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Tenet · written by Christopher Nolan · 2020
Scene 167 of 275 · ≈ 7 min on screen · Act two
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.
The Protagonist in his zone of comfort — a skilled, anonymous field operative, competent and confident inside the Kiev operation.
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.
He enters the wholly unfamiliar situation of Tenet — the wind turbine, the password test, and Barbara's proof that time itself can run backward.
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.
The Tallinn ambush succeeds — he gets what the mission wanted, extracting the plutonium '241' from the armored convoy.
He is marched past the weapons table and through mysterious red doors.
Split across forward and inverted selves, Sator tortures the Protagonist and shoots Kat with an inverted round to force the truth, before both Sators vanish into the turnstile machine.
The interrogation replays from the inverted Sator's side of the glass, revealing how his earlier self orchestrated the ambush he's now escaping into.
This scene
The Protagonist looks through the glass at Kat –
FEMALE PARAMILITARY
She’s been shot!
PARAMILITARY SERGEANT
Get her this side!
Respirator-clad Paramilitaries pull Kat out of the room. The Paramilitary Sergeant turns to the Protagonist.
PARAMILITARY SERGEANT (CONT'D)
Was she shot with an inverted
round?
The Protagonist NODS. Neil enters – gestures to the Sergeant –
NEIL
This is Ives. He’s one of us –
The Protagonist GRABS Neil, THROWS him up against the wall –
PROTAGONIST
Us?! Who are these guys?
NEIL
Priya’s. Ours.
The Paramilitaries bring Kat into the room – the MEDIC, moving SWIFTLY, examines Kat’s wound.
The Protagonist puts his arm AGAINST NEIL’S THROAT –
PROTAGONIST
How did Sator know about the
ambush?
NEIL
Posterity. An ambush on the streets
can’t stay out of the record –
PROTAGONIST
Bullshit – he knew every move we
made! Somebody talked – was it
you?!
NEIL
No.
PROTAGONIST
At every stage, you’ve known more
than you should. I’m asking you one
more time. Did you talk?
IVES (O.S.)
Nobody talked. They’re running a
temporal pincer movement.
Ives is next to the Protagonist, ready to help Neil...
PROTAGONIST
A what?
IVES
A pincer movement. But not in space
– in time. Half his team moves
forwards through the event – he
the end, moving backwards. Knowing
everything.
PROTAGONIST
Except where I stashed the
plutonium.
The Protagonist lets Neil go...
PROTAGONIST (CONT'D)
Which is not plutonium, is it?
NEIL
I told you – it’s what he’s after.
And you just told him where it is.
PROTAGONIST
I lied.
Neil looks at Kat, bleeding out on the gurney.
NEIL
Jesus.
PROTAGONIST
He couldn’t verify from inside the
room, he’d have shot her anyway.
Lying is standard operating
procedure.
The Medic steps away from Kat, shakes his head.
MEDIC
It’s spread too far.
PROTAGONIST
Meaning what?
IVES
She’s going to die.
NEIL
(to Protagonist)
Standard operating procedure?
(to Ives)
Can’t you stabilize inverse
radiation by inverting the patient?
IVES
That takes days –
The Protagonist points at the turnstile –
PROTAGONIST
Let’s go.
IVES
We took control of this machine
minutes ago – before that it’s
Sator’s.
PROTAGONIST
How long will she live on this
side?
MEDIC
Three hours, tops.
The Protagonist thinks. He looks at Kat, who is dying.
PROTAGONIST
I’m taking her through. I’m not
going to let her die, I’ll take my
chances out there.
IVES
Chances of what? We’ve got no way
to bring you back.
PROTAGONIST
We find another machine.
IVES
A week ago? Where?
The Protagonist looks at Neil – they have the same idea –
NEIL
Oslo.
IVES
That facility’s impregnable. It’s
inside an airport security
perimeter.
PROTAGONIST
Not last week, it wasn’t. We’re
going in. You might as well help.
Ives, shaking his head, joins in. As they carry Kat towards the vault door, Ives points at the glass partition –
IVES
This is the proving window... as
you approach the turnstile if you
don’t see yourself through the
proving window, do not enter the
machine.
PROTAGONIST
Why not?
IVES
If you haven’t seen yourself
reverse-exit the machine, you won’t
be getting out. Okay, first in,
last out. Get into the turnstile,
pass through – I’ll already be
there with her.
