The Ending Of 'Tenet,' Explained | Pop Culture Decoded

Christopher Nolan's latest spy movie, "Tenet," is a mind-bending action thriller in which an intelligence agent is sent on a time-bending mission to prevent World War III. It stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh.

Much like Nolan's previous hits "Inception" and "Memento," it plays with concepts of time and does not follow a linear narrative. So it's no wonder audiences have been left puzzled by what it all means.

We break down the final three scenes of "Tenet" and try to unpack its ending.
"Tenet" was released worldwide on August 26 and is scheduled to be in select US theaters on September 3.

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#Tenet #Movies #Insider

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The Ending Of 'Tenet,' Explained | Pop Culture Decoded

[temperuncentered]

this movie is something we might never see again.a 200 mil dollar original sci fi movie not adapted from any book, or not belonging to a franchise

[Chris-soin]

After watching the movie, I told myself: don’t try to understand it, feel it...

[jurgenvvliet]

I’m so looking backward to this movie.

[LingahbytheSea]

This is the only movie, ever, in which "spoilers" do not exist.

[anilgajbhare]

The only mistake you can make while watching a Nolan movie is to Blink

[cybrfriends]

You know the story is confusing when Insider has problems explaining it.

[LemonTee]

i just watched this tomorrow and the movie was awesome

[vinniechan]

After watching the movie I walked backwards to the box office waiting for the money to flow back into my wallet

[kartarbhogal]

Even after this explanation, I still don't understand. Anyway, it was a good film. Can't wait for the trailer!

[sophiechiewtrakoon]

TENET isn’t just a movie, it’s an experience . I Cannot for the life of me explain what is going on at any point in the movie cause I have a smooth butter brain but I loved it!

[temperuncentered]

end credits-
directed by-chistopher nolan
concept by-christopher nolan on cocaine and lsd

[joeloelze]

Neil doesn’t get stuck in a time loop... he goes back into the Tenet battle backwards and dies.

Basically, this time around, he goes back in starting from the end of the battle, and only lives a few minutes before he is shot in the head.
So, from his perspective, the first time he fights in the battle starting from the end, goes about halfway towards the beginning, then switches to normal forward progression of time. The battle ends, he switches back to reverse time, and participates in the last few minutes of the battle again (for the purpose of opening the door for The Protagonist) before he is killed.

[magicbrit]

Neil isn't 'backwards Neil' when he drags them out. He started the assault backwards, but flipped when he saw his comrades would be trapped by an explosion at the entrance.

[____uncompetative]

SATOR
AREPO
TENET
OPERA
ROTAS

All of these words appear in the movie and this palindromic Sator Square can be found in the ruins of Pompeii that Max was visiting.

[nysportsfan]

Christopher Nolan is my all-time film director and saw this movie yesterday and it's an amazing film, he never let's me down.

Some of his films need a "second or third viewing" to understand it more and his trademarks are very unique and complexed!

[tylerschannel]

The voice of the narrator is also moving backwards ...

[nomadicolours]

I was in Puerto Rico for a few months, so glad I went to see this on the big screen. Almost empty theater. One of the best experiences during a very rough time of 2020.

[lekodraws]

didn’t even think of the Doppler Effect thing. brilliant!

[StevenFlorak]

Neil is Max from the future. He has the same color hair, and the final line with the shot I would say indicates that.
The fact that he didn't say goodbye to Kat before the mission and her saying "I wish I had seen him one last time" is not a coincidence.
How Neil talks to Kat seems very familiar and calm to him
Also, I would imagine that Max's full name is Maximilien. Lien is the reverse of Neil.
And the fact that Neil asks the protagonist if he's going back to Kat. Why would he ask that unless he knew that he would and probably become like a surrogate father figure to him?

[whazee]

This explains a lot of things I missed!
I'll definitely need to see it again - Neil moving through time was the hardest thing for me to figure out.