it really needs the protagonist overcoming childhood trauma and maybe even falling in love with a ditzy but loving homely woman

North BASE UK

@TheFiendishFive it needs so much more than that to be a good movie.

TheFiendishFive

1y↑1

@North BASE UK i was just talking shit. clearly we have very different opinions on this movie and it's cool

Johnny D Law

49w↑1

Tenet feels refreshing...the fight scenes...the emphasis on time..the fact the main character doesnt even have a name...its perfect man

jorgec11

2y↑42

I watched TeneT when it came out in an empty theater (except 1 old man in the corner) and I loved it. The action sequences were fantastic and the inverse action new. I'd lie if I told you that I understood all of it, but once you let go of the complicated inverted tech, it becomes a fun and visually stunning action film.

Crupt

2y↑15

The old man was you from the future.

jorgec11

2y↑4

@Crupt He was wearing a weird oxygen mask...

ayothatbryson?

@Crupt good one 😂

Karen Cove

49w↑1

Absolutely loved this film from the first time I watched it. I love JDW and his understated, yet powerful presence and acting. I hope to see his future work. I loved the score and was kind of pleased that Hans Zimmer was busy with another project. I like that the film breaks all kinds of rules and doesn't adhere to expectations. And I hope to see your work, Ben!

trucc trucc

3y↑7.4K

Inception: time goes slow
Interstellar: time goes fast
Tenet: time goes brrr

Studio Greyfox

3y↑262

more like Skrrrt Skrrt

Setwoulemski

3y↑158

Time goes emiT

Soundtracked

3y↑80

Dunkirk: time goes slow, fast, and faster.

random

3y↑26

@Soundtracked no in Dunkirk, there are 3 events happening at different times at the same time.

Soundtracked

3y↑15

@random Each story takes place over 3 different lengths of time. It seems both the comment and film went over your head.

43 More Replies...

Rich Smith

2y↑25

This is my favourite movie since Interstellar, I absolutely loved it. I watched it with my girlfriend who was completely lost, so I found myself “figuring it out” as we went, and was predicting things. I thought about the end boat scene for days, and how the timeline/inversion concept worked, spoke about it with friends who had seen it. I can’t wait to watch it again and “get it” more than I did the first time. It’s my new “inception”.

Cory The Destroyer

1y↑1

Nolan doesn’t make bad movies, always amazing

Jeremy Walsh

1y↑10

The most interesting way I like to watch it is from Pattinson's character viewpoint. Because if you follow his dialogue closely, you realize he is moving in a different direction than our protagonist.

Viper TD

49w↑1

Tenet remindend me a lot of why I like Dark so much. It's figuring out a story in a more technical puzzle-like way. You have been given all the pieces of a puzzle, and you have piece it together.

I like it much more than other mind-bending films, where you're supposed to know it is a dream, or a metaphor for something. I suck at finding a deeper meaning in media, and films like these are what really works for me.

Bruno Videira

1y↑8

You described how good JDW is as the protagonist the best way possible , when watching the movie I wasn’t really into it , but the running and the action when he was on screen got me pumped and I couldn’t really put my finger on why , but you put into words exactly how I feel about this amazing lead role

RelicX

52w↑4

This is one of the best movies ive ever seen because it is just a thought experiment. It feels so different and fresh due to that.

Better Ideas

3y↑3.5K

This video helped me realize that I actually like Tenet

Aiden Tree

3y↑59

I love this video because I don’t like tenet but I completely understand why it works for him.

Qui-Mono

3y↑72

Now thats a temporal pincer movement

Morgan Hardcastle

3y↑16

You alreeady did.

