Poster © Warner Bros. Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAction, Sci-Fi & Thriller
RatedPG-13
Runtime2 hr 30 mins
ReleasedSeptember 3, 2020 (U.S.)
StreamingRent or buy on digital; subscription home rotates
DirectorChristopher Nolan
StarringJohn David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki
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Tenet (2020)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Tenet's Details | |
| Genre | Action, Sci-Fi & Thriller |
| Rated | PG-13 (intense sequences of violence and action, some suggestive references and brief strong language) |
| Released | 08/26/2020 (UK and international), 09/03/2020 (U.S.) |
| Streaming | Digital and 4K/Blu-ray from 12/15/2020. HBO Max from 05/01/2021. Subscription home has rotated since. |
| Running Time | 2 hr 30 mins |
| Budget | $200 million (reported) |
| Box Office | $365.9 million worldwide |
| Awards | Academy Award, Best Visual Effects. Nominated, Best Production Design. |
| Country | United Kingdom, United States |
| Language | English |
| Tenet's Interests | |
| General | Turnstiles, palindromes, breathing masks, driving in reverse on purpose. |
| Music | Ludwig Göransson (original score). Plays fine forwards and backwards. |
| Movies | Inception (2010). Same dad, louder kid. |
| Television | Anything with a timeline explainer in the comments. |
| Heroes | Whoever drew the cheat sheet. |
| Tenet's Crew | |
| Director | Christopher Nolan |
| Writer | Christopher Nolan |
| Producers | Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan |
| Cinematography | Hoyte van Hoytema |
| Music | Ludwig Göransson |
| Edited By | Jennifer Lame |
| Production | Warner Bros. Pictures, Syncopy |
| Distributed By | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Nolan said ‘what if time ran backwards’ and then made a movie that proves he doesn’t need a reason, just a budget. JDW is the Protagonist, which is a real name he earned by never giving one. Pattinson shows up like a British gym bro who secretly read the final exam. Branagh’s accent was so thick the subtitles needed subtitles. Bullets fly backwards, boats explode backwards, and my brain filed a complaint in reverse. Watched the whole thing, understood maybe 40% of it, Googled a timeline cheat sheet like it was finals week, read it twice, understood it for four glorious seconds. Then I blinked and it was gone. Still a 7.7 because when you don’t understand a movie this hard, that’s a you problem and a flex for Nolan. $1000 says nobody passes on first viewing. I know I didn’t.
What works: The inverted fight scenes, the Pattinson and Washington chemistry, and set pieces nobody else would even try.
What doesn’t: The sound mix buries half the exposition, and the rules get explained fast enough to lose anyone.
Who it’s for: People who rewatch Nolan movies with a notebook and a whiteboard.
Spoilers
Neil has been working for the Protagonist all along, recruited by a future version of him, and he goes back in to make sure the plan works.
A CIA agent known only as the Protagonist (John David Washington) survives a botched opera house siege and gets recruited into Tenet, an outfit fighting a war with the future using objects whose entropy runs backwards. With a handler named Neil (Robert Pattinson), he goes after Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh), an arms dealer taking orders from people not born yet, by way of Sator's estranged wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki). Two and a half hours, one heist that happens in both directions at once.
Anyone who understood it on the first try. Bring the cheat sheet.
| John David Washington | The Protagonist |
| Robert Pattinson | Neil |
| Elizabeth Debicki | Kat |
| Dimple Kapadia | Priya |
| Martin Donovan | Fay |
| Fiona Dourif | Wheeler |
| Yuri Kolokolnikov | Volkov |
| Himesh Patel | Mahir |
| Clémence Poésy | Barbara |
| Aaron Taylor-Johnson | Ives |
| Michael Caine | Sir Michael Crosby |
| Kenneth Branagh | Andrei Sator |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 7.3 / 10 (713,741 votes) → 7.3 / 10 (713,851 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +80 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 7.3 / 10 (713,667 votes) → 7.3 / 10 (713,741 votes); movie.guru score 6.5.
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 16 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: score credits updated.
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 15 October 2026 DataBot +80 Numbers refreshed: Rotten Tomatoes 69% → 70%; RT 69% (370+ reviews) → 70% (380 reviews).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 15 October 2026 DataBot +160 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $365.9M → $376.6M; Opening weekend $20.2M → $9.4M; Profit / loss (est.) -$117M → -$111.7M; box office chart updated.
- (cur | prev) 12:10, 8 October 2026 movie guru -1.0 Rescored 8.7 to 7.7, Above Average. Still a flex for Nolan. Just a smaller one.
- (cur | prev) 22:48, 3 October 2026 DataBot +2,106 Cast and crew in credits order added from IMDb. Details, interests, crew and performance charts filled in. Scores: RT critics 69%, RT audience 76%, IMDb 7.3.
- (cur | prev) 22:31, 3 October 2026 movie guru +1,118 Page created. TLDR posted. movie guru score 8.7, Great. Understood maybe 40% of it. $1000 says nobody passes on first viewing.