Sign in to your ScreenRant account
Custom image by Ana Nieves
The ending of Christopher Nolan's action-thriller Inception is just as interesting and heavily debated now as it was in 2010, and even the film's director and some of its stars have weighed in on how to interpret the final scenes. There are plenty of confusing things about Christopher Nolan's film, from Inception's dream timeline to the different dream levels in Inception and more. While most of the movie's rules have complex but definitive explanations, Inception's ending doesn't. The question of Cobb's reality has endured for over a decade, and it will probably never be answered definitively.
The ending of Inception is infamous for its ambiguity. As Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) finally sees his children, he spins his totem to check if he's dreaming or in the real world, but the film never shows if it stops or not. Unfortunately, the totems were the only surefire way to determine what was real and what was a dream in Inception, so the film's final shot leaves the ending completely open to interpretation. Luckily, the film's creator and the cast of Inception have shared their own personal interpretations of its ending over the years, and they reveal some important truths about the movie.
5 Christopher Nolan Said The Ending Of Inception Proves "Reality Matters, It Will Not Be Transcended"
Nolan Believes Reality Is More Important Than Dreams
One of the most unusual times Christopher Nolan addressed the ending of Inception publicly was during his commencement speech for the 2015 graduating class of Princeton (via Christian Röpke on YouTube). During his speech, Nolan spoke at length about the nature of reality, the importance of dreams, and the role communication plays in the modern world. To illustrate some of his points, Nolan used the ending of Inception as an example, and he gave one of his interpretations of the film's finale.
But at the end of the film there's a spinning top that's spinning, and if it falls or doesn't fall – is the key idea – is it a dream, is it reality?
And the way the end of that film worked, Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Cobb, he was off with his kids, he was in his own subjective reality and didn't really care anymore, and that makes a statement that perhaps all levels of reality are equally valid.
The camera moves over to the spinning top and just before the spinning top appears to be wobbling, there's a cut to black, and I skip out of the back of the theater before people catch me.
And there's a very, very strong reaction from the audience, usually a bit of a groan. But the point is, objectively, it matters to the audience in absolute terms. Even though what they're watching is a fiction, it is its own virtual reality. But the question of whether that's a dream or whether it's real is the one I've been asked the most about any of the films I've made.
It matters to people enormously, and that's the point about reality. Reality matters, it won't be transcended.
Nolan also mentioned earlier in his speech that "dreams are a subset of reality" in the same way a phone screen shows an image of reality, but not reality itself. He also told a story about how, when he was flying on an airplane, everyone else in the cabin was looking at their phones instead of out the window, even as they passed over the Grand Canyon. Those comments are the key to understanding what Nolan means by saying that "reality matters, it won't be transcended,": Cobb may not care about objective reality, but it's still important.
The ambiguous ending of Inception was meant to show audiences that reality is more important than the subsets of it. Christopher Nolan left the ending purposefully vague to annoy the audience about not knowing whether Inception ends in a dream or in real life. He trusted the audience to realize that their annoyance came from the inherent knowledge that reality is important, and no fiction can transcend it. More than that, Inception was meant to show audiences that reality isn't supposed to be transcended, fiction is supposed to say something about reality.
Related
What Is Inception? Christopher Nolan Movie Title Meaning Explained
Christopher Nolan's Inception is one of the most iconic (and confounding) sci-fi movies ever made, but exactly what does its title mean?
If the top had fallen, Inception would have had a happy ending, and if it stayed spinning, it would have been sad. Either of those endings also would have been definitive, and the audience wouldn't have been invited to dig deeper into themselves. Ending the movie on that indecisive note let Nolan encourage the audience to examine why they wanted Cobb's reunion with his children to be real. It also allowed people to come to the conclusion that reality is worth more than dreams on their own.
