Neil I'll see you at the beginning, friend!
Played by Robert Pattinson 
Tenet (2020) · 33 quotes
Tenet (2020) · 33 quotes
2nd most-quoted character in Tenet (2020): in 18 of its 33 quotes
Most scenes with: The Protagonist (12)
We’re the people saving the world from what might’ve been. World would never know what could happen. Even if they did, they wouldn’t care. Because no one cares about the bomb that didn’t go off, only the one that did. It’s the bomb that didn’t go off, the danger no one knew was real; that’s the bomb with the real power to change the world.
More lines from Neil
5 quotes Neil Neil You have a future in the past. Years ago for me, years from now for you.
Neil “What's happened’s happened.” Which is an expression of faith in the mechanics of the world. It’s not an excuse to do nothing.
Neil See? It’s me in there again, weaving another past in the fabric of this mission.
Neil Lying is the Standard Operational Procedure.
Scenes with Neil
12 scenes Neil It seems you need an introduction to a prominent Mumbai local on short notice...I'm Neil.
I need an audience with Sanjay Singh.
Neil That's Not Possible.
Ten Minutes Tops.
Neil Time isn't the Problem. It's getting out alive that's the problem...Would you take a child hostage? [Protagonist Shakes his head]...A Woman?
If I Had To. I'm Not looking to make much noise here.
Neil [Waiter walks up]
Vodka Tonic. And a Diet Coke. [Protagonist looks at Neil]...What? You never Drink on the Job.
You're well-informed.
Neil Well, pays to be in our profession.
Well, I prefer soda water.
Neil [Chuckles softly]
No, you don't... How's your parachuting?
I broke an ankle during basic training...Singh's house isn't tall enough to parachute off of.
Neil It's bungee-jumpable.
I don't think "bungee-jumpable" is a word.
Neil It may not be a word, but it may be our only way out of that place. Or into it, for that matter.
Neil All doors are fireproof. Hydraulic closers, simple key and electronic triggers. Surprisingly easy once there's a lockdown.
Why a lockdown?
Neil Power switches to fail-safes, sealing the outer doors, but inner doors revert to factory settings...and pickable locks. It's child's play, really.
Child's play? They're inside airport security. They have to worry about climate control, not armed raids.
Neil So, how do we get enough firepower through the perimeter to trigger the lockdown procedure?...Back wall of the Freeport?...
You've got something?
Neil Not gonna like it.
[After Neil explains his plan off camera to The Protagonist]
You wanna crash a plane?
Neil Well, not from the air. Don't be so dramatic. I want to run a jet off the taxiway and breach the rear wall and start a fire.
Well, how big a plane?
Neil Well, that part is a little dramatic. [Walking up to Mahir sitting on a bench] This is Mahir. His team will work the plane.
There can't be passengers.
Mahir Norsk Freight...They use the hangar on the west side of the Freeport.
You want to crash a transport plane? What about the crew?
Mahir We pop the slides, chuck 'em off.
On the move?
Mahir What's the problem? They'll be fine.
It seems bold.
Mahir Bold I'm fine with. I thought you were gonna say nuts.
And if you get caught?
Mahir We won’t.
And if you do?
Mahir Everyone assumes terrorism, but no one's died so swift extradition then lost in the system. It'll barely make the news.
Neil Oh...Depends on the size of the explosion.
Mahir Well...Actually, The Gold Bars might get some play.
Gold Bars?
Neil Norsk Freight ships Treasury Gold once a month
Mahir Blow the back. Drop it out on the runway.
Neil No one will be looking at the building. I can guarantee you.
Neil What the hell happened here?
Hasn't happened yet.
Neil Well, I've seen too much. I'm still alive, which must mean you've decided to trust me.
Or maybe I lost my edge.
Neil Edge is still intact.
Neil Nuclear?
Temporal.
Neil [Laughs]
Time Travel?
No. Technology that can invert an object's entropy.
Neil You mean reverse chronology. Like Feynman and Wheeler's notion that a positron is an electron moving backwards in time?
Sure, that's exactly what I meant.
Neil I have a master's in physics.
Well, try and keep up
Neil The Implications of this are...
...Beyond secret.
Neil Then why'd you bring me in?
I thought we'd find a drawing and a couple boxes of bullets.
Neil Not as surprised as I was.
I'm going back to Mumbai to get some answers. I'll set you up as a go-between. But remember, to you...it's all about plutonium. Or when we're done, they'll kill you.
Neil Won't you have to do that anyway?
I'd rather it be my decision.
Neil So would I... I think.
[chuckles]
What did you find on the Gold?
Neil No Franks, No Mold Marks. Nothing. How?
Dead Drops. He buries his time capsule, transmits the location, then digs it up to collect the inverted materials they sent.
Neil Seemingly instantaneous. Where's he bury it?
Some place that won't be discovered for centuries. What did the soil samples show?
Neil Northern Europe, Asia. Radioactive.
Via convoy through downtown, what's the thinking?
Neil Crowded. Unpredictable traffic patterns. It's almost impossible to plan an ambush.
They have a point. Is the convoy monitored from the air?
Neil Tracked by GPS. One wrong turn, in come the cavalry.
We need Big Guns. Guns that make the point without being fired. We need a fast car that doesn't look fast. Four heavy vehicles. All Different. Bus, Coach, 18-Wheeler. One of them has to be a Fire Truck. Most of all, we have to set this up with nothing in the record. Nothing Electronic, Nothing Paper. I don't want Sator ambushing us once we spring the material. His Ignorance Is our only Protection.
