Tenet · written by Christopher Nolan · 2020

Sator turns violent on Kat in the storage facility; she draws a gun on him.

Scene 145 of 275 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Save the Cat: Midpoint
Kat
Sator

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:12 into a 2:28 film

The story so farBefore scene 145

An unnamed intelligence operative, recruited into a shadow war fought through time-inverted weapons and objects, teams with an enigmatic ally to stop a dying Russian oligarch from using technology gifted by a dying future to erase the present.

Scenes 1–17
The Protagonist in his zone of comfort — a skilled, anonymous field operative, competent and confident inside the Kiev operation.
Scenes 18–20
Broken by torture and 'killed,' he needs a new purpose; Fay offers one that transcends the nation-state loyalties that just got his team killed.
Scenes 21–32
He enters the wholly unfamiliar situation of Tenet — the wind turbine, the password test, and Barbara's proof that time itself can run backward.
Scenes 33–144
Mumbai, London, Oslo, and Amalfi — he adapts to the world of inverted physics and Sator's inner circle, paying costs (Kat's trust, his own safety) to get close to the target.
Just before
Scene 142
Neil counts down the other ambush trucks closing in.
Scene 143
The disguised 'firefighters' prepare to strike.
Scene 144
The convoy is boxed in by the coordinated ambush trucks.
Scene 145
This scene

145INT. STORAGE FACILITY – DAY

Sator steps towards Kat –

KAT

Stay right there!

She lifts the gun, intent –

SATOR

You wouldn’t kill me.

KAT

I already tried.

SATOR

You pushed me off a boat. You’re

not going to shoot me in cold blood

–

KAT

My blood’s not cold, Andrei.

SATOR

No, but you’re not angry enough.

Sator edges towards Kat...

SATOR (CONT'D)

Because anger scars over into

despair. I look in your eyes...

He casually GESTURES at her –

SATOR (CONT'D)

I see despair.

He SMACKS the gun out of her hands – PUNCHES her – she DROPS –

SATOR (CONT'D)

Vengeful bitch. Living off me,

pretending to be better...

With a primal, animal viciousness, Sator SPITS at Kat.

SATOR (CONT'D)

ENOUGH!

Sator KICKS her once, in the side.

SATOR (CONT'D)

You wanted to know when it’s better

to kill you? You’ll have your

answer.

He motions to Volkov, who, with a guard, lifts Kat and carries her towards the door. Sator puts an earpiece in his ear...

SATOR (CONT'D)

Tell me everything as it happens.

Volkov nods, leaving – Sator walks through a large door.

SATOR (CONT'D)

Seal us this side!

As the door shuts behind him, he walks towards a RED DOOR WITH A SMALL PORTHOLE, finding a spot in the shadows nearby...