Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Tenet was released in theatres across the United States on September 3, 2020. Soon after its release, the film garnered criticism for a wide range of reasons, some of which had to do with the film itself and some of which did not.
For starters, Tenet was released during the COVID-19 crisis when the public at large was being urged to socially distance. Movie theatres are public places where social distancing is almost impossible to implement. Although there was a smaller turnout than expected for a Nolan film, several people rushed to the theatres to grab a screening of the film, creating commotion among the masses.
The controversy surrounding the film did not end there as those who managed to catch a show for Tenet came up with their own set of complaints. The most prominent among them was the audio for the film which the audiences thought was subpar.
Several people on the internet during the time complained about not being able to hear the dialogues uttered by the actors onscreen leading to a very unfavorable viewing experience. Others also complained about the characters being too bland and their actions not being guided by reason. There were others on the list too.
5 reasons why Tenet was so controversial
1) It was released during COVID-19
At the pinnacle of the COVID-19 pandemic when everything was getting shut down and people were trying to get used to the concept of social distancing, public places in the United States had not yet implemented stringent protocols to put the act into motion.
Therefore when Tenet was released on September 3, 2020, a large number of people flocked to the theatres to watch the film. Since this was one of the highly anticipated big-budget films during the time, critics slammed moviegoers for their callousness for congregating in large numbers in enclosed spaces. They also criticized authority figures for prioritizing the film's financial aspects over public safety.
2) Some of the dialogues in the movie were inaudible
People who went to watch Tenet largely confessed to not being able to understand crucial parts of the film due to the dialogues being inaudible. While some complained that the audio systems in their respective halls were not well-suited others complained of the original audio having a problem.
This is not the first time a Nolan film has faced such allegations. In the past, his films, including The Dark Knight Rises and Inception have also received similar criticism.
3) The film had a very complicated plot
It is no surprise that Christopher Nolan's films are difficult to decipher. That said, many viewers confessed that Tenet was a movie that they failed to grasp even on their third and fourth watches owing to its extremely complicated plot.
As some viewers noted, Nolan used several scientific concepts including concepts of time inversion and time manipulation, without offering much clarity on them. This in turn resulted in a large section of the viewers not being able to make sense of the film's plot.
4) The characters in the film were not well woven into the narrative
As several people noted during the time, the characters in this film were just there to serve their purposes. They had certain parts to play in the film and they did so on their own accord. But, when it came to their characterizations and establishing them as real characters worthy of associating oneself with, it faltered.
This made the audiences feel disconnected from the characters as well as the film's narrative which in turn led to an underwhelming watching experience.
5) An ambiguous ending
Christopher Nolan fans are no strangers to the concept of ambiguous endings as the filmmaker has been notorious for doing it for almost all his films turning it into his statement style. Tenet too, had an open ending which left considerable room for the audience's interpretation.
However, given the highly complicated storyline of the film, the audiences found it even more difficult to reach deductions concerning the movie's ending, further agitating them.
Tenet is currently available for viewing on Amazon Prime Video, TNT, TBS, Hulu, Apple TV Plus, Fandango at Home, Sling TV, and YouTube TV.
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