If you skipped ‘Tenet’ in theaters, you can now watch it at home

Posted on December 18, 2020

By MARK VIOLA

Very near the end of “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” Obi-Wan Kenobi yells to his friend Anakin Skywalker, “You were the chosen one. It was said that you would bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness.”

I think about that quote when I think about Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which hit theaters on Labor Day weekend and is now available for home video and online purchase. The movie was supposed to usher in a return to movie-going amid the COVID-19 outbreak, and the major theater chains re-opened in preparation for its release, along with a slew of other films scheduled for the weeks and months to follow.

Then the film opened to less-than-spectacular box office returns. The Hollywood studios were spooked and almost immediately began pulling other films from the schedule. We’ll never know if people just weren’t ready to go back to the movies, or if the sudden lack of anything other than “Tenet” removed the drive to go to the movies for those who just didn’t want to see that particular film, but the result was the same. Soon, two of the three largest chains were once again closed, and the future of the industry as a whole has never been more in question, especially after the recent decision by Warner Bros. to dual-release all of its 2021 films in theaters and on HBO Max. That being said, Disney may have just given the industry a shot in the arm (see related story below).

Regardless of how “Tenet” is looked back upon when the history of movie theaters is written, the film itself is nothing less than one of the best films of 2020, a cinematic experience that was best experienced in a theater, but if you didn’t want to take that risk back in September, it is still well worth watching at home now.

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