During the filming of Chris Nolan‘s Tenet, neither John David Washington nor Rob “RBatz” Pattinson could make heads or tails of the plot.

And if they couldn’t figure it out over a shooting period of several weeks, what chance will Joe and Jane Popcorn have in the space of…how long is it supposed to be?

“Every day I had questions for [Nolan],” Washington says in a 5.25 Digital Spy piece. “But [Nolan] was very gracious, and he answered them very calmly and patiently. It was important that the actors could track the story correctly, so we could tell it the best way we could, and he was very patient with us. I say that very politely.”

Possible translation: “I didn’t know what the fuck this film was about, and if you ask me neither did Nolan. Not really. But he’s a good bullshitter and always polite.”

Pattinson recently told GQ‘s Zack Baron that months after shooting he still doesn’t understand Tenet.

Nolan’s response: “We’re looking at first and foremost giving the audience an incredible ride in the spy movie genre, but using the audience’s facility with following the conventions of that genre to push it into some interesting and unexpected territory.”

Then again there was the Cary Grant situation when it came to deciphering the plot of North by Northwest (’59). Grant was reportedly distressed with the way the plot seemed to be faking itself out. At one point he told Hitchcock that “I can’t make heads or tails of it.”