The Techsite

3y↑11

This totally doesn't make you sound like a person that is easily swayed. /s

Marco Polo

3y↑44

@The Techsite Never learn from other people kiddo. Never change your opinion, doesn't matter how much the new details make sense. Stay ignorant. /s

38 More Replies...

Chloe H

49w

I absolutely love the sound track especially the song that includes the siren's. It gives me goosebumps everytime

TeddyOG

49w

I definitely appreciate this, it was hard inital mixed responses to defend this movie but I concretely stand by it. Last Blu ray I have bought as well lol. I just think, time hijinx and every aside, the stunt you displayed, the airplane crashing into a building, and the for me most notably the airport fight were incredible to see on film. The fight choreography alone is insane to me when I saw how they did it. It really was an enjoy this in Imax movie and rewatch it to figure it out along with hours of youtube essays type of movie which is what I love to see

Arno Nym

1y↑4

Thing that irritates me the most with the idea of everything has already happened and people are just executing is: what are the stakes? There’s no question about „will they make it?“ and it severely lowers my engagement

d33j r093r5

2y↑9

I loved this movie, but I've always loved time travel related themes, and this one explored an aspect of it that is mostly ignored, or not thought about. I may have had an advantage over other people in that I've spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about scenarios like this, so I knew what I was watching on the first go. Having said that, your excellent analysis pointed out aspects and subtleties that I hadn't noticed or considered, which has only added to how great this film was. Thank you. 😊

Sarah J

1y↑15

I loved this movie to death. Granted, I had to watch it about 6 times to finally get the damn thing LOL but I loved every single moment of each rewatching. And I just learned something new! I had no idea that the Protagonist actor is actually Denzel's son in real life. Awesome!

Rednas

3y↑1.3K

''The real Tenet was literally the friend he made along the way'' had me dying

UniqueChannelName

3y↑2

fucking genius hahahaha

Dave D

3y↑2

I laughed far too loud for 03:45 in the morning.

moar cowbell

2y↑1

But that is it, isn't it

Sofia Ramirez

And let's not forget 5:11 haha

Charlie He

52w

It had Neil dying too 😢

newbie

50w

Christopher Nolan is always an interesting thing. He just has enough reputation to do things in his way and make people watch it.

A freedom very few artists can claim

laughingdogges

51w↑1

THREE years later and this is still a great video essay.

J Brown

50w

Thank you for making this because I love this movie and it frustrates me that people ask so many questions and don't just watch and enjoy it for what it is. Like it was so crazy that I had to watch it at least 2 3 times. It's a dope movie just stop overthinking it and watch it

TruSam

2y↑3

Thanks for this great explanatory video!! I loved Tenet since the first time watching and was puzzled (no pun intended) why others didn’t like it. Saying stuff like the characters were shallow and there was no real story. I always knew this movie was not about such things, but couldn’t articulate. Now I can, thanks to you!

Sorscha 1

2y↑5

Yeah, love it. Loved it the first time in the cinema & loved it the second time at home, just to be sure i got everything. I love timeywimey shit & this did not disappoint. Basically everything you said but yes, the two guys making friends & the protagonist realising that his mate's about to go off & die (for him) and that he'll see him again in his future (and his mate's past) IS the emotional crux of the film. It's the exact feeling you'd have got if John Connor had ever actually got to meet Kyle Reece before he died and before the world went to shit, knowing that he'd see him again but Kyle wouldn't know him from Adam. I loved that. Christopher Nolan gave me the best entry in the Terminator franchise since T2 with that little heart tug.

Mr Sunday Movies

3y↑3.7K

Incredible video that's what I think!

Oops ™

3y↑82

I’m sure you feel like a proud dad, as a father

ArnoldiiSaurus

3y↑6

Awesome

AdriaanHimself

3y↑9

{insert smart comment here}

TheNeonDream

3y↑19

We don't pay you to think!

Mr Crowley

3y↑17

James have you stopped paying ben money and now are paying him in confidence

28 More Replies...

J T

1y↑2

Since Nolan gained traction, there has been a very noticeable nudge in his very excellent work. Always excited about his next engagement...
Brilliant essay!

abukanoff

1y↑4

I've watched tenet couple times. I didnt understand all the ins and outs fully, yet I still liked it as a food for thought. I've watched you explaining things and still didnt make clear picture of events xD One can only be aspiring to understand all of the events of the tenet and their flow.