[Speaking to Neil after stealing the materials]
Check the radio chatter. [Opens the Case to find an Unknown Object] I've seen samples of encapsulation in every weapons class. This is not one of them.
Neil That's what he's after. [Sator Speaking Indistinctly on Radio]...I can't understand this.
You said you spoke Estonian.
Neil It's not Estonian...It's Backwards.
What's happened, happened. I get it now. But it's harder to take things on trust from people speaking half-truths.
Neil That's not fair.
You were a part of this before we met. Were you working for Priya?
Neil No.
Who recruited you, Neil?
Neil Can't possibly do you any good to know that right now. When this is over, we're still standing, and you still care, then you can hear my life story, okay?
Thought you were inverted.
Neil Changed gears halfway. Looked like you needed help here.
Ives Here? We needed help down there. [to The Protagonist] How’d you get that lock open?
Wasn’t me. [to Neil] Didn’t your team need you?
Neil I’ll get them on the next pass. [to Ives] All right, Ives?
Ives Once I’ve caught my breath.
[The Protagonist reaches for the Algorithm, but Ives swiftly grabs it first, gets up, and points his gun at The Protagonist. They both stand and don’t move for a few seconds.]
No one who’s seen this leaves the field.
Ives [Ives looks at The Protagonist hard, seemingly considers what he said]
All right. [divides the Algorithm into three sections and throws each of two to The Protagonist and Neil] We hide it. We end our lives. It’s the only to be sure. As to when, [lowers his gun] maybe that’s every man’s decision to make for himself.
Neil [chuckles]
You’re not gonna kill us?
Ives If I ever find you, I will.
Neil You won’t look too hard?
Ives Yes, I will. [gives The Protagonist one last look and chuckles mirthlessly before walking away]
Neil [to The Protagonist]
You’re not going back to London to check on Kat, are you?
No, it’s far too dangerous.
Neil Even from afar?
Even from afar.
Neil [to Ives]
Ives! Wait.
[Ives stops walking and looks from a distance. Neil walks towards The Protagonist and gives him the sections of the Algorithm Ives gave Neil.] [to Neil]
Are you really going back in?
Neil [to Ives]
I’m the only one who could get that door open in time, right, Ives?
Ives Well, I don’t know any locksmith as good as you.
Neil [to The Protagonist, smiling]
See? It’s me in there again, weaving another past in the fabric of this mission.
[Neil walks away. The Protagonist catches a glimpse of the same trinket that he earlier saw on the rucksack of a blue team corpse on Neil’s rucksack. He realizes Neil is going to die after he inverts, or, chronologically, has died, and that Neil was the one who saved his life during the Kiev Opera siege by shooting a Ukrainian policeman with an inverted round]
Neil, wait!
Neil [stops and turns]
Just saved the world. Can’t leave anything to chance.
But can we change things if we do it differently?
Neil “What’s happened’s happened.” Which is an expression of faith in the mechanics of the world. It’s not an excuse to do nothing.
Fate?
Neil Call it what you want.
What do you call it?
Neil [thinks for a moment]
Reality. Now let me go. [proceeds to walk away towards the helicopter and Ives]
Hey, you never did tell me who recruited you, Neil!
Neil [turns towards The Protagonist]
Haven’t you guessed by now? You did! Only not when you thought. You have a future in the past. Years ago for me, years from now for you.
Neil For me, I think this is the end of a beautiful friendship.
But for me it’s just the beginning!
Neil [turns away and starts walking]
We get up to some stuff. You’re gonna love it, you’ll see. This whole operation is a temporal pincer!
Neil [turns to face The Protagonist again]
Yours! You’re only halfway there. I’ll see you at the beginning, friend! [runs towards the helicopter while The Protagonist looks on]
Neil (voiceover)
We’re the people saving the world from what might’ve been. World would never know what could happen. Even if they did, they wouldn’t care.
[Kat walks along the pavement on her way to Max’s school, and notices an ominous black car facing her.] Because no one cares about the bomb that didn’t go off. Only the one that did.
[In the car, a man is holding a pistol. Priya sits on the passenger’s seat beside him]
Do it before the boy comes out-
[The man turns suddenly as if he noticed something before being shot. Priya gasps and turns the back mirror only to find The Protagonist sitting behind her.]
That’s your idea of mercy? You gave me your word.
And I told you then, what it would be worth. Here. Today. How did you know?
[The Protagonist takes out a phone and plays a voice message.] (voiceover)
Cannon Place, 3 o’clock. Probably nothing, I’m-
Posterity.
[Outside on the pavement, Kat is holding the phone The Protagonist gave her earlier.] [to the phone]
Cannon Place, 3 o’clock. Probably nothing, I’m ...
[Cut to inside the car]
I told you you’d have to start looking differently at the world.
I, have to tie up the loose ends.
That was never your job.
Then whose was it?
Mine. I realized I wasn’t working for you, we’ve both been working for me. I’m the Protagonist.
[Priya turns the back window away, and The Protagonist shoots her.]
Mission accomplished. [looks at Kat, who is now turning off her phone]
Neil (voiceover)
It’s the bomb that didn’t go off. The danger no one knew was real.
Neil [The Protagonist looks as Kat waits for Max.] (voiceover)
That’s the bomb with the real power to change the world.
[Kat walks away with Max, who holds her hand.]
Other characters in Tenet
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