I walk through the glass doors and am greeted by the long-awaited aroma of buttery popcorn and the sound of drink machines. It’s been seven months of re-watching movies on the couch or discovering those overrated Netflix originals. There’s nothing that beats watching a movie in the dark theater, and the feelings of suspense and excitement flood my body as I watch “Tenet” for the first time. The minute my roommate asked me to drive home early from my Labor Day trip to go to the movie theater, I was in, no matter what the movie was.
“Tenet” is one of those Christopher Nolan films that you don’t fully understand even after rewatching it four times. It’s set in a twilight world centered around international espionage. An unnamed CIA agent, called the Protagonist, is recruited by an organization called Tenet to prevent a Russian oligarch with precognition abilities from starting World War III. The Protagonist masters time inversion as a way of preventing this war. It’s a confusing yet intriguing movie that took all the mental energy I had to halfway understand what was happening.
“Tenet” is similar to Nolan’s previous films, which are known for their deep philosophical concepts and lack of concrete answers. Whether it’s a crime, drama or superhero movie, all of these carry the theme of memory and how our minds create the reality we live in. This is what makes his films so confusing and somewhat frustrating but also what makes them so enjoyable. The movies just get better and better the more you watch them. Each viewing reveals a new piece of the puzzle, and sometimes, by the fourth time, you begin to grasp the plot in a satisfying way.
Even though this wouldn’t be my first choice in movies, I had missed the experience of escaping into a different world for just a few hours. At home, the experience of a film is defined by multitasking. A theater has limits. It’s dark. There are no phones. People are quiet. It is a rare few hours devoted to a singular subject. Not to mention the sound system and large screen that are far superior than my living room or laptop sound quality.
Don’t get me wrong, the convenience of Hulu, Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video are really nice. These companies are brilliant and are very successful among our society, but the inconvenience of the theater is what makes it special. We get to experience a film in the way it was intended with no distractions bombarding our minds. The movie theater experience can be an occasion rather than an activity.
As someone who is a master multitasker, it’s a relaxing feeling to sit in a leather recliner with only a movie to occupy my mind. It’s also honoring to the film itself to put my phone away and turn my entire attention to a work of art. Seven months taught me to cherish the occasion of the movie theater and to think about my movie viewing experience in new way.