4 Christopher Nolan Now Says It Doesn't Matter Whether Cobb Was In A Dream
Cobb's Decision To Be With His Children Was More Important Than Whether It Was Real Or A Dream
Christopher Nolan's commencement address at Princeton wasn't the last time he would explain the ending of Inception, however, as he revisited the movie as recently as 2023, while promoting his film Oppenheimer. In an interview with Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, Nolan said that Emma Thomas, a producer for Inception, pointed out the correct way to interpret its ending.
Leo’s character…the point of the shot is the character doesn’t care at that point. That's really the best answer I've come up with. It's not a question I comfortably answer.
Inception is a complicated film that touches on quite a few subjects, from the nature of reality to the question of where ideas really come from. Those complex questions are part of the reason the film is so enduring and beloved, but the most important story in the film is rather simple. Inception's main storyline isn't about dreams or metaphysics, it's about Cobb's quest to reunite with his children. That quest was Cobb's entire motivation throughout the film, and it's why Inception ends with a shot of him hugging his children for the first time in years.
Cobb doesn't care whether he's awake or asleep, he only cares about seeing his children again.
The importance of Cobb's quest to reunite with his children is also why Nolan believes that trying to see whether he was awake or asleep misses the point of Inception. Cobb doesn't care whether he's awake or asleep, he only cares about seeing his children again. Nolan said as much in an interview with EW shortly after the release of Inception, in November 2010.
“There can’t be anything in the film that tells you one way or another because then the ambiguity at the end of the film would just be a mistake ... It would represent a failure of the film to communicate something. But it’s not a mistake. I put that cut there at the end, imposing an ambiguity from outside the film. That always felt the right ending to me — it always felt like the appropriate ‘kick’ to me….The real point of the scene — and this is what I tell people — is that Cobb isn’t looking at the top. He’s looking at his kids. He’s left it behind. That’s the emotional significance of the thing.”
For all of Inception's complexity and thoughtful questions, it really boils down to a simple story about what a man would do to be with his family again. Cobb, the character who most obsessively checked his totem throughout Inception, was willing to throw away his notion of reality as long as he got to be with his children. Whether that's a sad or happy end to Cobb's story, Nolan argues, is up to the viewers.
3 Despite Inception's Themes, Christopher Nolan Believes Cobb Saw His Children In Real Life
Nolan Said He Believes Cobb Saw His Children Because The Director Is A Father Himself
Even though he believes wondering whether Cobb reunited with his children in the real world or in a dream is missing the point of the movie, Christopher Nolan still has his own interpretation of Inception's ending. In a 2010 interview with Wired, Nolan said that he thinks Cobb was in the real world at the end of Inception.
It's very important to me that by the end of the film you understand what Mal means when she says to Cobb, "You don't believe in one reality anymore," and that we see the potential for getting lost.
I choose to believe that Cobb gets back to his kids, because I have young kids. People who have kids definitely read it differently than those who don't. Clearly the audience brings a lot to it. The most important emotional thing about the top spinning at the end is that Cobb is not looking at it. He doesn't care.
When asked if there was a "right answer" to Inception's ending, Nolan went on to explain that there is one, and that his choice to end the film ambiguously depended on him having a definitive ending.
I've always believed that if you make a film with ambiguity, it needs to be based on a true interpretation. If it's not, then it will contradict itself, or it will be somehow insubstantial and end up making the audience feel cheated. Ambiguity has to come from the inability of the character to know -- and the alignment of the audience with that character.
What's interesting to note about Nolan's comments is that he doesn't say his interpretation - that Cobb is in the real world with his kids - is the right answer, just that a right answer exists. While Nolan's interpretation of Cobb getting back to his children isn't necessarily the "right" answer, it is fairly strong evidence that Cobb was awake at the end of Inception. Unfortunately, evidence is likely all it will ever be, as Nolan probably isn't going to reveal for certain whether Cobb was awake or asleep.
Nolan also made sure to explain that his interpretation shouldn't undermine the main emotional message of Inception, which was Cobb's search for his children and the fact that he doesn't care about objective reality anymore. Nolan's comments also don't weaken Inception's message about reality and how much more important it is than dreams. While he still asserts that the reality of Cobb's reunion with his children is inconsequential, it is nice to know that Christopher Nolan has his own opinion about Inception's ending.
