Deja Vu (2006) and tenet (2020)

It took Denzel Washington nearly 20 years of movie stardom before he was able to travel through time. His son, John David, only needed 3 years.

Tony Scott and Christopher Nolan tapped the respective generations for their time crime thrillers, and though neither movie represents the filmmakers at their best, they are both emblematic of their styles.

For much of his late career, Denzel was Tony Scott’s go to movie star, imbuing his blown-out potboilers with all the personality a film could ever need. In 2006’s DEJA VU, Denzel uses top secret and completely nonsensical time travel technology to avert a terrorist attack. Much like Scott’s other films such as Man on Fire and Unstoppable, the strange premise is little more than an excuse to watch Denzel work.

The same can’t be said for John David Washington as the nameless Protagonist in TENET. 14 years later, Nolan would tap Denzel’s son for his action epic featuring an even more top secret and slightly more sensical time travel technology. The result is the popular auteur’s most Nolan-y movie to date, featuring Washington and a coterie of other movie stars as pieces in a large and unwieldy puzzle that requires multiple viewings to even basically understand.

Put together, you not only get two generations of Washingtons, but also two generations of action sci-fi filmmaking, defined by different standards and sensibilities, yet still philosophically connected in a strange and ephemeral way.