The Funny Way John David Washington Reacts When He’s Asked To Explain Tenet’s Ending

Robert Pattinson and John David Washington in Tenet
(Image credit: (Warner Bros))
(Image credit: (Warner Bros))

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Have you figured out the ending to Tenet yet? The movie came out about a year ago and many of us are still scratching our heads about what the heck happened during Christopher Nolan’s latest science fiction film. If you somehow found yourself in a conversation with Tenet’s Protagonist, John David Washington, he might not be much help to finding peace about the meaning of the film, given that he only shares a funny response.

The actor was recently asked about Tenet and whether people still ask him to explain what happened in last summer’s release. John David Washington shared that “just about every one” of his friend and family members ask him to explain Tenet, but here’s his apparent answer when he is confronted with the question:

I have the luxury of time, which I can say, ‘Oh, you know, I forgot. You know what? I forgot. You should have asked me a couple months ago. I've done forgotten. I've moved on. I've moved on.’ It's fun. That's what [Christopher Nolan] does. He sets it up to for multiple viewings, and this was no different.

It sounds like John David Washington is not down to get into intense Tenet discussions. Probably because he’d be in them all the time. When speaking to Collider, Washington shared that he just plays it off at this point, joking that he “forgot” what Tenet is about and he’s on to other subjects. At the same time, he’s just inspiring them to go back and watch it because that’s how the writer/director intended it.

Tenet is one of those movies that you might get something new from everytime you watch it. Christopher Nolan has put a lot of tender love and care into the film in order to inspire thinking and discussion. And the beauty of it is there isn’t one way to explain Tenet – so it actually makes sense as to why John David Washington would take a step back when asked to explain it.

The Christopher Nolan movie, which explores time travel in a twisty way, found its first home in theaters at a time when the industry especially needed a big exclusive release for exhibitors to benefit from. Tenet hit HBO Max this past May and was met with some crazy internet discussion regarding what the film was about. You can sign up for HBO Max using this link if you’d like to stream the Nolan movie.

John David Washington’s latest film is Beckett, a Netflix release about an American tourist who finds himself in the middle of a political conspiracy in Greece. The actor, who is the son of Denzel Washington, has found some more recognition in the past few years with movies like Malcolm & Marie and BlacKkKlansman. But do you feel like you have a solid grasp on Tenet? Vote in the poll below.

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Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.