loader from loading.io

204. Tenet (2020) | We Try Really, Really Hard To Understand Christopher Nolan's Most Confusing Movie | Behind the Scenes of Tenet | Film Analysis

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

Release Date: 08/14/2026

204. Tenet (2020) | We Try Really, Really Hard To Understand Christopher Nolan's Most Confusing Movie | Behind the Scenes of Tenet | Film Analysis show art 204. Tenet (2020) | We Try Really, Really Hard To Understand Christopher Nolan's Most Confusing Movie | Behind the Scenes of Tenet | Film Analysis

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

Six years later, it's interesting to look back at the summer of 2020 and remember that Christopher Nolan's Tenet was intended to save the movie industry in the midst of its worst crisis ever, the COVID-19 pandemic. Nolan was locked in a battle with Warner Brothers over its desire to debut his new film on its recently launched streaming service, HBO Max. Nolan insisted it open in movie theaters. But when would that be allowed to happen? Turns out, it opened in a lot of places, including America, and ended up making $365 million worldwide, which is an incredible feat. But how would it have...

info_outline 203. Interstellar (2014) | Is This Christopher Nolan's Masterpiece? | Behind The Scenes Of Interstellar | Interstellar Film Analysis show art 203. Interstellar (2014) | Is This Christopher Nolan's Masterpiece? | Behind The Scenes Of Interstellar | Interstellar Film Analysis

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

We said The Prestige is the "most" Christopher Nolan movie, and that Inception is his most autobiographical... but it turns out we were wrong, because both apply to Interstellar. It's a movie where a character literally says, "I'm not afraid of death. I'm afraid of time." It's a movie about a man who desperately wants to return home to his children, except that he wants even more to go do some cool stuff in outer space. The movie's working title was Flora's Letter, referring to Nolan's real-life 11-year-old daughter Flora, the inspiration for the character of Murph. And it's probably...

info_outline Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) (Patreon Preview) | Has Marvel Studios Finally Turned Things Around? | Spoiler-filled Discussion show art Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) (Patreon Preview) | Has Marvel Studios Finally Turned Things Around? | Spoiler-filled Discussion

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

In this 30-minute preview from the 1-Week Rental Patreon, Matt is joined, as per tradition, by Neophyte Reviews and Screen Time Kota to break down the latest offering from Marvel Studios: Spider-Man - Brave New World. This movie is breaking box office records and has been widely embraced by the masses. Neo and Kota are both big fans... but now they face the ultimate challenge of melting Matt's cold heart. Hear the complete, two-hour podcast about Spider-Man: Brand New Day by subscribing to 1-Week Rental's Patreon for two dollars a month:  

info_outline A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 (1987) (Patreon Preview) | Celebrating One Of The Best Horror Sequels Ever show art A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 (1987) (Patreon Preview) | Celebrating One Of The Best Horror Sequels Ever

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

The Summer of Nolan resumes in one week with our episode about Interstellar (2014). Until then, enjoy a free preview of our latest Patreon offering, a full-length bonus episode about A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987).  Subscribe on Patreon:   Matt is joined by Freddy Krueger superfan Patrick Perot to discuss A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), one of the all-time great slasher sequels. Directed by the late Chuck Russell, Dream Warriors manages to dig in on some of the deeper and darker themes established by Wes Craven in the original while...

info_outline 202. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) | Does Christopher Nolan's Third Batman Movie Deserve More Credit? | Behind The Scenes Of The Dark Knight Rises | Film Analysis show art 202. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) | Does Christopher Nolan's Third Batman Movie Deserve More Credit? | Behind The Scenes Of The Dark Knight Rises | Film Analysis

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

When The Dark Knight Rises came out in 2012, expectations were sky high. After all, Christopher Nolan had shattered all box office records and blown critics away with The Dark Knight… what would he be doing now to dazzle audiences everywhere?  Maybe it’s inevitable that the reception would be mixed. For the first time in his career, a Nolan movie was given generally negative reviews. And while it ultimately made more money worldwide than The Dark Knight did, it didn’t become the biggest movie of all time. Earlier that year, in fact, The Avengers had pulled that off, and the Marvel...

