TENET Explained (Full Plot Breakdown)

[@aprilized]

I'm convinced the only real reason they use the gas masks is to remind us what's inverted and what isn't. It's an excellent cinematic marker.

[@darkspeed62]

They explain in the film that they use gas masks to supply oxygen, as when they're inverted, they would just be inhaling carbon dioxide instead.

[@aprilized]

@@darkspeed62 yes lol... We know why they use masks in the film. The point is, they actually put that into the film so people won't get mixed up as to when they're inverted and when they're not

[@aprilized]

@Shankly Paisly very cool. I'm pretty sure the masks were added to help us along. I never noticed the colours so I'm sure others didn't either

[@Aaron-x3]

I think the use of masks was primarily used to hide the identity of Neil and the Protagonist in his earlier part of the time line. For posterity As in, it was a way to keep the Protagonist (the audience perspective) ignorant so the events can still happen with out spoilers until we're meant to find out. Much like the Protagonists entire first half of the temporal pinser or like the red(forward)team in the end not being allowed to see the blue(inverted) team. If they saw, things wouldn't have happened that way. Since they were ignorant of the future events, they played out as they did.

[@dgold1985]

It also helped to mask out the mouth for scenes where inverted characters are talking normal but the world around them was backwards. To do this they would have had to film the actors talking backwards, which have looked weird when played in reverse. A fogged up mask solves that problem. They could just do ADR so you would have no idea the lip movement doesn't sync up.

[@TheFunky57]

''Shit on a on a page and call it a script'' and you show Interstellar?? What!!??

[@skylarsmith384]

Right?!

[@charlesgamers]

U need to keep doing these, this was such a good explanation and pretty funny too

[@rnilu86]

I think Nolan won't stop making complex movies until someone says "Yes, now your movie is more complex than the movie Primer". :D :D :D

[@JS-ri8qc]

primer was the first thing i thought of when they introduced the turnstile in the film. a little different though because you don't have to wait in the box to move backwards in time

[@urbanlifedancestudio]

what is a movie primer

[@ragyanada4636]

@@urbanlifedancestudio that's the name of another time travel movie, Primer...

[@GallahersGreen]

@@JS-ri8qc they do have to wait in the box. Same concept.

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

​@@JS-ri8qc In Primer they only hide in the box to avoid paradoxes. In Tenet they want to affect the past so they only try to keep away from themselves. They do hide in a shipping container.

[@Jared_Wignall]

Never knew film was pronounced as “Filum”. Interesting.

[@Green__Man]

@callmecatalyst they just put an "F" in there for real??

[@darkspeed62]

@callmecatalyst I'm from the UK and pronounce it how it looks. We say 'time off in-lieu' so I pronounce Lieutenant exactly how it looks based off f what I've just said.

[@ithehappy1]

@callmecatalyst Wait what? That's how it is pronounced in the entire world. It's only the Americans and Canadians who pronounce it true to its spelling.

[@splabbity]

I wonder if he covers any Terry Gillium filums.

[@robbshuus7641]

Please stop! Film.

[@directedbydavid]

i just like the way this dude says Fil-M

[@GiedriusMisiukas]

roflmao yea!

[@Jared_Wignall]

*Filum

[@Enkaptaton]

Filum ... now I hear it too

[@KYoung-nj8ri]

Nooo no no its driving me crazy lol. Where is the U in film? Filum?? AAAAHHHHH IM LOOSING MY MIND

[@Cuzjudd]

It gets really annoying after a while

[@IDKeffect82]

My man. Detailed explanation. I had my son watch this.

[@charlieferguson52]

I'm glad it made sense!

[@Pdbottleneck]

Charlie Ferguson how do you manage to sneak a second syllable into the word “film”?

[@charlieferguson52]

Paul DeCurtis just the dulcet tones of the Northern Irish accent

[@GiedriusMisiukas]

@@charlieferguson52 :D n1 man, n1

[@gingin4920]

Hi from Australia 👋🐨 I saw the film last week and have been binge watching reviews and explanations since! This video is probably the best I have seen, awesome work 👍👍 Love your style!

