Christopher Nolan’s Peloton Instructor Has Seen ‘Oppenheimer’ Twice, Still Doesn’t Understand ‘Tenet’: ‘That S— Went Right Over My Head’

Christopher Nolan recently recounted an unexpected encounter with a critic of his work while accepting the award for best director at the New York Film Critics Circle ceremony. The filmmaker told the room that his Peloton instructor suddenly called out his sci-fi film “Tenet” mid-workout, saying “that’s a couple hours of my life I’ll never get back again.”

Jenn Sherman, who was the first cycling instructor hired by Peloton, has now posted a response to Nolan’s speech, voicing her awe and appreciation that the director takes her classes, even if the revelation comes under somewhat awkward circumstances

“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 said in a Instagram post, speaking against a background of Variety’s article about Nolan’s speech at the NYFCC. “Listen. It was 2020. It was a dark time. I’m 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? That would only happen to me.”

Sherman continued by expressing some enthusiasm for some of Nolan’s more recent work, saying that she’s seen “Oppenheimer,” the director’s follow-up, not once but twice. She still doesn’t get “Tenet” though.

“I may not have understood a minute of what was going on in ‘Tenet.’ That shit went right over my head,” Sherman said. “But I have seen ‘Oppenheimer’ twice. And that’s six hours of my life that I don’t ever want to give back.”

Sherman’s video concludes with an invitation to Nolan to join her in-person for a work-out.

“Mr. Nolan, I’m inviting you to come for a ride with me in the Peloton studio. You can critique my class. You’ll have a great time. You’ll sit in the front row. And I promise you it’ll be insult-free.”

Nolan, who is currently working the awards circuit to promote “Oppenheimer,” has yet to announce any plans for his next feature. Additionally, no Peloton lesson has ever been filmed with an Imax camera before. These are things worth pondering.

Watch Sherman’s video below.