info_outline The Odyssey (2026) (Patreon Preview) | How The Odyssey's Themes Connect To All Of Christopher Nolan's Previous Films show art The Odyssey (2026) (Patreon Preview) | How The Odyssey's Themes Connect To All Of Christopher Nolan's Previous Films

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

SPOILER ALERT for The Odyssey. Listen only if you've already seen the movie (or if you don't care about spoilers). In this preview from 1-Week Rental's latest premium Patreon episode, Laci, Matt, and Screen Time Kota discuss Christopher Nolan's newest movie, The Odyssey. In this section, we talk about Nolan's desire to do for the world of ancient Greece what he did for Gotham City with his Batman movies, and wonder where Nolan will go next.  to join 1-Week Rental's Patreon and get the complete episode about The Odyssey:

info_outline 201. Inception (2010) | Making Sense Of Christopher Nolan's Most Autobiographical Film | Behind The Scenes Of Inception | Film Analysis Of Inception show art 201. Inception (2010) | Making Sense Of Christopher Nolan's Most Autobiographical Film | Behind The Scenes Of Inception | Film Analysis Of Inception

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

Movies are dreams, and directors are like the ultimate dreamweavers, if you think about it. Christopher Nolan certainly thinks so, and in his most autobiographical movie, he has Leonardo DiCaprio play man named Dom Cobb (come on, that's not a real name) who is dressed and styled to look a lot like Christopher Nolan, and he must assemble a team of creatives to help a billionaire in his feud with another billionaire. But actually, it's a movie about uncertainty. No one ever really knows whether they're in a dream, or in the Matrix, or being controlled by a demon. And when you understand...

info_outline 200. The Dark Knight (2008) | Christopher Nolan Made The Biggest Movie Of All Time | Behind The Scenes Of The Dark Knight + Movie Analysis show art 200. The Dark Knight (2008) | Christopher Nolan Made The Biggest Movie Of All Time | Behind The Scenes Of The Dark Knight + Movie Analysis

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

Few movies have penetrated the general pop culture landscape like Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. And few characters have resonated the way the Joker, as brought to life by Heath Ledger, did when Nolan's movie came out in the summer of 2008 and became the biggest movie of all time. For their 200th episode, Matt and Laci dive deep—and I mean deep—into The Dark Knight. And in a surprise that could have been conceived by the Joker himself, it turns out Laci loves this movie. Matt, meanwhile, continues to feel extremely mixed about all three of Nolan's Batman movies—there's so...

info_outline Insomnia (2002) (Patreon Preview) | Reviewing Christopher Nolan's Least Christopher Nolan Movie | Insomnia Film Analysis show art Insomnia (2002) (Patreon Preview) | Reviewing Christopher Nolan's Least Christopher Nolan Movie | Insomnia Film Analysis

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

1WR is off this week. We're returning in one week with episode 200, but for now, enjoy a free sample from our Patreon podast about Christopher Nolan's Insomnia (2002). Get the full episode by subscribing for $5 a month at 

info_outline 199. The Prestige (2006) | Breaking Down Christopher Nolan’s Magic Trick | Behind The Scenes Of The Prestige + Film Analysis show art 199. The Prestige (2006) | Breaking Down Christopher Nolan’s Magic Trick | Behind The Scenes Of The Prestige + Film Analysis

