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Tenet · written by Christopher Nolan · 2020
Scene 258 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.
Satisfied by the gunshot he hears, Sator is interrupted by Kat.
The Protagonist shoots Volkov before he can drop the capsule, buying time as the gate's lock releases.
Neil races up through the minefield toward the ridge.
This scene
As Kat pours him a drink, Sator looks out at the glowing horizon, fiddling with the silver pill... he POINTS –
SATOR
Tomorrow the sun will rise in that
same spot. For the first time in
history. Because I’ve told it to.
(looks at her like she’s a loyal dog)
You have no idea what I’m talking
about, do you?
She looks at him, smiles sweetly.
KAT
It sounds terribly important,
Andrei.
He reaches for her – she gets up, moves to the rail –
SATOR
Where’re you going?
She grabs the hose, starts spraying herself –
KAT
Aren’t you hot?
Kat sprays the deck in front of the rail –
SATOR
What’re you doing, now?
KAT
I spilled sunscreen.
SATOR
So what?
KAT
It’s slippery.
SATOR
Just come here...
She looks at Sator lying on the daybed like an appalling emperor. Moves towards him. Grabs the sunscreen.
KAT
Turn over.
SATOR
The sun’s almost gone.
KAT
You’ll like it.
He rolls over, obedient. She squirts a large dollop across his back. Looks up at Mahir’s boat, hopeful. Nothing.
She checks her watch as she lazily smears the sunscreen across Sator’s back. He groans. Kat watches the TENDER APPROACHING, she can just make out HERSELF AND HER SON...