Jon Gordon

1y↑2

I’ve seen the movie a dozen times, this is honestly the best explanation. I’ve heard thank you so much.

Bwnz

50w

I never realized that other people had an issue with this movie, or the casting choice. I really enjoyed it. Mainly for the thought experiments, but the acting and execution as well. JDW was perfect for the role, as was (surprisingly) Robert Pattinson.

Jeremiah Gallagher

49w

Awesome job on this. One of the ways I've rewatched is looking for the red vs. blue clues. There is SO much of it all over the movie- another level of genius filmmaking and production/costume design. In this scene specifically, as the timelines merge you can visually see the red and blue vehicles merge onto the same timeline (and street) as well. I hope other people find this moment as SWEET as I do.

Mike Kylp

3y↑1.1K

The bare IDEA of inverted fighting scenes, and the effort to make them CORRECT, puts the film on completely own level compared to regular films.
I've never been as AMAZED when leaving the cinema.

6ixpool

3y↑30

Having not watched any trailers and otherwise cocmpletely avoiding any potential spoilers until my first viewing, my jaw literally dropped when I saw the fight scenes and had to stop myself from clapping (too loudly) while sitting in the theater watching. The fight scenes are chef kiss

J Lupus

3y↑4

Truly a labor of love :)

Michael Otis

3y↑2

That alone elevates Tenet

Gio DC

3y↑7

Also, crashing an actual 747 into an airport, i can't even...

Real Workouts For Real People!

3y↑14

I remember walking out of Tenet thinking, I have no freaking idea what this was about but man, was it cool!

14 More Replies...

Jackson

52w

Watched for the second time recently, and my current favorite moment is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot. When they go back to Oslo later in the film and they are leaving with Kat in the ambulance, you can also see them wheeling her in on the gurney

Emilio Quiroz

48w

Man, you just left me speechless. It’s like, suddenly the movie regained some sense that it had since the beginning, but didn’t know how to interpret. A paradox…

gen user

1y↑5

There is also the fact that the film itself fundamentally requires a temporal pincer movement for it to actually make sense. You have to watch the film and then go back and rewatch it knowing everything you already know from the first viewing in order to piece together a coherent story. Only after having carried out the temporal pincer movement yourself will you have witnessed a coherent plot and movie. Watching it without rewatching it is as good as watching a series of nonsensical and unrelated pictures on a screen because watching it once through is only half of the pincer movement.

Trent Pacheco

49w

Watching this numerous times, I have just now noticed that the beginning and the end are not complicated at all. Rather, the mid point, where the plots goes back in time is what originally confused me.

PFern

1y↑2

A pure masterpiece... about something mind bending... time travel.
Imagine Nolan making a film about the quantum mechanics or holographic universe ...man.

gripm

2y↑1.1K

I was emotionally unfulfilled after my first viewing of tenet because there was no pulling of my heart strings that Inception has with Cob’s wife. On my second viewing I realized the emotion is subliminal between Washington and Pattinson’s friendship. Imagine finding out that your friend is really a future friend that you mentor and he will eventually mentor you again in this constant overlapping of time like the Dalai lama and Panchen Lama. I think that’s why Pattinson is drunk at their first meeting, he’s emotionally preparing for seeing his old mentor for the “first” time.

swojaczek

2y↑71

I realised on my second viewing how affecting was the last talk between these two. Pattinson knows he must return an die, Washington just realises it too, and he knows that he can't do (and MUSTN'T DO) anything about it and it almost brings tears to his eyes (and to my eyes as well).

Lauren Prince

2y↑51

Something about the idea of him needing to drink to handle meeting the Protagonist for the "first" time just hits me in the most heartbreaking way 🥺

Edward J. Cunningham

2y↑56

I can't be the only one thinking that the kid at the end is a younger version of Neil. (Somebody came up with the idea that "Max" was short for "Maximillien" and if so, "Neil" is the last four letter's of Max's name backwards.)

