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Tenet · written by Christopher Nolan · 2020
Scene 32 of 275 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one
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.
Barbara challenges him with the Tenet handshake before letting him through a locked door.
Barbara tells him the mission is to prevent something worse than nuclear war.
Barbara demonstrates an inverted bullet that travels backward through time, introducing entropy inversion.
This scene
Between tall sets of DRAWERS...
BARBARA
A bullet may not seem like much,
but it’s a simple machine – lead
bullet, brass casing, gunpowder. If
they can invert this – I see no
reason they couldn’t invert pretty
much anything. Even a nuclear
weapon can only affect our future.
An inverted weapon might be able to
affect our past as well.
Barbara stops at a drawer. Gestures around herself –
BARBARA (CONT'D)
Now that we know what to look for,
we’re finding more and more
inverted material...
She opens a drawer, revealing a VARIETY OF RUSTED BITS AND PIECES – SCREWS, CRACKED LENSES, METAL RODS, BUTTONS...
BARBARA (CONT'D)
...remnants of complex objects.
The Protagonist reaches out and lets a RUSTED BUCKLE leap into his hand.
PROTAGONIST
So what do you think we’re seeing?
BARBARA
The detritus of a coming war.
The Protagonist looks around at the MULTITUDE of DRAWERS.