[@charlieferguson52]

Thank you very much. I actually made it because I watched a couple and thought that none of them had everything that I wanted! Sending love to Australia

[@noerflanders]

Watching with subtitles made a world of difference, one of Nolan's best. Deserves to be rewatched. Alot of critics probably only watched this film once. It deserves 2-3 viewings

[@MrShaunG]

Actually. This is the best description I’ve seen on KZbin. Yes the diagrams are cool etc, and The long drawn out battle scene animation’s are great but this hit it right on the great fort me. Thank you

[@AgentOccam]

@4:10 you've got that slightly wrong; he *does* stop the massacre - that was the whole point of him going back in and collecting the bombs. But then he and his team "the Americans" get caught by some Russian agents.

[@lastword8783]

1:19 thats funny because people said nolan had too much handholding in Interstellar.

[@jonathanle972]

Finally, an explanation that I can understand and it was entertaining too! Thank you!

[@DeclanMorgan.]

Really liked the movie but I had no idea what was going on a lot of the time. This video cleared up a lot for me. Thanks!

[@Green__Man]

That means there should be a sneaky Mr P somewhere in the background of every scene but it's the version from the future going backwards to the point where he initiated the Tenet protocol? Man I don't even understand my own thoughts anymore

[@zaustinz7910]

Thank you for the explanation, enjoyed understanding some of the details that's finally understood by me.

[@darkspeed62]

Is it me or do they not explain in the film that when you go back it takes the same amount of time to go back to where you want to get to. All the scenes 'In the past' that we see through the damn glass happen exactly after the previous scene in the future, so it's confusing. It appears as though when they travel back/forward it takes no time at all.

[@cwell510]

Just watched Tenet for the first time yesterday and I thought it was awesome although I'm definitely going to have to see it again but your video explained a lot of the "inversion" plot points, thanks!

[@razorbackguy6149]

So Stewie Griffin has become a youtube personality, interesting...

[@AL-jz4go]

why is this such a good description like, i'm actually not confused. Thanks this helped a lot!!!

[@PaulChristianJenkinsJD]

Frankly, I felt bad for the guy at the end of the cheese grater. Seriously, the protagonist gave out such an ass-whipping that I felt sorry for the henchmen. They were just 3 henchmen trying to earn a dishonest living, when he goes-off on them. I mean some serious hospitalization. Finally, the crashing of the plane was over-rated. He simply leased a 747 that was on it's way to the 'boneyard.' The engines were long since removed. And notice you don't see any damage from fire what-so-ever to the plane.

[@Green__Man]

Christopher Nolan crashes a real 747 into a building This guy: "Meh, over rated"

[@PaulChristianJenkinsJD]

@@Green__Man It's a real plane, just had the engines removed and crashed through a plywood wall. Next stop for the plane, the boneyard. OVERRATED.

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

​@@PaulChristianJenkinsJD Wait until you realize that for car stunts film productions also get cars about to get crushed.

[@PaulChristianJenkinsJD]

@@ChucksSEADnDEADDude, I was born and raised in the East San Fernando Valley when they filmed the TV show 'CHIPS' about the California Highway Patrol. They filmed on the unfinished 118 Freeway and there were 'cars about to be crushed' everywhere.

[@ze_WATCHER]

For the 1st time!! The explanation that cleared up most things for me!

[@rpoon1373]

U will be big one day! Keep it up man, subscribed :)

[@RustinChole]

I do wish he’d do something more character driven like Memento. That movie hits on an undeniably emotional level. I thought he balanced the ideas and character well in inception. But after that it seems like the characters arrive fully formed and change very little over the course of the films🤷‍♂️. Tenet is very entertaining now that I understand, thanks.

[@TaraSalinas777]

You didn’t cry towards the end of Inception? 😢 When he finally said goodbye to “dream Mol” and when he finally got home to his children? 😢 What about, “Don’t let me leave Murrrrrrppphhhhh!” 😢 And when Cooper watched Murrrrppphh’s video when she was an adult? 😢 Oh when Dr. Brand realized Cooper was going into the black hole? 😢 I’m just a softie and I cry no matter how many times I watch them. 🤣

[@80MWH]

7:58 - yeah, I’m still thinking about that.

[@Cuzjudd]

Sator, not Saito. He's from Inception

[@shawnrcurrie]

Fill-em!

[@cvpiguy]

Shawn Currie lol ikr

[@jf4764]

Only thing, you missed a crucial bit near the end. During the temporal pencer movement Neil was part of the inverted team but he saw one of Sators men planting a bomb at the entrance to the mine. The entrance that mr. P and ives were running towards. So half way through Neil reinverted himself and so is now moving forward , got a jeep and rescued ives and mr. P. Great video for someone who only saw it once.