Niko

2y↑7

@Edward J. Cunningham this^!!!

Noah Stephens

2y↑7

There is no emotion in that movie. It's a bad action movie overlayed with techno mumbo jumbo

14 More Replies...

Lootwijk

I am so happy I finally came upon your movie essay video here. And that you managed to complete it without spontaneously combusting or I don’t know. Very emotional. Good work.

harry clark

2y↑8

tenet is my favorite movie ever, it is literally a movie that ends before it begins, during the lunch with Michael Crosby, hes talking about the detonation in stalsk-12 which is where the final fight sequence takes place that and so many others is why i love this movie. when hes learning about inversion that's them spoon feeding us the surface of the iceberg, but thats really it. it makes you figure it out on your own, the second time i watched it i was just not thinking about anything, just watching the events as they take place, then after that little by little I began to understand what was going on, how there are multiple parts of the movie that happen at the same time, twice, before a scene that already happened. the movie itself is a temporal pincer movement.

Manuel

2y↑5

What really banged my head like when i understood Maxwell's equation or coordinate systems at university was that the protagonist uses pincer maneuvers all the time. The truck scene is a vehicle pincer maneuver, the assault in the theater should have been a pincer maneuver. The bad guys used the first time pincer to counter the truck assault. So they started to go back in time and place on the ship to the airport to regain control. Their first time pincer which tells the people how the game goes after it happend the first time but before the finale.
What i really liked about the film was that it stayed realistic. It even tried to embed the reversed time into our physics. Only problem with it: air and food have to be taken with you. Does not really work for the truck scene as well as the shipping. Also time only travels linear for every person. So if the protagonist recruted Neil they both had to travel a lot trough the same years in order for Neil to meet protagonist.
It's also so damn Christopher Nolan that he does not have a name at all. Not even a C.I.A synonym at the start.

kJimbo

1y↑2

I’m a bit late, but your analysis is spot on. It’s funny, I’ve watched tenet maybe 6 or 7 times. Going back and forth between confusion, frustration and enjoyment. I love this movie, but never knew why. Thank you for giving context to that emotion!

Toni Uebernickel

1y↑1

I really love this movie, as well and just found this essay. Highly appreciated. I enjoyed the movie multiple times.

Just another note, I bring to the table, when talking with friends about the movie, who understood it quite well.
The movie is about a recursive temporal pincer maneuver. I really love your first visualization in 2D. The name of the movie is a palindrome ;-)

Dave Davis

3y↑1.3K

JDW’s blackness having no thematic reasoning is such an underrated point

Klaus Hermann

3y↑34

that this is underrated makes it actually overrated if you think twice about it

Chad

3y↑182

@Klaus Hermann An underrated/overrated pincer maneuver.

Bandstand

3y↑11

@Chad 🤣

Renan

3y↑12

interracial tension between him and the guys wife

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commentor93

2y↑12

I've only watched Tenet once so far, in cinema, but it's already among my top 3 movies. The way the speed suddenly picks up massively at the scene after the car chase only to go beyond what you thought possible in the final fight is a joyful experience in itself. I was able to make sense of most of it as far as the timeline at 8:16 shows but the idea of a perpetual pincer movement until everything fit and us only seeing the final execution is even more amazing.

Also, Tenet succeeded at what Interstellar failed to make plausible imo: The idea of the future influencing/saving the present/past. I see no way of Interstellars protagonist enabling the future that provided the technology to save him in the first place. But the idea that they went back and forth in time until it fit closes that logical gap and puts Tenet above Interstellar in my opinion, unless you like good space stories with gorgeous visuals.

Brandon Miller

Lol

Dan the camerman - cinephoria!

1y↑1

Fantastic essay and I agree 100%. Tenet's a film that improves significantly on repeat viewings once you get over the initial surface level watch. I've seen in three times and on top of it being a complex science-fiction adventure, on a pure shallow level it's a great action spectacle. Nolan is one of the few filmmakers working now who can command triple digit budgets but is trying to tell interesting original stories on a grand scale and is a true filmmaker.

