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Tenet · written by Christopher Nolan · 2020
Scene 182 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.
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.
The Protagonist steers Kat's gurney through the burning wreckage toward the vault breach.
This scene
The Protagonist draws his gun – turns to Neil –
PROTAGONIST
I’m going in. Wait here.
The Protagonist turns, rushing up onto the loading dock –
The LOOSE JET ENGINE, under FULL THRUST, ATTACHED to the wing, SWINGS BACK AND FORTH, wreaking REVERSE HAVOC...
The Protagonist pauses, LISTENING – he can hear BACKWARDS VOICES on the other side of a ROLLER DOOR – the loose jet engine TURNS, BLASTING AIR at the Protagonist with its INVERTED THRUST – the Protagonist is SMASHED through the bottom of the roller door –