[@charlieferguson52]

Don Cobb nice catch! Thanks for commenting it! That war scene was a nightmare to keep up with, but you’re right, very important part played by Neil.

[@TheAllianceEnt]

First time I saw Tenet: mmmyeah...I think I got it. Second time I saw Tenet: WHAT. THE. ENTIRE. FUCK.

[@evanward4303]

How do you write a Nolan script? Take a bunch of pages and fill 'em

[@Fawkes2099]

Don't know why people find it difficult. It's the primer rules of time travel

[@ohyeahitsthatoneguy]

If he answered every question and spoon fed the information even more so than what is already in the movie then people wouldn't think about the movie after the first viewing.

[@DavidSanchez-bf6sz]

I've watched a few of these and this was the easiest explenation to follow. Nice job!

[@sammyriding]

Fantastic explanation! Absolutely love this movie

[@jinks908]

I love this fillum. It is a good fillum and I like the way you reviewed the fillum.

[@lololo]

these cups are empty can you please fill'em?

[@uniqueconcepts9316]

😂

[@saqibh3716]

How inverted people use toilet? 🤔

[@PedroGomes-mt3iz]

4:00 Wrong. Neil isn’t moving backwards there, only the bullet he catches is. If Neil was moving backwards you wouldn’t see him running away normally. 7:22 Sator isn’t mad at Kat for selling him a fake painting, he’s mad at her for cheating on him with an artist who happen to create that fake which she sold it to him. Sator therefore uses the fake painting as leverage in case Kat becomes unfaithful again.

[@ManodyaSenevirathne]

damn thnx man. Apparently when watching the film for first time I didn't understand many great scenes like that last shot about neil.Thnkyou for the nice explanation !

[@d1want34]

10:59 that vault scene was the most confusing for me

[@Wxltz]

Please keep doing these, entertaining and informative ❤️

[@sunburntbone]

Thank you for this

[@Laulauh7]

Thank you, this was pretty good, still i cant understand Neil's Timeline, but this was such a mind relief

[@nickm8425]

So neils timeline is pretty simple, he begins as Kats son Maximillian, (neil spelled backwards get it?) anyway tag goes way back, saves him and his mom then gets basically raised by tag his whole adolescence learns all the time tricks with mini jumps prolly. And tag teaches him how to become a time jumper, then once hes an adult he begins taking large loops backwards helping tag along the way, prolly having a book of events and times he needs to help out (like the auditorium) and then begins playing out the whole movie forward for this couple days. Introducing tag to how time works helping a bit rescuing his mom etc and then, doing one more quick jump to catch a bullet meant for tag. Now watch it again.

[@Green__Man]

@@nickm8425 who tf is tag bro

[@nickm8425]

Tag, the main character, his name is literally the protagonist.

[@Green__Man]

@@nickm8425 I knew who you were talking about but I'm like tf how did you get tag, my bad I was tired as shit dawg you good

[@chris_jorge]

Literally the most on point assessment I’ve heard yet. Lmfao .

[@bwtrader]

Good job! Great explanation! Haven’t seen it yet... lol sounds amazing! I booked a ticket to watch it in the cinema but didn’t go... lol

[@isaiahGere]

Wait if Kat saw an inverted version of herself jumping off the boat, shouldn't she see the inverted Kat moving backward?

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

She's not inverted, she's not wearing the mask. After she heals through inversion she goes into the turnstile again to go back to the "forwards" timeline.

[@IsabellaCatherine19XX]

This is an excellent video. Ienjoyed it very much. I finally know what the hell that Goya painting had to do with the story. Thank you!

[@reno419rockstar]

Feel'em

[@SSSavio]

Since in the car chase scene Sator is seen with the mask on how it is even possible for him to interact with not inverted P? And since KAT does not have a mask on that means she is not inverted, so how can Sator use her there? Another thing I cannot understand is that it seems that going back in time it is just a trip, because you cannot really alter any timeline as events unfold in one deterministic way no matter what. So how does Kat going back in time can influence the not inverted Kat and let hem think Sator cheated on her? Makes no sense because this is proof that time inversion is in fact changing the past and so the film finale is just a possibility it is not set in stone.

[@notbusy5006]

Amazing 😂. Keep the videos coming

[@danishfikhri3908]

5:00 Prove that John David Washington was a Football players on 2000’s somethin’ if im not mistaken.

