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Tenet · written by Christopher Nolan · 2020
Scene 237 of 275 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act three
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.
Recovered and re-briefed by Priya, he returns to a now-familiar situation — the Tenet operation — but changed, moving to Stalsk-12 with the full picture of what's at stake.
The Protagonist and Ives use the distraction to reach the tunnel entrance.
The building's collapse clears the way as Neil breaks free to run.
The Protagonist and Ives dive into the tunnel as a tripwire seals the entrance behind them.
This scene
Sator hangs up. He holds a SILVER PILL in the sunlight, studying it...
KAT
What’s that?
SATOR
I borrowed it from the CIA.
KAT
But what is it?
SATOR
The way the world ends, not with a
bang but a whimper.
KAT
I don’t understand.
SATOR
When I take this, it’s all over.
KAT
Then don’t take it, yet.
Sator looks at her, needing her to care.
SATOR
Why not?
KAT
We’ve got the sunset coming and a
little vodka left...
SATOR
And Max will be here soon... they
thought it was you, not Anna, on
shore with Max.
Kat steps up in front of Sator, seductive...
KAT
As long as you can tell the
difference...
Sator smiles appreciatively, but pulls out his phone –
SATOR
A moment’s business, my love...