Thanks to the likes of Memento and Inception, director Christopher Nolan has become well-known for making complex, mind-boggling movies. It turns out that they are so mind-boggling in fact that even the actors involved do not always know what is going on. According to Robert Pattinson, star of Nolan's upcoming thriller Tenet, he often had a completely different (and incorrect) interpretation of his character than what was intended.

"It's an incredibly complicated movie, like all of Chris's movies. I mean, you have to watch them when they're completely finished and edited three or four times to understand what the true meaning is. When you're doing them, I mean, there were months at a time where I'm like, 'Am I?.?.?.?I actually, honestly, have no idea if I'm even vaguely understanding what's happening.' And yeah, I would definitely say that to John David."

"On the last day, I asked him a question about what was happening in a scene, and it was just so profoundly the wrong take on the character. And it was like, 'Have you been thinking this the entire time?'?.?.?. There's definitely a bond in the end in kind of hiding the fact that maybe neither one of us knew exactly what was going on. But then I thought, Ah, but John David actually did know. He had to know what was going on."

It sounds like Robert Pattinson was given a taste of what it is often like for audience members watching a Christopher Nolan movie for the first time. Sometimes even the second, third, or fourth time. According to the Tenet star, he struggled to completely understand where his character fit into proceedings and even had to seek clarification from his equally confused co-star John David Washington. It is far from the first time that Nolan has confused the stars of his movies, with Inception lead Leonardo DiCaprio admitting earlier this year that he was left befuddled by the ending of the 2010 dream-heist movie.

From the looks of the Tenet trailer, the movie is going to require all of our attention. No staring down at your popcorn or, heaven forbid, your phone during this one.

Much like most of Nolan's movies, specific details surrounding the plot are being kept tightly under wraps. We were recently gifted with an official synopsis however which reads, "Armed with only one word -- Tenet -- and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time". So, that tells us next to nothing. Certainly, Tenet sounds like an intriguing (and potentially headache-inducing) trip to the cinema.

Tenet has been written and directed by Christopher Nolan and stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh. You can try to work out what Tenet is all about for yourselves when the movie is released by Warner Bros. Pictures on July 17, 2020. This comes to us courtesy of Esquire.