[@AnilKumar-xl2te]

First meeting of Protagonist and Kat: Kat says that she saw a women jumping off a boat and since then Sator disappeared. Second Meeting of Protagonist and Kat: Protagonist asks Kat to introduce to Sator and she introduces him in dinner. How this is possible?

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

Sator had a fight with Kat and left on a helicopter. It's implied he's cooling off and will return.

[@eww_tube]

6:19 speaking reverse

[@karanghostdesai99]

Thanks for the breakdown of this filem

[@TaraSalinas777]

I kept hoping Denzel Washington was going to make a cameo since Mr. P is his son in real life. 🤣 I really would have been 🤯. BTW, best explanation on KZbin, hands down!! 👍🏽

[@annabeth247]

i liked your thoughts on tenet..and tbh it is supposed to be watched twice like any other literature..would you be so kind as to do a review of 'the devil all the time' please..love from the Philippines! (ehem new sub here!)

[@prakashkumarmishra96]

Would you please explain one thing. When protagonist meets Kat for the first time, when protagonist shows her Goya (painting ), where kat told protagonist that her husband vanished from the yacht and a woman dived into water from the yacht. Since in current time frame her husband was killed by people who can from future, how come in the same time frame protagonist asks Kat to help him meet Sator whereas sator is already dead. In the movie we also see that she (Kat invites the protagonist on dinner where he met sator) whereas she already confirmed that her husband vanished from the boat and from movie we know that he vanished because people from future came and killed him then how in that time frame sator came for dinner . Please explain.

[@richiesflicks]

Why do inverted wife and Brannagh don't wear the oxygen mask at the end??

[@jonathan21151]

They wasn’t inverted anymore.remember they went back to Freeport to buy time for Kat to heel and then come out and are back in the basic forward time line. You only have the mask when you are still inverted.

[@richiesflicks]

@@jonathan21151 ok ok cool

[@GiedriusMisiukas]

i l0v3d da m00d of all diz sheat :D keep the rap flow on bro, v gj!

[@randompersonontheinterweb]

I find it very funny that many of us may have missed some small detail, but NO ONE could forget the CHEESE GRATER 🤣

[@Abhishekbiradar9]

Why inverted kat doesn't wear mask? In last scene

[@patrickselden5747]

Because, having reached the point in the past where she needs to be, she's gone through a turnstile and is moving forward again.

[@McSmurfy]

You made me want to ice-cream THANK YOU but seriously this helped me understand

[@UATU.]

The way you pronounce “film” made my day.

[@EugenethePhilostopher]

Best movie in the last ~ 3 years. Maybe even more. Its popularity is only going to increase.

[@boomforests]

Loved it! Subbed 😄😄

[@childeroland2569]

The inverted bullet is bad because of radiation, not because of its direction through time.

[@videocassette1986]

What is the purpose of the blue and red team working together? It’s for to know what the other has done and do it differently?

[@sanna8300]

lmao!! I physically felt the confusion in your question.

[@directedbydavid]

what is Swiss College?

[@Enkaptaton]

This video is too good for just 105 subscribers.

[@kingsyqi]

Imagine taking a shit, then realizing you are going through time inversion. Therefore you are actually taking a shit, but non inverted, you are actually giving a shit

[@redmed10]

P not only lives in a wind turbine. And not only exercises in it but climbs up 100 ft up a ladder to do it when he would get the same effect by going up 3ft. He would rather risk slipping and falling to his death possibly. And why do those shutters come down in the theatre. Surely they don't comply with fire regulations.

[@chongstarr7836]

How many times have you watched the film before making this video?

[@jf4764]

Great video man. Are you Irish by any chance. Im guessing north of Cavan.

[@charlieferguson52]

Don Cobb County Down!

[@jf4764]

@@charlieferguson52 Close enough)). Great job on the video.

[@Fateslav]

In car chase John and Neil used the pincer movement in space to steal plutonium. I don't think that all events are inevitable, I think all events were shown from inverted perspective

[@yoz1111]

Thank you for the video! Can you please explain the very ending when we see Kat with Max. Wouldn't there be 2 versions of Kat in this world?.. one who was already in the past moving forward and the 2nd version who gets the phone from Mr. P and then travels back to the boat?

