TENET Trailer Sets Up Christopher Nolan’s Time-Travel Thriller

Well, that was fast. The recently released photos and information about Christopher Nolan’s latest film Tenet have already been followed up with a trailer. Nolan previously told Entertainment Weekly that this film would mash together several genres for a truly unique story that he calls his “most ambitious” effort to date. The Tenet trailer shows how several of those elements come together for a twisty story that will leave viewers anxious for more.

The clip starts off with the main character (John David Washington) going through a couple of odd incidents. He climbs up a building with a vest on towards imminent danger, lies on train tracks before being supposedly murdered by a baddie, and wakes up in a hospital where a man welcomes him to the afterlife.

The good old protagonist joins a band of fellow suit wearers and, according to one scientist, his new mission is to prevent an impending World War III. It’s not clear what year this is happening or if it’s really going down in our world, but the threat of a world war is always a solid tipping point for an action flick, right? It’s revealed that what is to come is worst that a nuclear holocaust and that the word “tenet” will unlock some doors – for better or worse.

Tenet‘s trailer introduces some time bending elements that lead to some bizarre moments. It shows things going backwards in time while the characters seemingly move forward in real-time. There’s a smashed car that flips back over and repairs itself along with one cool scene of Washington and Pattison (who appears to be his partner-in-crime) checking out the remnants of a shootout that hasn’t happened for them yet.

It all adds up to a pretty trippy peak into the somewhat confusing world in this Tenet universe. Imagine giving your life for your colleagues and then trying to prepare for a fight while piecing together how things that have already happened took place. Prepare for all the confusion in the best way.

via GIPHY

The Tenet trailer doesn’t give away too much more information outside of that but it looks like it will be a mind-bending adventure. The tagline “Time Runs Out” suggests that there will be a countdown to some big event that the characters will have to work against. And, if this is anything like Nolan’s previous films, it’s going to explore themes like human morality and the concept of reality vs. what we create in our minds.

It’s also interesting to note that the music in Tenet will be done by Swedish composer and producer Ludwig Göransson, who is responsible for epic scores in movies like Black Panther, Fruitvale Station, The Mandalorian, and the Creed franchise. Every great action film needs the right music to give it an extra punch, so there’s a lot of good things to find here.

Hopefully, even more peeks and details about the film will come to fruition in 2020 as it’s release date draws near. Tenet hits theaters on July 17, 2020.

Featured Image: Warner Bros. Pictures