If this were a normal Friday, moviegoers would be heading to theaters to see Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, the acclaimed director’s latest movie about the concept of time itself. But as everyone knows, there is nothing normal about this Friday or anything else at the moment. Movie theaters around the country remain closed on account of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 138,000 Americans so far, and any hope for a swift reopening of venues has been dashed. Coronavirus cases in the United States continue to soar, and movie theaters remain locked in a fight with local officials about the next steps; just this week, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced theaters will stay closed for the foreseeable future.
Before these recent setbacks, the expectation was that Hollywood studios would once again release movies theatrically this summer. Disney’s Mulan and Tenet itself remain scheduled for release in August. But with too many Americans pushing back against basic public health protocols (the wearing of masks remains divided along political lines), it seems more and more likely that theaters will stay closed in major metropolitan areas for the rest of the year, at least.
Still, for now, Warner Bros. has Tenet on the schedule for August 12. As has become customary with Nolan films, the project is shrouded in secrecy, but trailers and advance press have revealed the basics of its story: Tenet is an espionage thriller where the stakes are no less than the fate of the world. So, while fans wait at least another five weeks (if not much longer) to see the film and uncover its mysteries, here are some recommendations for what to watch instead.
Inception
Even at the time of its release in 2010, Inception was a bit of a unicorn: an original piece of intellectual property that performed at the box office like a superhero blockbuster. The heist film, about a team of experts (including Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, and Ellen Page) who infiltrate the dreams of their marks, remains the closest yet Nolan has come to directing something akin to his beloved James Bond films. At least, until Tenet. “I’d say [Tenet] is an in-law to Inception,” star John David Washington said of the film earlier this year. “They’re related by marriage. They get together for Thanksgivings, family barbecues, like that kind of thing. Other than that, one lives in Europe, the other one lives in Compton.”
The Spy Who Loved Me
As noted, Nolan has long professed a deep connection to the 007 franchise, and with good reason: he has said The Spy Who Loved Me, with Roger Moore as James Bond, is one of the first movies he remembers seeing as a child. “At a certain point the Bond films fixed in my head as a great example of scope and scale in large scale images,” he said in 2012 while explaining how that film inspired Batman Begins. “That idea of getting you to other places, of getting you along for a ride if you can believe in it—in The Spy Who Loved Me, the Lotus Esprit turns into a submarine, and it’s totally convincing. It works and you go, wow, that’s incredible.”
Topkapi
According to Indiewire, this heist film is another Nolan favorite, specifically for Peter Ustinov’s performance—which won the actor an Academy Award.
BlacKkKlansman
Nolan cast Washington as the lead in Tenet after seeing the world premiere of BlacKkKlansman at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018. “I just felt a sort of magnetism there. It really was an important thing for me in terms of feeling like it was meant to be somehow,” Nolan said earlier this year. “In my first conversation with him, he just felt like somebody on the cusp of really great things.” Fans of Spike Lee’s film, which won the legendary director his first competitive Oscar (for best adapted screenplay), will no doubt agree with Nolan: Washington jumps off the screen as a Colorado police officer who uses his voice to infiltrate the Klu Klux Klan.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Since Tenet remains cloaked in mystery, it is still unclear whether co-star Elizabeth Debicki will break good or bad. (She has been revealed to play the estranged wife of the film’s villain, portrayed by Kenneth Branagh.) But to get a glimpse of the actress at her most devious, revisit Guy Ritchie’s often delightful 2015 caper film, in which Debicki matches wits with Armie Hammer and Henry Cavill.
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