Zaq Roth

I remember watching this in the theater and being blown away by its simple genius. My friend however did not quite get it. Took some explaining to get him closer to understanding.

Igor Ivanov

2y↑2

This movie get's better with each re-watch meaning it's a masterpiece just because of that. All of the movies I know and consider masterpieces are movies I would want to watch with someone who hasn't seen them yet. Cinema is a medium where you have a shorter run time but higher quality. TV series are longer, but you watch them mostly once. Movies are short, and if they are good you watch them every couple of years

Luciano Castillo

1y↑1

Dude every Christopher Nolan Movie I’ve ever watched had me walk out the movies feeling like I just took the Limitless Pill

Tony Pesta

2y↑724

The final moment with Neil and the Protagonist hit my emotions like a truck. Especially the line about "for me, this is the end of a great friendship. For you, it's only the beginning."

bullpup1337

2y↑9

isnt that directly stolen from doctor who? doctor whos wife travels backwards in time

Dr Cherry

2y↑8

like a firetruck???

sLw1337

2y↑2

who cares

Roberto Elias

2y↑25

@bullpup1337 It's also 'stolen' from the story of King Arthur, given that Merlyn lives backwards through time. It even has its own TVtropes page - 'Merlin Sickness'

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Wayne Swinson

Thanks Ben! Love the energy! Great research, a& thanks for attempting to explain the experience! Definitely help unconfused or invert my confusion a bit lol

LookAtMyRight

2y↑9

It is an experimental technique of storytelling for sure. I love it when any kind of storytelling industries do this in games, movies, books, anything. Even when it's hated by any reasons (except by laziness, greed, you name it). I mean, you'd know if somethings are well thought and written than those that are straight up lazily written.

thetruebatman

Ended up here based on auto play; this is the best breakdown of Tenet i’ve seen and man have I seen a few lol. Love what you said about JDW, didn’t even think about why he might’ve been cast but he’s one of best in the game like his dad was after Training Day.

DJ Lawrence

1y↑2

This movie further supports my idea that Nolan might be 1 of my - if not THE - favorite directors. Wisecrack did a Nolan Philosophy breakdown leading to Dunkirk a couple years back and when they laid out of his movies, I watched most and loved all of em. Tenet might be amongst my favorites (i only managed to watch it twice, so I'm sure a 3rd viewing will move it up).

Joel Frei

Great video, i felt exactly the same watching the truck scene the first time in the theatre. Mind Blowing.

TimTom

2y↑282

To explain the temporal pincer, we first have to understand parallel universes…

Farran Khawaja

2y↑1

Hey, TimTom! (first by the way lol)

Andrew

Except whether parallel universes exist, has never been proven.

West McGee

Not really.

Sohil Vasaya

2y↑9

Its not about parallel universe its about time reversing concept. There were two timelines moving simultaneously but in opposite directions.

Celeridad

2y↑2

Actually you don't at all, TENNET's concept is different from the (in my opinion) overused, just as unbelievable and nonsensical concept that is parallel universes. It's all bs time only goes in one direction.

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Nakean Wickliff

OMG, YOU ARE AMAZING!!!! So informative and I think my neigbors now think I'm absolutely nuts over here laughing like a hyena!!!

Break into blossom

I loved this movie because the mood of it felt fresh to me, (not to mention mind boggling visuals and the coolest chase/heist scene since matrix) even if I did end the first watch of it feeling as baffled and confused as I felt energized by it. It’s a movie I love talking about with people and hearing what it meant to them and why.. this analysis is great and gives some nice possible ideas about things I couldn’t put my finger on and I think it’s great to have a director with access to massive budgets who still wants to make movies willing to be experimental that remain open to analysis and discussion after multiple viewings. I can’t wait to see what Nolan comes up with in the future..

jmood88

48w

I had the same experience of being annoyed (and confused), but the more I’ve watched it, the more I like it. I’m still not sure if I think it’s good or not, but I’ve thought about it more than any other movie I’ve seen in awhile. Also, John David Washington is a star.

