Looks like we’re circling cycling back to this debate in the new year. A newly-surfaced clip of a Peloton class has reignited online discussion of Christopher Nolan’s movie Tenet, despite the fact that it was released in 2020. In a recent acceptance speech at the New York Film Critics Circle, Nolan recalled doing a virtual Peloton workout when the instructor began dissing one of his movies. Naturally, the internet promptly went and dug up the footage. Per 404 Media, instructor Jenn Sherman delivered the commentary in an “intervals and arms†class on December 28, 2020. Travis Scott’s “The Plan†was playing in the background. “This song is from a soundtrack of a movie called Tenet. Anybody see this shit? Did anybody see this besides me?†Sherman asked. “Because I need a manual. Someone’s got to explain this. Yeah I’m not kidding, what the fuck was going on in that movie? Do you understand? Seriously, you need to be a neuroscientist to understand. And that’s 2.5 hours of my life I want back. I want it back.†(We can offer Sherman an explainer of the movie’s plot, but unfortunately, her time is gone for good.)
Nolan brought this memory up during his NYFCC speech to suggest that film criticism isn’t for everyone. “When [critic] Rex Reed takes a shit on your film, he doesn’t ask you to work out!†the director joked. He later added that he thinks the “critical appreciation of films†shouldn’t be “an instinct, but it should be a profession.â€
Sherman responded to Nolan’s speech in a TikTok video on January 4, explaining that her Tenet criticism was really just a “random comment.†“Listen, it was 2020,†Sherman said sitting in front of a screen grab of a Variety headline about the NYFCC speech. “It was a dark time.†As for her updated thoughts on Nolan’s filmography, Oppenheimer probably gets more stars than the COVID-era drama. “I have seen Oppenheimer twice,†she raved. “That’s six hours of my life that I don’t ever want to give back.â€
Sounds like the memory of this particular Peloton workout left Nolan sore in more ways than one. In his speech, he did emphasize that he was “dying†mid-workout while this all went down, after all. At least it’s better than what happened to Mr. Big?
This post has been updated.