Starring: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Warner Bros., out now

Armed with only one word – Tenet – and fighting for the survival of the world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.

I’ve always thought that the word ‘palindrome’ is a missed opportunity – why is the word that  describes a word that can be read the same forwards or backwards not a palindrome itself? Why not call it a tenet? It’s a mysterious word that works whatever way you read it, and as we find out in Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller, it opens doors in time travels – forwards and backwards.

Make no mistake, this is Nolan to the max. His ongoing preoccupation with time has never been so crucial to the plot of one of his movies, and while you wonder whether it’s time for him to find something else to obsess over, there’s no mistaking that this is lavish, big budget filmmaking with ambition. At times you’re scratching your head – the info dumps happen at speed, often struggling to be heard over the noisy ‘blaaaams’ of Ludwig Goransson’s score – but it’s worth the investment.

Clémence Poésy’s (Harry Potter) scientist Laura does a good job at the beginning of the movie in explaining to Protagonist John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) what’s going on, and when he asks the what/how/why she recommends that he just rolls with it. That’s sound advice for the audience too, as there’s a lot you don’t understand while it’s happening, with payoffs rewarded later. And if you’re really struggling, just enjoy the ride as we hop between countries and enjoy complex action set-pieces where you struggle to work out just how exactly they did it.

Robert Pattinson (The Batman) is sidekick Neil, and the actor gets a chance to play some humour in his important role. Sir Ken Branagh is a loathsome Russian oligarch, not a million mikes from his Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Russian, and he just about stays on the right side of credible. He spends a lot of his time terrorising his wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki, Guardians of the Galaxy) a role very reminiscent of her part in The Night Manager.

As the first tentpole movie to lure people back to cinemas in the COVID world, this temporal James Bond movie is a strong choice and it does feel like an event. The biggest screen with the best sound system is the best way to enjoy it, but if you’re not yet willing or able to get to the cinema (which in my case had excellent social distancing) there’s still plenty to look forward to at home.

Verdict: Big, noisy, timey-wimey sci-fi action that while never quite attaining ten out of Tenet, is a solid and confident night out at the movies, and that’s something I can get behind. 8/10

Nick Joy