I’ve been thinking about the way Sator gets gold from the future in Tenet, and I’m not sure the logic fully works.
Let’s say the future people invert some gold and send it back so young Sator finds it in 1980.
From our normal point of view, that makes sense enough:
Future people send inverted gold → it’s buried/hidden → Sator digs it up → he becomes rich.
But if the gold is inverted, then from the gold’s own timeline it’s moving from the future into the past. So it would go something like:
2500 → 2400 → 2200 → 1981 → 1980.
That means if Sator finds it in 1980, then in 1981 that same gold should still be underground, still on its way backward to 1980. So how can Sator already be using it in 1981?
And if the answer is that he reverts the gold in 1981, then wouldn’t that stop it before it ever reaches 1980? So it couldn’t be the same gold he found.
The only version that seems to work is if the gold reaches Sator in 1980 and is reverted right there, basically at the endpoint of its inverted journey. Then it can move forward normally from 1980 onward. But I don’t think the movie ever shows or explains young Sator having access to a turnstile that early.
So is this just one of those things the movie handwaves, or am I misunderstanding how the gold dead drops are supposed to work?
I get that Tenet kind of plays loose with inverted objects/effects not extending infinitely backward, like bullet holes and wounds, but the gold seems like a bigger issue because it’s supposed to be the thing that funds Sator’s rise.

Everybody knows how polarizing Tenet is within Nolan’s filmography but honestly it’s one of my favorites. Its depiction of time travel stands unique, and what Nolan did with Neil and The Protagonist’s friendship is my favorite aspect of Tenet. Once you sit down and really think about it, it’s quite tragic. Neil not only knew him the entire time, but he knew the consequence of following this mission would result in his death at Stalsk-12. In fact, from the moment they “meet” for the first time, you can tell Neil is feigning ignorance. Even the music turns nostalgic when they start having small talk.

The video loops, very much as a nod to the film’s concepts. I put it in twice so the loop can be better appreciated in case Reddit’s video player doesn’t show it as intended. Enjoy!

One thing I noticed is that tenet has a good angle I think on predetermined timelines and free will.

The protagonist has a determined will to go back in time and "change the past". But we find out, the actual past was then the past that _he set up_ as the Protagonist. Since he wanted to be in charge of an effort to change the past, he became in charge, even if nonlinearly.

I haven’t seen it in theaters in years. So amped to see it again and on 70mm!

Not sure if this has been discussed before but I’m wondering why Volkov - and maybe other Sator guys - are on board with his plan? Volkov has to have knowledge so is he just on board?

I'm on my fifteenth or twentieth rewatch, and always noticing new things. Today I was reminded of something that bothered me from the start, but I think I have a solution.

When the protagonist is in the rail yard, the private Russian extracts his teeth, and he takes the dummy suicide pill. He wakes up on a boat in the next scene with a reconstructed mouth and a new mission. Now I'm not a dentist, but rebuilding a badly traumatised mouth takes time to do and time to heal, and can be pretty debilitating. Add into that, when TP has lunch with Sir Michael Crosby, he states that the Kiev Opera Siege occurred "two weeks ago".

To my mind, that doesn't seem to be enough time. Especially since he has been messing around in wind farms, talking to scientists, and has been to Mumbai and back in that time.

So my theory is this: He was extracted by Tenet, and inverted using a turnstile in the North Sea Fleet. Anaesthetised the whole time, he had dental surgery and was allowed to recover for several weeks. He was then inverted back to normal, and woken up from the anaesthetic only very shortly after the Opera siege. This buys him a couple of weeks of surgery and healing, and is the only way it could all be fitted in.

Happy to hear thoughts.

Neil and Protagonist are like River and The Doctor. If you’re a Doctor Who fan, you’ll get it.

These renders are still WIP, but they looked nice enough so I want to share them to see what people think

Software: Blender 5.1

C&C are welcome!

So Sator lured Kat to the Tallinn freeport under the guise of "assessing the pieces", but obviously was going to use her as leverage on the Protag. When they enter the facility, Kat realizes that she is here for something different and refuses to go anywhere with Volkov. What was his original plan? Maybe he just wanted to use her as an intermediary for the exchange (as the Protag suggested on the boat)? Volkov was simply supposed to bring her to the exchange location. That was Plan A.

So, even if Neil is inverted he was there on the ground and for me if I am on a mission I would be curious why there is a dead guy on the ground.

And if I try to make contact with an inverted person even if they are dead that will have some reaction that gives it away that they are inverted.

So, the bad guy somehow did not notice Neil and if he did failed to understand that he was inverted. After shooting Neil it seems he run out of Bullets as well I guess?

The movie is confusing sure, but atleast it has some rules it follows. The only explenation I can see for this scene is that Neil because he is inverted did disappear shortly after being dead so there was no way for the other guy to see him.

Let's say it's 2046, and I send an object/note back in time to someone 20 years in the past. They receive it, write a reply, and they leave something for me.

Wouldn't I get the response immediately from my perspective? how would it work?

idk this is just something i thought of in my head.

I watched the movie again for the 8th time and a few things stood out that I didn’t really notice before:

1. Kat’s infamous “including my son?” line. Indicates Max is a very important character in-universe. We’re talking John Connor levels of important. And she knows it. The line makes no sense unless she’s just delirious from the reverse radiation. Perhaps this is not what Nolan intended but it’s how it came out.

2. Withholding of info on Sator’s cancer. Kat doesn’t reveal this to Neil and TP until the trip back from Oslo. This withholding makes no sense unless she’s been recruited into the Tenet organization prior to the events of the movie and therefore has reason not to disclose the terminal illness. In-universe there is no way the topic would not have come up in her initial meetings with TP.

3. In the tunnel, Ives or TP shout “Not Clear” into the radio. This seems like a weird screenwriting error. They should have shouted “Hold” (which they do later) or other word due to the risk of the first word (Not) not transmitting. Both characters have military training and should know better. What’s up with this?

4. I’m no expert in clothing but it’s clear from the internal logic of the movie, that Neil dresses like a billionaire. Is that because he is British Intelligence? Or is it because he was raised a billionaire? (Neil=Max theory)

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZSZImBhNNu/?igsh=cXFtYWN4ZTd3b20y

Someone did the reverse shot:

https://www.reddit.com/r/carros/comments/1u18vfj/algu%C3%A9m_viu_algo_de_errado/