“Inception” – Is the End Real or Leonardo Dicaprio’s Dream?
As “Inception” is no doubt a film that people are watching all over the world, I’m curious, for those who saw it – what do you think happened at the end?
It seems to me that there are two possibilities – Leonardo’s character woke up from the job on the airplane, or he is still in limbo.
The only argument I can think of to support him being awake is that the powerful cocktail of drugs did not impact the inner eardrum, (so it was said in the film) so the “kick” awake could have happened on descent of the plane. (However, since airplanes tilt frequently in flight, I am perplexed why nobody woke up before landing.)
I believe Leonardo’s character is still in limbo at the end. Here’s why:
- Did you notice that in the final scene of confrontation with the old Japanese man, Leo’s character is eating something? It’s the only dream scene where food is ingested – what does that mean?
- Upon waking, he doesn’t speak to anyone.
- The people on his team to do not speak to him in the airport. They only acknowledge him – sort of like figures in other subconscious minds we step into during the film – only the ones that have more of a leading role for that person DO speak. Odd that Ellen dePage’s character, “the architect”, who has been so talkative and pushy to get Leo to confront his subconscious demon, doesn’t even say a word of congratulations.
- He clears customs, greets his father who takes his bags, and then we are in Leo’s home. Remember at the beginning, he told Ellen’s character that the way you know you’re in a dream is that you have no idea how you got where you are. So, how did we get to Leo’s home?
- And wait – what’s his father doing at the airport? Leo was in Paris with the gang, and last minute, they go fly to Los Angeles on this mission, first going, I believe, to England, and have a 10 hour flight. Did dad go with everyone – and if so, must have been economy? And, why would he go with them at all? And, this is the critical piece – if his father were on the plane, which is the only plausible way he could have gotten from Paris to LA at the same time, he would have met Leo in baggage claim and cleared customs together, not found him outside customs!?
- When Leo and his dad get home, where supposedly “grandma” is watching the kids, there is no other adult there – just the two kids playing outside – do you buy that they were home alone?
- He seems to feel safe at home, but in real life, at the start of the movie, Leo’s character was running away because he failed his mission and knew his company would look for him – so how could he feel safe anywhere?
- “Grandma” (Leo’s mother I presume?) was very angry with Leo on the phone at the start of the movie. She even told the kids he was never coming home. This would indicate he was away from home for more than a few days or weeks. So, how come the kids, when he returns home, are not only the same age, but also wearing the same clothes, doing the same activity, as in all of his memories?
- Remember, when Leo and Ellen’s characters are in Leo’s mind at one point in the film, he takes us to this exact spot, with the kids playing outside, and he says something like, “I keep returning to this place over and over, but no matter how much I try, I cannot change this one moment. I want to see the kid’s faces, but I get scared…” and this time they turn towards him, indicating, to me, that he is now living out his subconscious dream, as he did with his wife before that.
** What’s your opinion? Cast your vote here Update – GREAT answers to those of you who used the “OTHER” option! I never even thought of those ideas. Food for thought – one respondent said the whole movie was to bring Leo back from the Limbo he was in at the start, and another voter said the whole movie is a dream, EXCEPT the ending!
Tags: dream, Inception, Leonardo Dicaprio, movie, real
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The Totem Definitely dropped. If the totem didn’t drop at the end of inception then it is the most tragic ending to a film ever! OK, that may be a little over stated, but I did not watch a film about a guy trying to get to his children for two hours only to see him effectively dead in the end.
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I thing that Leo was in Limbo throughout the whole movie. This whole story takes place in his mind, hence Shutter Island. I think Leonardo's movies will begin to tie into each other in suttle ways from now on. Or maybe I'm just dreaming…
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Great comment, thanks!
Upon seeing this movie multiple times, I don't think Leo was dreaming.
Throughout the whole movie, you see the flashes of the kids wearing the same thing and playing in the same position. At the end, everything looks similar but the children are actually wearing different clothes than in his dream. They are also bigger and older looking.
On your #5, the "dream team" flew to Sydney, Australia and then flew to Los Angeles. Fisher's father died in Sydney, hence why he was there. That leaves his father time to get on a flight from Paris to Los Angeles and meet him there.
You did raise some ideas I had never thought about before, so that's great. I keep flip flopping about how I think it ended. I think that's what makes for a great movie. No matter what you guess, or think, there will never really be a definite answer.
Wow – I guess I didn't notice that the kids clothes changed, and I just love that this movie inspires so many differences of opinion, and so many brilliant insights – thank you for yours!
I believe Cobb was in reality at the end. The reason I say this is because throughout the movie, Cobb is only ever seen with his wedding band in a dream. At the end of the film you catch glimpses of his hand and you can see (although it is incredibly tricky) that there is no ring on his finger. I'm not saying what I think is a fact, this is just my two cents.
