· · ·
turning to page one
turning to page one
Tenet · written by Christopher Nolan · 2020
Scene 181 of 275 · ≈ 1 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 pays a heavy price for it — Kat is shot, the material is lost to Sator anyway, and he is left not knowing whether any of it mattered.
The Protagonist finds a growing lesion on his arm as Neil explains the algorithm's world-ending purpose.
They debate the grandfather paradox and whether their present survival proves the future's plan must fail.
They spot the wrecked plane outside and prepare to break out through the breach.
This scene
Onto PANDEMONIUM – FIRE CREWS BATTLE the blaze, chunks of metal on the ground IGNITE, SHUDDER and LEAP ONTO THE AIRFRAME... STREAMS of water RISE up onto the plane –
The Protagonist HURRIES BACKWARDS, PULLING THE GURNEY towards the plane, steering around debris that might suddenly –
A SHEET OF FLAMING METAL SPINS off the ground, shearing into them, KNOCKING the GURNEY – they duck, HOLDING ON TO THE GURNEY, the metal FLIES into the air, SLAMS into its hole on the side of the plane... the Protagonist spots a line under the fuselage, between flames, towards the breach...
PROTAGONIST
Come on!
Neil looks up as BLACK SMOKE GATHERS, FORMING A MASSIVE CLOUD OVER THE PLANE... a SHOCK WAVE starts to BUILD in the air around them – the Protagonist PULLS Kat and Neil under the fuselage as CURTAINS of FIRE start GATHERING around the wings, CENTRED on a HALF-DESTROYED JET ENGINE –
They pass through the hole in the wall LICKED AT BY FLAMES WHICH LEAVE FROST ON THEIR CLOTHES –
As they clear into the building, DEBRIS in front of them start SHAKING – they DUCK as the MASSIVE BUILD OF ENERGY CLIMAXES in a CACOPHONOUS REVERSE EXPLOSION as THE JET ENGINE REASSEMBLES – LOOSELY ATTACHED TO THE WING, THRUSTING –