PROTAGONIST
Is that gonna work?
Ives pauses, watching activity on the other side of the window –
IVES
(points)
Yeah...
The Protagonist turns to see HIMSELF on the other side of the glass, MOVING IN REVERSE, wheeling KAT ‘TOWARDS’ THE VAULT DOOR –
IVES (CONT'D)
Let’s go!
Ives OPENS the door – the Protagonist takes one last look at his backwards self ‘entering’ the machine, then STEPS INSIDE –
We follow him in as the door SHUTS behind him – he puts his back to the wall – the machine starts CLANKING like an MRI – the door opens on the other side – he STEPS OUT...
To see Ives struggling with Kat – he moves to help – Neil is already there (first in, last out).
The Protagonist looks through the glass to where he and Ives now appear to be moving backwards...
The Medic tends to Kat.
MEDIC
She’s stabilizing slowly. I’ll
clean and close, the rest is time.
PROTAGONIST
How long does she need?
MEDIC
4 or 5 days. A week to be sure.
PROTAGONIST
(to Neil)
Figure out how to get us to Oslo –
I’ve got to get back out there –
NEIL
To do what?
PROTAGONIST
To stop Sator getting away with the
whatever it is I just gave him.
NEIL
You didn’t – you lied about where
it was. Wait, you’re going out
there for her.
PROTAGONIST
He threatened to kill her in the
past... if he does, what happens to
her here?
NEIL
It’s unknowable. If you’re there to
make a change, you’re not here to
observe its effect.
PROTAGONIST
What do you believe?
NEIL
What’s happened’s happened. We have
to save her here and now. And if
you go back out there you might
hand him exactly what he’s after.
PROTAGONIST
Don’t let them take her back
through –
NEIL
I won’t.
IVES
You can’t stay here.
NEIL
And we don’t have much time – so
find us a nice cosy shipping
container that just came off a ship
from Oslo...
The Protagonist moves towards the door. Ives steps up –
IVES
This is cowboy shit. You have no
idea what you’re getting into if
you go through that door.
PROTAGONIST
Well, I’m going, so any tips would
be welcome.
Ives sees determination. Shakes his head.
IVES
Wheeler, brief him.
The female Paramilitary, WHEELER, hands the Protagonist a respirator –
WHEELER
You need your own air – regular air
won’t pass through the membranes
of inverted lungs. The number-one
rule – don’t come into contact with
your forwards self – that’s the
whole point of these barriers –
Wheeler BANGS on the proving window –
WHEELER (CONT'D)
And protective suits – if any of
your particles came into contact –
The Protagonist is putting on the respirator –
PROTAGONIST
What?
WHEELER
Annihilation.
PROTAGONIST
That’s bad, right?
The Protagonist follows Wheeler into a corridor lined with RESPIRATORS and HAZARD SUITS... at the end is an AIRLOCK...
WHEELER
When you exit the airlock, take a
moment to orient yourself – things
will feel strange. When you run,
the wind will be at your back. If
you encounter fire, ice will form
on your suit, as the transfer of
heat is reversed. Gravity will feel
normal, but appear reversed for the
world around you. Don’t worry about
things falling, so much as rising.
If you see an object demonstrating
unprompted instability, stay clear,
it may be about to leap into the
air. You may experience distortions
to your vision and hearing – this
is normal – light waves and sound
waves are propagating away from
you. This should clear as your
brain adjusts.
PROTAGONIST
Can I drive a car?
IVES
Cowboy shit.
Ives and Neil are grabbing respirators...
WHEELER
I can’t vouch for the handling,
friction and wind resistance are
reversed. You’re inverted, the
world is not. You can’t fight the
prevailing wind of entropy. Don’t
try flying a plane – it’d fall out
of the sky. Once again, you’re
inverted, the world is not – and
those forces will be pushing back
on you continuously.
The Protagonist turns to Neil –
PROTAGONIST
Was there a transponder on the
case?
NEIL
He’ll have tossed the case –
PROTAGONIST
I’m going backwards – that’s the
ball I have to follow. Give me the
reader.
Neil hands him a phone. The Protagonist sticks a Bluetooth earpiece in his ear, passes into the airlock – Wheeler shuts it behind him. Then opens the OUTER DOOR...