Featuring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki, Tenet is Christopher Nolans highly anticipated new thriller, with a UK release date of 26 August now confirmed, Summer 2020 finally has its first truly epic, big-screen blockbuster.

Christopher Nolan’s latest mind-bending action thriller Tenet is finally coming to the UK. In these precarious Covid days, the biggest Hollywood movie of the year was delayed again and again. In fact, for a while, there was no certainty of a cinema release at all.

But as lockdown measures ease in various places around the world, Warner Bros. found an opportunity, a gap, a chance to potentially save cinemas at the end of August. And now, bookings are open.

John David Washington in Tenet (Image Credit: Warner Bros./Melinda Sue Gordon)

What’s the story of Tenet?

Nolan is never one to tell too much when it comes to his films. When he met with potential cast members, they didn’t know they were essentially interviewing to be part of Tenet.

But there are a few details that have trickled through. The plot involves a protagonist named, um, The Protagonist, and he’s a secret agent in an organisation called ‘Tenet’, tasked with preventing World War III. Sound simple? Well, nothing about Christopher Nolan movies is straightforward.

Credit: Warner Bros./Melinda Sue Gordon

Tenet – like Inception, Interstellar, and Memento before it – plays with time. But it’s not, definitely not, a time-travel movie. It’s a ‘time-inversion’ movie. Inspired by actual scientific theories, the characters in Tenet are able to manipulate and invert time to suit their needs.

Like Inception, which took Nolan a decade to write, Tenet took six or seven years to compose. Hopefully, it’ll be worth it. A visit to the shoot reported massive stunts and set-builds, which included blowing up a Boeing 747 and directing ‘one of the largest-scale outdoor builds of all time’, according to Nolan.

And this excludes the pre-Covid planet-hopping for locations: travelling to Estonia, India, Norway, Italy, Denmark, and the UK. Needless to say, this’ll be an unforgettable, global experience – which is probably what we need right now.

Who’s in the Tenet cast?

Nolan loves to populate his films with the best of the best – not only drawing star power, but talent power too. Soon after his success as the lead in Spike Lee’s BlacKKKlansman, John David Washington (son of Denzel) hopped onto Tenet as The Protagonist.

Robert Pattinson stars alongside Washington in a largely ambiguous role, which may or may not be named ‘Neil’. From the trailer, there’s an air of mega-English pomposity about him. The role shows that Pattinson is slowly breaking back into mainstream cinema after starring in a string of amazing indies (Good Time, High Life, The Lighthouse). He’s also appearing as Batman in The Batman next year.

Kenneth Branagh stars as a ruthless Russian oligarch, the villain of the piece – leagues away from his role in Nolan’s Dunkirk, in which he played Commander Bolton. And after wowing everyone in Steve McQueen’s Widows remake, Australian actor Elizabeth Debicki plays Branagh’s estranged wife.

Almost inevitably, Michael Caine appears as well, starring in his ninth Nolan production – reported to be a small part. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Outlaw King, Kick-Ass) is also in the cast list, but details of his role have been deliberately hushed up. Clémence Poésy (The Tunnel, Harry Potter) and Himesh Patel (The Luminaries, Yesterday) also star.

Make sure you secure your seat for this incredible time-bending film.