163: Tenet (with Corey Atad)

The writer Corey Atad joins me from Phuket, Thailand for a sequel to our Junk Filter episode about Bane that turned into a discussion about Tenet, and we return to the topic because of the recent cultural reconsideration of Christopher Nolan’s 2020 time-bending thriller, which was released during the pandemic and has taken some time to find an audience. 

Tenet got a one-week re-release in 70mm and IMAX 70mm in the leadup to this year’s Academy Awards, and Corey and I discuss the film as Nolan’s temporal pincer movement; it turns out he released the sequel to Oppenheimer 4 years ago, and we are only realizing it now. Unlike his latest, Tenet is about “the bomb that didn’t go off”, and is a film that perhaps needs to be seen a few times to be best appreciated, especially after seeing Oppy.

We talk about Nolan’s methodology, including the evolution of his creative team (his new cinematographer, editor and composer are bringing out the best in him), his award-season victory lap, and we go over the complex structure of Tenet, including the things that happen that maybe we don’t even understand after seeing it a few times but are clearer when seen theatrically… but do we even need to understand everything we enjoy? 

Plus: Bane jokes! 

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Final trailer for Tenet (Nolan, 2020)

“I Can’t Stop Watching Tenet, And I Finally Know Why” by Corey Atad for Defector, January 9, 2024

“Look What We Do Now” - Corey’s essay about The Zone of Interest and Oscar season controversy, for the Welcome To Hell World newsletter, March 11, 2024