“Tenet” Delivers the Year’s Most Mind-Blowing Trailer

Christopher Nolan is one of the few filmmakers who is consistently afforded massive budgets for original projects. Time and again he's delivered, and his latest looks like his most ambitious film yet.

I have no idea what's actually happening in Tenet – something about spies, mass destruction and boats – but none of that matters. This looks like the absolute coolest movie in a very long time.

John David Washington stars as the protagonist, who's "resurrected" (possibly literally) and sent undercover and back in time to stop... well, something bad. ("Nuclear holocaust?" "No. Something worse.")

The cast also includes Clémence Poésy, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh. Plus, Martin Donovan pops up in the requisite "Haven't seen that guy in a while" role that's been a staple of Nolan films (see also: Anthony Michael Hall in The Dark Knight, Tom Berenger in Inception and William Devane in Interstellar).

Tenet doesn't arrive until July 17. If only there was a way to get there faster.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.