Control vs. Love (Tenet Analysis - Video Essay)

Much has been said about the complicated plot and nonlinear timeline of Christopher Nolan’s 2020 film Tenet. But in this video essay, I take a more thematic look at the film. I propose that the best way to understand its meaning and basic themes is through the dichotomy of CONTROL vs. LOVE -- as opposed to the philosophical dichotomy of determinism vs. free will. I find crucial importance in Sator’s role as antagonist to the hero (literally the “protagonist”), as well as the film being bookended by two acts of self-sacrifice, which I find to be marked by Christian symbolism and allusions to Christ’s sacrifice (the archetype of a loving self-sacrifice).
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
00:46 The Motif of Control
03:38 A Celebration of Freedom
04:57 Love as the Ultimate Ideal
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--
*Sources:
- Derek Pereboom, “Love and Freedom” in The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Love - www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/...
- Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning - / 4069.man_s_search_for_...
- bell hooks, “Love as the Practice of Freedom” in Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations - / 51376.outlaw_culture
- Martin Luther King Jr., “I Have Decided to Stick With Love” in A Testament of Hope - / 53360.a_testament_of_hope
*Music (Creative Commons Attribution)
- “Imperfections” by Whitesand ( • Emotional Music - Impe... )
- “From The Stars We Come” by Whitesand ( • "From The Stars We Com... )
*Search tags - Neil in Tenet, Tenet explained, ending explained, ending of Tenet, hidden meaning, movie review, Christ figure, Christian iconography, Christian symbolism, free will, determinism, obsession with power, ambition, tower of babel

[@michaelplayer1066]

Nolan is the goat at what he does. Yes his films may not be always flawless but always thought provoking

[@NeverHoldBackReviews]

I love this. You constructed it so well with such a thought provoking message. This truly is the apex of video essays.

[@KevinPaterson]

The climax of your analysis brought tears to my eyes. It’s so hard to experience the nuance of these themes while watching the anxiety-inducing film, but I had always felt there to be a spiritual implication about the Protag’s choice to believe in the significance of his actions. “Doesn’t us being here mean it’s already happened?” They still choose to live out the tenet, submitting to the greater cause. Love and freedom.

[@moonlightingenglishteacher]

So glad you enjoyed it - thanks for the encouragement!

[@VictorGarciaFilms]

This was a really fascinating and well-written video, there's definitely an interesting religious subtext that I hadn't thought about before, it seems that this film carries endlessly different interpretations and themes, I love it.

[@moonlightingenglishteacher]

Thanks for the encouragement!

[@Brometheus.]

Beautiful amazing video. Thank you Sir ✝️

[@alisaruddell3484]

This was beautiful. I love your use of icons to reveal the symbolism. I’d caught the Christ-like nature of Neil’s sacrificial death on my first viewing, but I’d missed what you pointed out here: Neil is also simultaneously pulling those in “the tomb” out of death and back to light and life... “harrowing hell” so to speak.

[@melonadeskii6681]

loved this video, your ability to communicate the essence of these characters is remarkable and a breath of fresh air!

[@thegoldenthread]

This + MissionTop's Interstellar essay have made that pair of films so much more significant for me. Thank you.

[@hmm6518]

"Conquering death by death itself" oh god

[@samsamsammy2013]

Powerful analysis. Loved every bit of it. Great work man!

[@colethecollector6742]

"have faith have hope live like his son, help others on the way"

[@lazyyak1593]

Good work

[@abhideshmukh2182]

I think this is best video till now on KZbin actually saying about movies Core👍🏻🔥❤️....Gr8 Work man

[@chris.m2]

Discovered your video thanks to Reddit and I don’t regret it! Great take on the subject, keep up the good work mate!

[@genebrady]

I hadn't seen the movie, but I will now! Looks glorious.

[@bradspitt3896]

I think it's just convoluted, there's also revenge in the movie. Looks like the wife faces no consequences for killing Andrei.

[@anujviswanathan7515]

Am I the only one who spotted a red and blue faces in that Christ painting???

[@compromisedssh]

Could've been interesting but the (absurd) background music is too intrusively loud.

[@stormburn1]

It's funny how much this works with Christian symbolism, but against the Bible and the doctrines promoted according to it. Not sure how best to explain it within the scope of a KZbin comment, but if you apply this analysis of control and love/freedom to God, you find early God as a highly manipulative, controlling monster. Later/modern God rarely, if ever, intervenes and is described as far more loving, with the problem of evil/suffering often being explained or justified by an appeal to human free will. But God according to Christianity is commonly accepted to be eternal, constant, and maximally good, powerful, and knowing. Any past "evil" like the flood is thus good because God did it because God cannot be anything but good. God punishing Adam and Eve for disobeying him before they knew of good and evil, and thus before they had the knowledge that it was bad to disobey God, would then be the most evil thing he could have done; literally damning two innocents and their descendants eternally. Even with Jesus's sacrifice, God is only sacrificing himself to himself to allow himself to forgive humanity for a wrong they naively committed like a toddler who ate too many cookies. In this lens, then, the greatest, most loving and freeing thing God could do isn't sacrificing Jesus as one aspect of the trinity, but to sacrifice himself wholly and totally. To cease demanding worship and subservience, to destroy the concept of sin and leave morality to humanity to decide for themselves. No more worship, no more sin, no more churches or masses or sermons. No gods, no kings, no masters. For humans, destroying God and all reverence or respect for Him might be equivalent to the evil/control shown by God in Genesis. But this control would be an exercise in freedom against God who, by His nature, could only be destroyed by His will. Man's actions against God would not be the eternal damnation of an innocent child, but a revolution against a tyrant. TLDR - Your video implies that the most Christian and loving act a human could take is apostasy and anti-theism which is decidedly un-Christian.

[@squirlmy]

7:15 ouch, I didn't like the attribution to Jesus. It's the words of the gospel writer at least a couple of decades after Jesus. At the very least, it was written in Greek, and Jesus spoke Aramaic. Obviously I have a Skeptical leaning, but even for believers, not attributing them directly to the gospel writer is problematic. If only we could go back in time and changed that part in your video! 🤔