Tenet has scenes filmed once forwards and once backwards according to new preview

A Tenet preview is bolted on to the Inception 10th anniversary re-release in cinemas and, according to those who have seen it, it offers up a “mind-blowing” experience. It also focuses on director Christopher Nolan’s frankly unbelievable dedication when it comes to using practical effects.

Forget blowing up a literal 747, the headline of the preview reactions (of which you can see a small sample of below) has to be Nolan filming certain scenes twice: once forwards and once in reverse motion to get the desired “time-inversion” effect, with one fight scene involving John David Washington’s The Protagonist using that technique.

In fact, there is apparently so little CGI here that a green screen wasn’t used. Not even once, according to actor Himesh Patel.

Essentially everything was done using practical effects, with stuntmen supposedly talking up how they’ve never done anything like this before. There’s a reason why Nolan described Tenet as having fewer VFX shots than most rom-coms.

One of the most detailed reactions from the footage comes from Twitter account ljwr_ who hints at the “next level crazy shit” on offer in just a few weeks and suggests that Kenneth Branagh’s Russian villain might just steal the show.

The rest of the Tenet preview reactions are similarly effusive: lots of capital letters, excitable swearing, and a real reason to buy a ticket if you feel comfortable doing so when it hits cinemas on August 26 and in select US cities on September 2.

Looking forward to more movies this year? Find out what’s still to come in 2020 with our movie release dates guide.