‘Tenet’ trailer introduces John David Washington trying to stave off WWIII in Christopher Nolan's epic espionage time-bender
What could be worse than a nuclear holocaust? Christopher Nolan's upcoming film 'Tenet' starring John David Washinton, Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki will answer this question.
The first official trailer of the film was released Thursday and it doesn't reveal too much about the film, except for the fact that we will see the main characters try to stop World War III from taking place. Are we looking at nuclear holocaust? Is that what Washington's character would have to stop? No! There is something much worse than nuclear holocaust and the trailer leaves us in suspense about what exactly this is.
One interesting detail, though, is the element of time manipulation. Yes, there is a good chance Washington's character could use this to stop the war in question, but how he does it is something Nolan continues to keep close to his vest.
In one of the scenes Pattinson's character and that of Washington's are on a car chase and we see one of the cars roll over and is clearly crumpled. A second later, however, the same car ends up rolling back to its original condition. This is the first hint at the film possibly featuring manipulation of time.
Another interesting aspect of the trailer is when we see Washington's character face death. He is told, "You chose to die instead of giving up on your colleagues." Minutes later, he wakes up in a hospital room and we see Martin Donovan's character waiting.
He says, "That test you passed, not everybody does." Clearly, Washington's character's loyalty was being tested here. Or so we would assume, but then he is told, "Welcome to the Afterlife."
He is also given one word that will open the right and wrong kind of doors for him to be able to complete the mission that he would be receiving as a part of the Afterlife. That word is Tenet.
Why is it important? There is no hint about the characters or their circumstances that influence the course of their actions. All of this is still kept under the wraps, and yet, the trailer manages to hook us right in.
It must be remembered that this is a science fiction movie, so if Washington does end up literally in the afterlife, it would explain how he is able to manipulate time and even see the future. It could also simply be the name of a task force that is specifically designed to stop something just like World War III.
In that case, we still don't know how to explain Washington's ability to see the future. It is also clear from the trailer that Washington's job involves firing guns, and quite often at that. To do what he does, he explains that he needs an idea about the kind threat that they face.
This is when he is informed that there is an imminent war, which would be much worse than a nuclear holocaust. He works with Pattinson's character and Debicki's to figure out a way to stop what he is supposed to before its too late.
The film also starring Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh is slated to release July 17, 2020.