Does he not say that his little symbol thing is to prove that its our own dream.. and it spins and spins? His stopped spinning what does this mean?
That\’s a great question. It\’s been a while since I saw the film, so my memory may be hazy, but here is what I recall. Everyone had a totem, or whatever they called it, and its purpose was to help them understand whether or not they were still dreaming, yes. I thought the deal was, if the spinning stopped, it meant Leo was NOT dreaming. At the end of the film, he spins his token/totem thing, and it sort of falters, but keeps on spinning, and then they cut – leaving us to wonder whether or not he is dreaming. Does anyone remember something different?
i think thay he wasnt dreaming but it dosent really matter becasue the good thing about this film is that you can make up you own ending becasue in the end leonardo and ellan could fo go married or he went of again after seeing his kids to do more dream work, we really dont know, but the one thing they said was as long as a totum was spinning then you were dreaming but if it was spinning and then dropped you arnt dreaming, and i am convinced that it stopped spinning so therefore he was awake, he went to go home to his children, but thats what i think i dont know thought im going to watch t a few more time i will keep you guts posted on what happens
thanks xxx
Great – let us know!
Well i just saw this movie again and as usual it got me thinking… im afraid i realised something new, maybe im wrong… but in the end leonardo says to saiko that "remember that this world is not real, come with me and we will be young man again".. well what if he IMPLANTED himself the idea that his world is not real, just as he did to his wife? so it doesnt matter what we thing.. because for him the totem will never stop spinning, because he is dreaming (even if he is not).. i dont know if its confusing, but let me know what you think!!
Actually, strangely, that makes perfect sense to me! I think the wonderful thing about this movie is that it has gotten so many of us THINKING and in the end, it doesn't matter, but I love that this film has had such an impact on so many of us. I bet if we watched it over and over, we'd have a different impression each time and that's the great thing about it – there might not be a right or a wrong answer – it opens us up to a plethora of possibilities, and isn't that the best way for us all to live each moment of our lives?
Happy Holidays!
I think he is dreaming but some of your points are flawed;
Point 2 and 3 make no sense, of course they dont talk to each other, they are meant to be a group of strangers on a plane that have just been in another passengers dream, who is aware of that type of work as he has a militarised subconscience. If he realises they all know each other and he recognises them from his dream Inception will not work surely, so pounding beers and giving high fives around the baggage area is going to fuck things up royal! And he speaks to the border guard.
Point 6, Grandma is out of shot, in the kitchen perhaps making a tasty sandwich for her grandchildren.
Point 7, upon taking and subsequent completion of job his new 'boss' Saito says he would square everything or he can take his chances with his company. And even if they were not aware of his change of circumstances they would not search for him at home as they would still think he is living in exile away from the States.
Point 8, the kids are older and wearing different clothes.
At the end of the day its all open to interpretation but if you listen to the sound of the totem at the end of the film it sounds as if its just about to fall, then the screen goes dark, so what does that mean?
Also with the nature of the films Limbo, its filled with the subconcious of the last person who was there in the shared dream, and thats his dream world with Mal where they spent a life time building that city, so how could he radically change it so quickly and with such detail? And before you mention that time moves slower, he went to find Saito who was there for 90 years(?) to get him to wake and honour the arrangement and then they are back on the plane so when could the re-building have happened? And we can remember seeing him get on the plane so its not one of those "do you remember how you got here" moments of the film. Its possible as a dream he can control it but where to put Saito in this? And if Saito was conscious in the baggage area within the context of a dream surely he would be freaked out going from being an old man to young again and start voicing this concern?
Is he dreaming? I dont know, but some of your points I dont believe indicate that he is.
s if you didn't know what the spinning top ending really meant! Still, if there's a glimmer of doubt in your mind, check out what Sir Michael Caine says about it here. Requisite WARNING: SPOILERS alert is flashing red now.
Ok, so if you hark back to the ending, you'll remember Cobb was reunited with his children and father (Caine) in a sob-alicious final scene. As his usual style dictates, he spins the silver top to double-check he's back in reality, but doesn't care enough to watch whether it ever stops spinning (thus, representing he's in real life).
Caine let slip with the spoiler-goods when he appeared on BBC Radio to promote his autobiography. This is what he had to say about director Christopher Nolan's ending:
"[The spinning top] drops at the end, that's when I come back on. If I'm there it's real, because I'm never in the dream. I'm the guy who invented the dream."
There you have it, final confirmation the ending was exactly what you suspected. I still maintain my stance that Nolan should've done a Ridley Scott and filmed several different endings to puzzle us with—or that Caine's character should've placed his hand on the spinning top, breaking the motion himself and denying us the chance to see it wobbling slightly. Also, he should've kept his piehole trap-door shut too. [BBC via ScreenRant]
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