Simmons

Jesus you just made me love this movie all over again! Great explanation!

Its_Smil3y

2y↑4

I've watched this movie 5 or 6 times now and with every watch I feel like I notice things that I didn't see or think about before. I'm not a movie person at all but that's what I appreciate about Nolan's work, they're more than just movies

tiagompb

Imagine when you watch it again for the 9th or 10th times. You'll be able to make a video of your own and explain to dumb people how this works in forward motion.

E.O

3y↑591

"9 foot Goddess energy" is the perfect way to describe Elizabeth Debicki.

Nikolor

3y↑10

When I heard it I stopped the video to literally shout: "YES THAT'S THE PERFECT DESCRIPTION FOR HER"

cjewelz

3y↑2

Another description was "she looked like a man".

Random Dude

3y↑3

Goddess? Has the bar been that bastardized?

Random Dude

3y↑1

@cjewelz that’s the more accurate

cjewelz

3y↑2

@Random Dude, monstrosity would be accurate. But, then again, that is to be expected from someone that is trying to convince the world that this film is some sort of sophisticated puzzle. The selling point of this film and a lot of Nolan films is the gimmick. If you see past the gimmick there is a very simple story. Having said that, he deserves respect for making spectacular blockbuster films that aim for profundity.

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MAKC

Love the vieo. For anyone still confused, I've always found it helpful to think of the timeline in Tenet as a circle, not a line. You explained it well with the pincer movement explanation -- if you don't know exactly what the origin of a point in time is, than it makes no sense for their to be any origin. The timeline in this movie is not a line, just a giant circle that constantly feeds back into itself. It's trippy as hell, but one of the coolest things I've ever seen a movie do.

El Magnifico

2y↑3

The first time I watched it, I was annoyed because I didn't understand why the protagonist was so emotional at the end of film. I actually didn't understand anything on first viewing. It was until I watched it a 2nd time that I realized the terrible thing that was about to happen. That he was about to let the person he had formed a bond with and who had saved his life several times, to walk into his death.
Super tragic.

Buti Mohammed

when i watched tenet i loved it not because I understood it no but because i felt like there was deeper message in the movie. Idk bout most people that watched it but i find most scenes bad ass

Coos willemse

Thins movie is such a mindfuck. Seen it 5 times and it is getting better each time I see it. So underrated.
Most people just switch of while seeing it

DC Caleb

The best thing I’ve learned while watching Nolan’s films: everything falls into place, it just takes time to understand how. The only people I see that dislike movies like Tenet are the people that don’t want to understand.

Nathan Zed

3y↑1.1K

you couldn't have picked a better subject for a first video, we need more of these!

Rory Lennon

3y↑33

2 seconds in and already ITS A CLASSIC

C D

3y↑8

COLLAB WHEN

Warren Collymore

3y↑1

I say two videos ah week and more in the future

Ismael Martinez

3y↑1

I was confused by your comment cause I know this isn't Ben's first video essay. But then I remembered that it was on a different channel.

strahljd

3y↑1

I hope you've watched his video about Moneyball on Mr Sunday Movie's channel, it's really great...makes me glad he has his own channel now

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MLGuy

I just bursted with laughing at "the friend he made along the way" bit. You have my sub, great video

Daniel Smith

2y↑1

I'd love to see a sequel to this.

Daniel Learns Piano

I watched Tenet way after release and was fully expecting to not like it after catching snippets of people's reviews. However, the first thing I did after watching this movie was to start watching it again. Probably the first time I've ever done that. In the days after I watched it a 3rd time. I absolutely loved this movie.