[@Theyungcity23]

Who is Laura and Siru? The scientist is Barbara and the villain is Sator

[@kennhwang4188]

TPM. "Because it's the only movement they know of in this movie." Lol.

[@ukulayme2]

Regarding the first time pincer and the car chase you said you'd explain how Mr. P accidentally ends up helping Sator... and I quote "Let me tell you what Sator's done here bc it's really clever"... Then you proceeded to not explain it and say "it just all works out". That's disappointing. Please don't pretend you're going to explain something and then just hand wave it away

[@anirbansantra7965]

This is the best explanation... thank you.

[@tirlio]

a classic bond villem in a good old spy fillem

[@nathanexplosionn]

Kenneth Branaugh's character is named Sator, not Sato

[@jit_cool_grewal]

What a filum! Nolan is a genius

[@charlieferguson52]

Don’t be like the Swiss Cottage man. Stay safe.

[@tesspulido]

So funny and intelligent! Good work man!

[@anandnsvworld]

Very well explained 😊

[@jcbsantos]

if they needed gas mask when they were inverted, why don't they use it consistently? why didn't they have it on when they were on the yacht at the end?

[@patrickselden5747]

Because, at that point, both Sator and Kat were moving forward again.

[@redmed10]

Why do cars move backwards but people don't?

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

People move backwards. That's why suit Protagonist fights SWAT Protagonist in a weird way.

[@ridiptukaria]

How d inverted wife survived in d boat without mask support

[@craigharris41]

How is Kat and Sator inverted with no oxygen

[@charlieferguson52]

Craig The Tech Guy at point I have called them Inverted Kat and Inverted Sato to try and differentiate them from the regularly moving in time Kat and Sato. They aren’t always inverted though, I just refer to them as that so you know which ones I’m talking about. Sorry, could have been more specific but my god there’s a lot going on.

[@jonathan21151]

They aren’t , when you see them on the boat they are back in Linear.

[@ericli542]

Are you from northern England? Nice accent

[@frisater96]

I thought it was cool I guess... but pretty devoid of emotion and humanity all in all. Everything flew by, and Nolan didn’t seem to be able to decide whether to explain the rules or just let the audience follow it intuitively. In my opinion, it’s rather telling that so many people didn’t understand the plot, and are watching KZbin videos explaining it afterwards. I mean, it’s interesting, but not very engaging while you’re actually seeing it. By contrast, the ending of Interstellar just blew me away. Everything in the movie, the sci-fi, the mystery, the character drama, mixed perfectly and just fucked my shit up. That’s a well done and satisfying experience right there.

[@envisioneddepth101]

Nicely explained but it would be a headache watching it again!😂😂

[@Mrmkkirton]

If they was inverted on the boat why didn't they have to wear mask?

[@jyodhish4306]

I too thought abt...it may be the boat was built for that..

[@patrickselden5747]

Because they weren't inverted on the boat: having travelled back in time to where they wanted to be, they were moving forward again.

[@OneOfDaKine82]

14:18 Think Mr. P was fighting inverted Neal.

[@xrayvisin]

Most of the movie I’m starting to understand but fuckkkk that whole heist scene and Sator’s plan is still kinda confusing. So everything that happened throughout the heist car scene is unchangable right? Is all we are doing is watching from everyone’s point of view?

[@pradeep_sekar]

Banana Joe yes

[@bascal133]

Reminds me of primer how you have to wait to go back in time

[@rustyshackleford2841]

Is Mr P the maker of the device? Why the boss lady trying to kill the woman and child at the end in the present?

[@pradeep_sekar]

Rusty Shackleford 1) No 2) Because any one outside Tenet should not be aware of the tech/events/algorithm etc

[@charlieferguson52]

Pradeep Chand SEKAR what Pradeep Chand said! Thank you

[@dpellegrino]

Great video great explanation

[@wokekoala3888]

This actually has the best time travel ever, all other big time travel films to it poorly, but TENET had no holes in explanation (except obviously how those chambers are created)

[@yadiragoulet5968]

Why inverted cat and sator.... no mask on the Vietnam boat.....

[@ryanbowenpk]

they’re going forward it time at that point, otherwise the guy cleaning up the mess from the glass cup with berries in it would’ve been reversed. he meant that cat & sator from the future(so inverted cat & sator) which are now going forward in time

[@godzillasuplex8590]

Nice job

[@TheFlyingPlectrum]

Nope. He did not go back and get his other wife. I think you may need to watch this again.