Every Christopher Nolan Movie Ranked Worst To Best

Tenet is the only one of Nolan's films that feels incomplete, its story (once you figure it out) too convoluted for its own good, and its spectacle overwhelming in a way that hints he was more concerned with the technical aspects of the project than anything else.

This isn't entirely a bad thing, of course, since Tenet delivers enough stunning action and towering set pieces to make it one of the director's most ambitious blockbusters, but it is a shame that a man so interested in the human condition and selling a quietly moving story would settle for a film so emotionally distant.

During its production, Nolan was quick to tell reporters not to read too heavily into the sci-fi aspect of Tenet's drama, and instead just enjoy it for what's on the screen. You can experience the film like this easily enough, but only so far; eventually, its nonsensical twists and technical jargon becomes too silly to ignore.

Visually stunning as it may be, Tenet doesn't quite work, and is certainly the hardest of his works to digest, time travel, deafening sound mixing and all.