Even before its release, "Tenet" has already brought back theaters.

Awaited firm footing by exhibitors who have struggled to fill theaters since their reopening two months ago, "Tenet" finally manages to make its way into cinemas after several postponements of its release. For many observers, the new blockbuster acronym Nolan must help win back spectators who have abandoned the multiplexes since the lowering of the confinement curtain. Even before the start signal given by the official release on Wednesday, this role devolved to "Tenet" does not seem to be a completely wishful thinking.

As of Monday evening, screenings organized in Paris and in the provinces in preview convinced people to set foot in a cinema after months spent far from the big screen. For some, the Covid-19 was not completely foreign to this desertion but the attraction of “Tenet” was too strong to pass up the opportunity.

VIDEO. The "Tenet" trailer

Disabled but not considering himself as a person at risk, Sébastien, 41 years old and living in Nancy, said to himself that if he went back to the cinema, it would be to see the last Nolan. However, he was a little apprehensive about going to “these confined places conducive to the spread of the coronavirus”. In terms of health, the experience has proved to be conclusive. “I didn't feel like I was in danger, the free chair rule between each group was respected and the room was half full,” says Sébastien. However, we were only four or five to be masked during the session, that shocked me a little. However, I think I will stay there again. "

"The programming was not very attractive"

The rule of the armchair gap to separate each group was also respected during the screening of "Tenet" attended by Laura, 29, on the Champs-Élysées. “I was waiting to hear from people who went to the cinema to see how it was there in terms of social distancing, cleanliness, etc. », Explains the young woman. What she saw rather reassured her. “It was even very nice to have more space than usual. People played the game of putting on the mask when they left their seats. It made me want to go back to the cinema afterwards. "

To explain why she had not been there since the reopening, Laura however highlights other factors, such as the good weather. Same speech from Pauline, a 31-year-old Strasbourg resident for whom the fear of Covid-19 is in no way responsible for the fact that she did not touch her unlimited card for months. “I used to go to the movies for a long time. To see everything. So I don't need to wait for a blockbuster but I admit that the programming was not very attractive, apart from Lucky Strike (Editor's note, South Korean thriller) , which I could have gone to see… ”

Without being a fan of Christopher Nolan, whom she finds "often pompous", "Tenet" was an unmissable cinematographic event in her eyes. “I wanted to be able to participate in conversations about the film,” explains the young woman who once ran a YouTube channel of film critics. My friends wanted to go, it was the opportunity to go back to the gym together. "

The film is not unanimous

Weaned from blockbusters, many spectators see in "Tenet" a film made for the cinema and not for the television screen. “For me, the cinema will not be for seeing small French productions. There has to be an interest in seeing a feature film on the big screen, ”insists Sébastien. In the eyes of Jean, 28-year-old digital communications manager, Christopher Nolan's great spectacle and cerebral cinema has the merit of attracting the general public and cinephiles in its nets.

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Although he liked the film, the latter does not think that "Tenet" will appeal to everyone. Pauline was thus not at all convinced by a work with “an icy atmosphere” and its “characters without any background”. "I had the impression of seeing a James Bond in Nolan sauce who is once again enjoying his technical prowess but without any scriptwriting interest," she summarizes.

Laura and Aaron, 24 years old and living in Montreux, show more enthusiasm towards this "excellent film". " I loved ! I went with my boyfriend and we talked about it for a good hour afterwards, ”she adds. So much so that the next time they go to the movies, it might just be to see… "Tenet".