1-Week Rental | Behind the Scenes Film Analysis

Christopher Nolan fully became Christopher Nolan with The Prestige—a masterpiece that juggles seven interweaving timelines, multiple perspectives, and red herrings that all snap into focus. Join Laci and Matt for a behind-the-scenes deep dive into how Nolan transformed Christopher Priest's novel into cinema's ultimate puzzle box, plus the career impact this movie had on everything he made after. Laci and Matt go through the history of this movie, starting with the novel by Christopher Priest that inspired it. Then they go behind the scenes of the movie and talk about the Nolan brothers'...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Six years later, it's interesting to look back at the summer of 2020 and remember that Christopher Nolan's Tenet was intended to save the movie industry in the midst of its worst crisis ever, the COVID-19 pandemic. Nolan was locked in a battle with Warner Brothers over its desire to debut his new film on its recently launched streaming service, HBO Max. Nolan insisted it open in movie theaters. But when would that be allowed to happen? Turns out, it opened in a lot of places, including America, and ended up making $365 million worldwide, which is an incredible feat.

But how would it have played in a normal summer? Would it have been the same kind of blockbuster as Inception, Interstellar, and The Odyssey? This is a very, very difficult and challenging movie, for all its popcorn picture trappings. And we are still trying to figure out what exactly is going on with it and how we feel about it.

Still, you have to be grateful when movies like Tenet get made, and at such a huge level.

 

Watch this Tenet podcast in full on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@1weekrental 

Get more 1-Week Rental on Patreon: https://patreon.com/1weekrental 

Next episode (Aug. 21, 2026): Oppenheimer (2023)!

 

The Summer of Nolan is our summer 2026 miniseries covering the movie career of Christopher Nolan through nine movies on the main feed (plus additional episodes on the Patreon!), presented in chronological order, starting with Memento and going through Oppenheimer. And don't be surprised if our old pal Odysseus drops by to tell us about his long journey home to his wife.

 

Time stamps:

  • 00:01:41 — Opening thoughts on Tenet
  • 00:18:35 — History segment: The Sator Squares; backwards filmmaking; Christopher Nolan's obsession with nuclear war, Oppenheimer, and making a backwards movie; casting John David Washington as the Protagonist; Tenet gets wrapped up in a quest to save cinema during COVID-19
  • 00:59:40 — Movie discussion + Tenet film analysis
  • 02:45:15 — Star ratings + final review of Tenet

 

TENET (2020) was written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Himesh Patel, Dimple Kapadia, Clémence Poésy, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Fiona Dourif, Martin Donovan, and Sir Michael Caine as Sir Michael Crosby.

 

Sources:

  • "The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan" by Tom Shone (2020) - https://amzn.to/4yiNtw0 
  • "How Tenet was inspired by palindromes, the memes of the ancient world" by Sam Leith | The Telegraph (2020) - https://bit.ly/4fSFH4V 
  • "Tenet is Dazzling, Deft, and Devoid of Feeling" by Anthony Lane | The New Yorker (2020) - https://bit.ly/4bEIdZZ 
  • "'The biggest film I've done': Christopher Nolan on the secret world of Tenet" by Garry Maddox | The Sydney Morning Herald (2020) - https://bit.ly/4xU5nnZ 
  • "Christopher Nolan leads industry fury over Warner Bros' streaming move" by Andrew Pulver | The Guardian (2020) - https://bit.ly/3S6DlWN 
  • "‘Tenet’ Review: Christopher Nolan’s Long-Anticipated Time Caper Is a Humorless Disappointment" by Mike McCahill | IndieWire (2020) - https://bit.ly/4i2ZRKM 

 

Transcript: https://1weekrentalpod.com/2026/08/tenet/#transcript 

Artwork by Laci Roth.  

Matt has two monthly spin-off podcasts! 

 

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

 

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

 

The "Summer of Nolan" theme song was written by Matt Stokes. Produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends. Performed by:

  • TJ Barends - backing vocals
  • Wade Hymel - drums, percussion, and backing vocals
  • Laci Roth - vocals
  • Matt Stokes - vocals, guitar, and bass

 

Follow 1-Week Rental, a movie podcast:

 

1-Week Rental used to be Load Bearing Beams.