Paddy Whack Golf

This is a great video. I’ve watched Tenet probably 15 times now. And it’s always interesting.

hugh butler

2y↑2

So we never actually met the Protagonist, we only met his precursor. The reveal at the end retcons the entire experience of the movie. "We get up to some stuff...you're gonna love it".
I watched it(subtitles really helped), read explanations and then immediately rewatched it. It will probably reward about a dozen viewings.

Joseph Zimmerman

2y↑1.1K

"The real Tenet was the friends you made along the way..."
That cracked me up so hard. Love it.

Maël MORETTO

2y↑1

me too, wasn't ready for this one XD

Hezreel Robertson Studios

2y↑5

The real friends was the Tenet you made along the way.

Sympathee

2y↑8

The real tenet is the new friends you already had.

Ayush Raj

@Sympathee what in the fuck.........I am dying

mbrunnme

@Sympathee the real tenet is the friend he has

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Manan Anwar

This is so well-crafted video. Thank you for all the effort that you did to make this.

Elijah Noble

2y↑3

Really well done. I loved Tenet when it came out (one of the only ones in my friend group that did) and I wasn’t even sure why. This video definitely spelled out a lot of it.

Abhishek X

1y↑3

I HAD TO WATCH THIS MOVIE 6 TIMES TO UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE MOVIE . I LOVE THESE KINDS OF MOVIES THAT FORCES YOUR BRAIN TO THINK. i absolutely love this masterpeice of a movie.

Maschinenmensch

1y↑3

This movie brought "I'm my own boss." to a whole nother level.

Drumswithfish

My favorite bit of, dare I say advice, before watching this movie was "Don't try to figure it out, just experience it."

Sky Guardian

2y↑960

This was an INCREDIBLE analysis. For what it's worth, the sweeping fades that are played during the truck heist are created by reversing a note into itself. The synths are played backward, then forward. The soundtrack is a temporal paradox.

Patrick Bateman

2y↑7

I didnt care for tenet, and something nerd writer did reminded me why. "When spectacle eclipses story"

pappapaps

2y↑3

@Patrick Bateman Neil Degrasse? Why does he always say that

NoneOfYour Beeswax

2y↑12

At the end, the reversed Blue Team action sequences have a reversed music soundtrack

Jaap Koning

1y↑3

I think you like the word "temporal" more than you understand the word "paradox"

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LHCFan

I think one thing that strikes me as odd (which is necessitated by the temporal time pincer movements) is that the characters don't seem to have agency to make their own decisions in a lot of the movie's time frame. I know that the movie is deliberately playing with this concept to make us question causality and the duality of determinism vs free will and it's captured in the quote "What's happened happened." which we hear a few times from Neil. Nevertheless, because of this deliberate choice by Nolan, the characters lose agency which can rub some people the wrong way since they like to see characters grow, ultimately culminating that growth in important decisions these characters make which could change the course of the action. Losing that aspect to the characters' decision making process makes their choices seemingly less impactful. In that sense, the only impactful choices the protagonist in particular makes are seemingly to join Tenet after the Kiev opera heist and when founding Tenet and recruting Neil for the mission in the future (it's a shame we don't get to see this, really).
I am aware that the characters make more impactful decisions than just at the beginning and end. However, I still wanted to highlight how, in my view, characters are used differently in this movie compared to, say, Inception and how some audience members might dislike this approach. This is not me in any way stating that I hate this choice by Nolan but I need to get accustomed to it a bit more, perhaps on future watching runs.

Smam

This perfectly described why I loved watching the movie on the second watch

Robyn

Nolan is one of my favourites. Love all his movies. I got very frustrated with this at the cinemas. Wanted to love it. Will try to watch it again🥴
Thanks for this😁

New subbie😊

Scott A

The thing I like about videos like this is the interest and passion of the author / producer.

Esteban Fumero

1y↑3

It's cool. 20 years from now people are gonna marvel at how this movie was even made in the first place, and how it went under the radar for so long. The pandemic really pulled a number on this film's prospects at the box office/overall success, but you can't keep a film this good by a director as well known and respected as Nolan for long.

And when that day comes, we'll all be like "well yeah, no shit".

