Christopher Nolan Reveals His Peloton Instructor Roasted Tenet During a Workout, and the Clip Is Brutal

Over the years, Christopher Nolan has become revered in Hollywood for his distinct approach to filmmaking on blockbuster films like Oppenheimer, Inception, and The Dark Knight trilogy. As recent comments from the director prove, he is aware of some of the criticism around his work — including one jab that came from an unlikely place. In a recent speech at the New York Film Critics Circle awards, Nolan spoke about an instance where the instructor on a Peloton digital cycling class he was taking argued that one of his films was hours of her life she’ll “never get back again.” 404 Media soon tracked down a clip of the criticism in question, which was offered by instructor Jenn Sherman during a 30-minute “intervals and arms” class on December 28, 2020 towards Nolan’s 2020 film Tenet.

“Directors have a complex emotional relationship with critics and criticism,” Nolan revealed. “A question we’re always asked is: Do we read reviews? Let’s start with the fact that I’m British. A typical family gathering will involve relatives saying to me, ‘You know, Christopher. You probably shouldn’t open The Guardian today.’”

“I was on my Peloton. I’m dying. And the instructor started talking about one of my films and said, ‘Did anyone see this? That’s a couple hours of my life I’ll never get back again!’” Nolan continued. “When [film critic] Rex Reed takes a sh-t on your film he doesn’t ask you to work out! In today’s world, where opinions are everywhere, there is a sort of idea that film criticism is being democratized, but I for one think the critical appreciation of films shouldn’t be an instinct but it should be a profession.”

In the hours after Nolan’s quotes went viral, Sherman took to social media to offer an apology — as well as an opportunity for Nolan to take one of her classes in person.

“Huge day for me when I come to find out that the one and only Christopher Nolan, one of the leading filmmakers of the 21st century, knows who the hell I am. I was excited…and then I read the article,” Sherman explained. “Listen, it was 2020. It was a dark time. I’m up on the platform teaching my little class and I’m running my mouth off, like I’m known to do. And I make a random comment about a movie I had seen the night before. What do you think the odds are that the director of said movie would take that ride some four years later? Yeah, that would only happen to me. So here’s what I want to say. I may not have understood a minute of what the hell was going on in Tenet, that sh-t went right over my head. But I have seen Oppenheimer twice and that’s six hours of my life that I don’t ever want to give back. So Mr. Nolan, I’m inviting you to come take a ride with me in the Peloton studio. You can critique my class, we’ll have a great time. You’ll sit in the front row and I promise you, it’ll be insult-free. Let me know. Take me up on it.”

What Is Christopher Nolan’s Next Movie?

Amid the fervor and Oscar buzz around Oppenheimer, Nolan has made it clear that he wants his next project to be something “not quite as bleak.”

“I definitely– part of me wants to leave the story behind,” Nolan told Yahoo! Entertainment in a recent interview. “I mean, it’s a great privilege to be able to talk about a film that you’ve made that’s now going into the home and on 4k and Blu-ray and all the rest. It’s great to be able to sit here and talk to you about the success of the movie. That’s a huge privilege. But the subject matter is very dark. It’s nihilistic. And, yeah, there’s part of me that’s quite keen to move on and maybe do something, you know, not quite as bleak.”

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