Tenet Trailer Explains What The Movie's Title Means

What does the title of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet mean? The film’s official trailer provides an answer, at least for specific characters.
The official Tenet trailer confirms what the movie’s title means – it’s a codeword. As for Tenet’s central mystery, well, that’s another story as the trailer teases a threat that’s “much worse” than a World War III nuclear holocaust. The key to the unlocking the story’s central mystery seemingly correlates with the use of “Tenet” in social situations.
Tenet marks the 11th movie for Christopher Nolan, who has not only made iconic actions films (The Dark Knight trilogy, Dunkirk) but also complex psychological thrillers that focus heavily on memory and cognitive dissonance. The 2000 neo-noir Memento follows a man with short-term memory, and the 2010 hit Inception is fundamentally about the human subconscious. In Tenet, John David Washington’s character – maybe a soldier, maybe a spy – proves to be a valuable asset for underground organizations, as he passes tests with flying colors and tries to learn what exactly he’s needed for. It turns out that he’s trying to protect planet Earth, but from whom, and why? The work becomes especially challenging for Washington’s character when he learns that he can’t necessarily “understand” the world he’s living in, but rather must “feel it.”