Christopher Nolan's 'Tenet' Will Bring Us Into A New Era Of Filmmaking, John David Washington Says

There's no question that Christopher Nolan's upcoming Tenet is one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year. Though the film itself is still shrouded in mystery, every time Nolan puts out a film, it's groundbreaking, or mind-bending, or unpredictable in some way. And Tenet is no exception, according to star John David Washington. In fact, it may be so ground-breaking that it could be the milestone for where the "next 10, 15 years of filmmaking" will go, Washington teases.

With The Dark Knight Rises, much hoopla was made about how Nolan used IMAX. With Dunkirk, it was the spectacularly immersive sound design. But just how does Nolan pull off those striking time reversal sequences that we've seen in the Tenet trailers? Nolan and co. are still being tight-lipped about that, sworn under the usual veil of secrecy that surrounds a Nolan film. But John David Washington can at least hype you up about how Nolan's filmmaking in Tenet is ahead of the curve.

In an interview hosted on the gaming platform Fortnite, the same game that debuted the latest trailer for Tenet, Washington teased just how groundbreaking Nolan's latest film will really be:

"We're familiar with [Nolan's] films, but this seems like something different. It seems like this is where he's about to take us for the next 10, 15 years of filmmaking."

Intriguing! While we have no idea of Washington is speaking of Nolan's filmmaking specifically, or cinema in general, that's high praise for a movie we know very little about. But Washington also teased in the interview that there's more revealed about Tenet in the trailers than we may think."Really, it's interesting, because there are just little nuggets of information and just breadcrumbs of information about the movie that I'm surprised [Nolan] was willing to reveal," Washington said. "And I love that he did."

Nolan's storytelling style can be confusing for even the actors who have read the script, as we saw with Washington's co-star Robert Pattinson earlier (though Nolan assures that Pattinson understands the script better than he thinks). Washington was no different, admitting he was confused by the story, but that Nolan did the best to guide them through it.

"It was important that the actors could track the story correctly," Washington laughed, "so we could tell it the best way we could, and he was very patient with us. I say that very politely."

Tenet hits theaters (for now) on July 17, 2020.

Armed with only one word—Tenet—and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.