Inception Review

Inception , also known as The Origin in Spanish, is a science fiction film that tells the story of a group of thieves who use a machine that invades dreams to conquer their most daring goals.

The American film Inception was directed by Christopher Nolan and released worldwide in 2010. It featured performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, among other renowned actors.

The complexity of its plot makes it one of the most difficult films to understand in the history of recent cinema. That is why different theories have emerged that try to explain its end.

What is the reason for this difficulty? What is the end of the film and what are those theories that try to answer the great enigma behind the plot?

Synopsis of the film

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are two thieves who specialize in "extracting" information through the subconscious. That is, they enter people's dreams to obtain their secrets.

Cobb is already retired, but he is forced to participate in one last mission so that, in exchange, he has the right to see his children again.

The mission, called “insertion”, consists of implanting the origin of an idea or concept in the mind of its rival client so that it interprets it as its own.

Thus, Dom Cobb brings together a group of specialists who will travel through the mind of his prey, Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy), to introduce into his subconscious an idea that will make his client Saito (Ken Watanabe), the boss, very rich. of the second largest energy company in the world, whose purpose is to surpass the leader that dominates this economic sector.

Ariadne (Ellen Page) is the so-called "architect" responsible for creating the scenario of the manipulated dream, for which she uses a lot of creativity and cunning.

Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) must investigate every aspect of the target person's life. Yusef (Dileep Rao) is a chemist who creates sedatives to induce sleep for the victim and the participants in the insertion. Eames (Tom Hardy) is like an actor within the mission. He is responsible for investigating and impersonating acquaintances of the victim to get an idea implanted.

During the mission, the team has to overcome barriers of all kinds and also their own internal struggles. Cobb faces his past due to the manifestation of his deceased wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), who invites him to continue in the world of dreams so they can continue together.

Movie analysis

Inception is a constant debate for the viewer, who would also like to have a "totem" like the characters to see if they are dreaming or not.

In the film, everything is purposely built on the world of dreams. From the script, which covers the different levels of sleep, through the special effects, which allow us to "daydream", to the music that transports us through them.

Theme: ideas and dreams

One of the most interesting themes of the film is how ideas define us and also the adherence we have to them.

An idea understood as “the image or representation of the perceived object remains in the mind”. Ideas can be very powerful for the human mind, they define us. An idea can change everything.

Another of the issues that is reflected in the film and in which the viewer is immersed almost from the beginning is what is a dream and what is reality.

Sleep levels as a structural basis

The characters in this film have the mission of going through different dreams until they implant the "origin" in Fischer and thus achieve their mission. It is very interesting how the script follows the scheme of "a dream within another dream", as if it were a "matrioshka", thus presenting the different levels that they have to go through. Ranging from reality, on the surface, to limbo, inside.

Thus, these are the different levels that occur in the film:

Level 1, reality: At this level no one is dreaming. Cobb and his team have to get Fischer supplied with the drug in order to implant the "idea" in him.

Level 2, first dream: In this first level Yusuf is the one who is dreaming. In this dream, Fischer's kidnapping takes place and Cobb's team tries to get a number, which they will use later. Also, they begin to implant the idea to Fischer that his father wants him not to continue with his business.

Level 3, second dream: In this level Arthur is the dreamer and it takes place in a hotel. There they make Fischer believe that Browning, his father's business lawyer, is a traitor.

Level 4, third dream: It is the last level, it concludes the team's mission. The dreamer is Eames. The goal here is to entrench the idea in Fischer's subconscious.

Level 5, Limbo: Limbo lies deep within the human mind. This place can only be accessed if you die while sleeping. In the movie Saito reaches this level since he dies in the third dream. In the end, Cobb is left in limbo to rescue him.

Conclusion: “Origin” or how we perceive reality

In this film the role of architecture plays a fundamental role. Architecture understood as the "art of designing, projecting and building" dreams. The role of the architect as the creator of that dream world.

What is this film trying to convey to us with this direct allusion to architecture and the design of new “realities”?

Perhaps this message reminds us that we live in a world of appearances and that reality is subjective. What we perceive can be as true as it is fanciful, but everything is part of that “individual” reality.

What if it's all an optical illusion, a trick of perspective, like the Penrose Staircase?

Theories and explanation of the ending of the film

There are various theories about the real meaning of the film The Origin . Was Dom Cobb really in the dream world or the real world?

Compilation of the most relevant theories

The film is marked by a complex and very well developed knot. Nolan, throughout the story, offers viewers little clues present in the dialogues of the characters that, for the most observant people, serve as signs to elaborate theories about the end of the film.

All the hypotheses that revolve around the end of the film seek to answer whether Dom Cobb was dreaming or not:

1. Dom Cobb's "totem" is the wedding ring

Throughout the film, the protagonist talks about his wife's “totem”. However, he doesn't do it on his own. This theory suggests that the protagonist's wedding ring offers clues about when it comes to dream or reality. When Dom Cobb finds himself inverse in a dream he wears it and when it comes to reality he doesn't. In the final scene he doesn't have it on.

2. Your children have not grown/have grown

Some bet that the end is a dream because they do not see a physical change in the children of the protagonist. If it really has been a while since he left, these should have grown.

Others if they have been able to notice a physical change in the children that appear at the beginning and at the end of the film. This theory states that Cobb ends up in the real world when he is able to meet up with them.

3. Their children's faces reflect reality

This theory defends that while Dom Cobb is in the world of dreams he cannot see the faces of his children, however, at the end of the film he can. Thus, this opinion affirms that the end of the film is about the real world.

4. The whole movie is a dream of Dom Cobb

This belief is given by one of the conversations that the protagonist has with Ariadne. In it he affirms that “dreams do not have a beginning”. If we look closely, in the movie Cobb always appears "suddenly" in one place and another, without an apparent beginning. This may mean that the entire film is a dream.

5. Miles has created an "origin" for Dom Cobb

Those who defend this theory bet because the entire film revolves around the "origin" that Miles, father of the late Mal and mentor of Ariadne, has created an "origin" for Cobb with the aim of making him let his wife go. your subconscious. With this Ariadne theory there is nothing more than Cobb's head and his mission is to "implant" that origin in the protagonist in order to "get rid" of his wife and be happy with his children.

6. Dom Cobb got stuck in limbo

This theory arises based on the "spinning top" (totem) that appears at the end of the film. According to the rules, it rotates permanently when its owner is in the world of dreams, while in the real world it does not, because the laws of physics and thermodynamics do not allow it.

In the final scene, the top spins and we don't know if it stops spinning at some point, while the protagonist is reunited with his children. Some claim that Cobb was trapped in limbo where he can be with his children.