Tenet · written by Christopher Nolan · 2020

The Protagonist forces his way into the moving Audi, frees Kat, and pulls the brake before gunfire and a collision let Sator's men recapture them both.

Scene 162 of 275 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Protagonist
Neil

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:19 into a 2:28 film

The story so farBefore scene 162

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.
Scenes 145–158
The Tallinn ambush succeeds — he gets what the mission wanted, extracting the plutonium '241' from the armored convoy.
Just before
Scene 159
He escapes back to the getaway BMW with the case.
Scene 160
Neil and the Protagonist examine the recovered case as backwards radio chatter reveals Sator's inverted Audi chasing them; he holds Kat hostage, forces a mid-chase handoff, then abandons her in the runaway car as he escapes with the material.
Scene 161
No one is at the wheel as the runaway backward Audi races on with Kat unconscious in the back.
Scene 162
This scene

162INT./EXT. BMW, TALLINN STREET – CONTINUOUS

The Protagonist stares ahead at the backwards Audi –

PROTAGONIST

Pull up alongside...

Neil looks back at the receding Mercedes, followed by the BACKWARDS SAAB... he turns – RACING to pull alongside the runaway backwards Audi, the Protagonist OPENS his door...

– Ahead, a LOGJAM of traffic...

The Protagonist FUMBLES to open the Audi door.

PROTAGONIST (CONT'D)

Kat! Kat!

In the back, Kat swings her bound legs around –

– The LOGJAM of cars and buses LOOMS CLOSER... The Protagonist OPENS the Audi door, but his own door hits it and SLAMS IT CLOSED AGAIN...

– The LOGJAM is DANGEROUSLY CLOSE...

The Protagonist OPENS it again, Kat JAMS it open with her feet – the Protagonist CLIMBS ACROSS and PUSHES THE BRAKE WITH HIS HAND...

The Audi SKIDS to a halt, the BMW ZOOMING PAST...

The Protagonist starts to untie Kat, fumbling with his radio –

The BMW SKIDS to a halt, Neil JUMPS OUT – a CAR SKIDS to a halt between the BMW and the Audi – BLAM, BLAM! Neil DUCKS, avoiding GUNFIRE –

NEIL

(over radio)

Sit tight – I’m calling in the

cavalry.

PROTAGONIST

What cavalry?!

SMASH!!! The Protagonist and Kat are THROWN LIKE RAG DOLLS across the car – the Mercedes has SWIPED the nose of the Audi –

Volkov lays down COVER FIRE, pinning Neil as Sator’s men descend on the CRASHED Audi and pull the PROTAGONIST out of the car – shoving him around the back of the Mercedes. Kat is pulled from the wreck and put into the Mercedes –

As they put the Protagonist INTO THE TRUNK, he sees Sator MOVING BACKWARDS behind the line of cars, from the BMW...