Dr. Strange

2y↑440

I've always noted this about Tenet and JDWs performance. JDW actually feels AGGRESSIVE. When he moves he moves with purpose, he does everything as efficiently and as best as he can and it was the first movie I've ever seen that actually drew me to the leads MOVEMENT more than anything, he's just a beast.

Michael Otis

2y↑25

Man was denied his hot sauce!!

Michael Simpson

2y↑10

He really is a brilliant fucking actor. I am finding myself drawn more and more to films with less dialogue and more non-dialogue based acting. I saw JDW in Black Klansman, and, although his approach feels similar (that "aggression" as you call it), he certainly picks his moments, so to speak, very well. I am stoked to see him in more traditional movie roles (I could not get through the writing in that one he did with Zendaya.)

jameseglavin4

Damn dude well put! I definitely had a similar thought; a lot of JDW’s action has an ‘explosive’ quality - especially the kitchen fight - where you can tell he’s sizing everything up and then he goes HAM for maximum effect

Virtuasamsara

I really liked that about the first Bourne movie, conservation of movement and efficacy.

Kacper Biłozor

2y↑4

True, but — unfortunately — his facial expressions don't reflect that. He often comes off as a wide-eyed, fish-out-of-water protagonist, even when it doesn't suit the scene.

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Cam Rhodes

This was fantastic you had me cracking up! Especially about your whole reason for a loving that scene just because it was so cool

Simple

As a mathematics/computer science/physics major. Tenet was amazing.

Nishtha Gupta

1y↑1

the way you understood this misunderstood masterpiece, I'm impressed. Maybe if we could meet and talk then you'd probably understand me too as I'm very misunderstood and doesn't really express myself that much.. We'd go great together. Maybe on a date? But for who knows, you probably might have a girlfriend already or even a wife and kids and we might never meet or you live too far away and won't even see this message. But I don't know, your intelligence and and ability to understand the misunderstood really intrigues me, you know?

So, it's a great video you made, made me love the movie a lot more than before and I think made me love you even as well 😂😄❤

Thomas

Can't say I was a huge fan of this movie but it's great to see something original instead of another installment of a Marvel movie telling the same story in a different setting. Something that makes you think about it afterwards something with an original story.

Randel

51w

ADHD brain means you can easily immerse yourself in any world and when I watched this film it became one of my favorites and then my father was like "why was the music so loud" and in my head I just felt like i knew he didnt get I am going to show this to him

Captain P Car

2y↑383

I Loved this film, but then again I watched it on HBO Max with subtitles on and the ability to rewind whenever something was too wtf to grasp in real time. The ability to go back in time and rewind the movie was clutch, as I did a temporal pincer maneuver of my own in trying to understand this film.

impyrobot

2y↑10

Yeah I really hated the film because I watched it in the cinema and the sound mixing was soo god awful I couldn't understand what they were saying enough to only understand what was going on a very superficial level.

armintori

2y↑4

@impyrobot I've seen some analysis of the film on here talking the sound mixing and after seeing that, it's understandable and it actually fit in well when you see it at that perspective

Leonardo Ramos

2y↑2

I did exactly this.

Think PIONEERing

2y↑1

“Too wtf to grasp in real time…” — ive never heard a more perfect alternate expression for the term “confused”

K4inan

This movie is extremely insulting to the intellect. It's contrived nonsense. Pattinson was great though.

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RoJo

So glad you said made this video. I viewed Tenet as a puzzle to be solved when I first watched it, where as the group of people found it frustrating and confusing. I said "oh ****" when I figured out the ending about 60% through the movie and instead of getting shushed by everyone around me, they actually asked me what I figured out.

I've never seen a movie like this and I was/am foaming at the mouth for it's sequel(s?)

PS Interstellar is my favorite movie, and this one is tied for completely different reasons...

Alexander

2y↑2

God! I swear if they would have released this movie any other year besides 2020 during the height of the global pandemic it would have been a mega hit!

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