Ludwig Göransson – Tenet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

If a good soundtrack must embody the spirit of the movie it belongs to, then Ludwig Göransson’s score to Christopher Nolan’s “TeneT” is an achievement.
Because “TeneT” and its soundtrack share a common feature: both are based on brilliant ideas weighed down by how these are displayed.

“TeneT” has a brilliant sci-fi premise, where a system’s entropy flow and the sense of the arrow of time can be reversed by certain technology. Nolan uses this base to deploy his take on action spy movies á la James Bond. And it works to some extent… until the plot is lost in a mess of useless fireworks and mediocre acting.

On the soundtrack, Ludwig Göransson takes over Nolan’s long-time collaborator Hans Zimmer and the results mirrors the movie: there are great ideas on the foundations, but then Göransson gets lost in a tic inherited from the later works of his predecessor. For the most part of his mainstream career, Zimmer knew how to move the audience with the right melodies and his classic, symphonic style reached the paroxysm with 2007’s “Pirates Of The Caribbean At World’s End”. Then, he slowly started to ditch the symphonic elements turning to a more minimalist- based approach to ambiances that eventually yielded works that were mostly just “thumps” and beats punctuated with scattered simple melodies. “TeneT” picks up there, and most of it is driven by either pulsating rhythms for the action moments, or subdued electronica simple hues for the more laidback moments, with few recognizable melodies or leitmotivs, making it hard to emotionally engage with it.

Still, there are great moments in the action-packed “Rainy Night In Tallinn”, the mysterious tone of “Windmills”, “Priya”, “Foils” or “Inversion”, the poignant “Betrayal” or “The Algorithm”… and the whole thing wraps up on a high note with “The Protagonist”, but they get painfully diluted in a sea of cold electronica crowned by the final “coup de grâce” that is given by Travis Scott’s autotune-soaked performance on the final credits’ “The Plan” which adds nothing to an overall cold and unengaging score.