Drawing out a timeline for Tenet on snapchat like Nolan did in that one video for Memento, the general direction of the plot isn't terribly complicated. Yet, watching the film in the moment, Nolan assaults the senses with cacophonous scene after scene stitched together with such unnecessary haste that it seems he's deliberately trying to confuse, to give the impression that a lot is happening. The trite slogans that Nolan constantly feels the need to boil the plot down to aren't as annoying here as they were in Interstellar but do an equally good job of encapsulating the sheer thinness of his narrative when all the spectacle is stripped away. The innately infectious dynamic between Pattinson and Washington is what keeps the film together. And I'll admit, the spectacle is often quite a joyful distraction to watch.