2 Michael Caine Is Convinced Cobb Returned To His Children In Real Life
Nolan Told Caine That His Scenes Were All Set In The Real World
Michael Caine, who played Miles, Mol's father and Cobb's father-in-law, also had something to say about the ending of Inception, and his interpretation was far more straightforward than Nolan's, even though it came from the director. While speaking at Film4 Summer Screen in 2018, Caine shared with the audience that Christopher Nolan had given him the secret to Inception's ending (via Film4 on YouTube).
When I got the script of Inception, I was a bit puzzled by it and I said to him 'I don’t understand where the dream is.' I said, 'When is it the dream and when is it reality?' He said, 'Well, when you’re in the scene it’s reality.' So get that – if I’m in it, it’s reality. If I’m not in it, it’s a dream.
Since Miles was the one who brought Cobb to see his children at the end of Inception, Caine's comments seem to indicate that the film's final moments took place in the real world. While Michael Caine isn't as definitive of a source as Nolan, it did come from Nolan's direction. Caine's interpretation is also the most straightforward any of Inception's cast or crew have provided thus far, and the only one to actually pick between real life and dreams.
Related
Inception: 20 Quotes That Will Make You Think
Inception really took audiences by surprise, not just for its trippy action, but also for the depth in its dialogue. These are its best quotes.
There is one possible problem with Caine's interpretation of Inception's ending, however. Nolan, as a director, is well-known for being extremely collaborative and supportive of his actors, and he's often cited as being able to give an actor exactly what they need to make the scene work. It's possible that Nolan told Caine that all of his scenes in Inception were real simply to clear up confusion and let Caine deliver the best performance he could. Nolan's secret to the entire film almost seems too simple and straightforward to believe, and it very well may have been.
1 Leonardo DiCaprio Has No Idea What Happened At The End Of Inception
DiCaprio Was More Concerned With Playing Cobb Well Than Understanding Inception's Ending
The last cast member of Inception to weigh in on the film's ending was also the movie's star, Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Cobb. In a 2020 interview with Marc Maron on his Podcast, DiCaprio said that he didn't concern himself with whether the final scenes of the film were set in real life or a dream, and that the only way to make sense of the ending was for each viewer to find an explanation that works for them personally.
What happened? I have no idea. Sometimes you're just focused on your character, man. I actually do get involved, but when it came to Chris Nolan and his mind and how that was all pieced together, everyone was trying to constantly piece that puzzle together.
Depends on the eye of the beholder, I guess.
As DiCaprio said, the most important thing to him while filming was making sure to get Cobb's characterization right and play his part well. In a way, DiCaprio not knowing whether the ending of Inception is real or a dream actually made his portrayal of Cobb better. DiCaprio, like Cobb, didn't need to know whether his kids were real or not. He needed to play the character as he was in the story: a man who was ready to turn his back on objective reality in favor of a subjective reality that made him happy, which is exactly what he did.
If nothing else, Leonardo DiCaprio's comments about the ending of Inception serve as a great reminder that even the creators of the film were confused by its final scene.
DiCaprio's take on Inception's ending, as practical as it was, also has something to offer for viewers looking to interpret the film. His final words on the subject encouraged the audience to decide for themselves whether Cobb was awake or dreaming, which may have helped some viewers think more deeply about the message Inception was trying to convey about reality. If nothing else, Leonardo DiCaprio's comments about the ending of Inception serve as a great reminder that even the creators of the film were confused by its final scene.
Sources: Christian Röpke on YouTube, Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, Wired, EW, Film4, Marc Maron
Christopher Nolan's 2010 Sci-fi action film Inception follows a thief who enters the dreams of others to steal information and, after being caught, is given a chance to clean his slate by performing an untested concept - implanting an idea within another mind. An ensemble cast is brought together by former target Saito, who seeks to implant the idea of destroying his own company into his father's mind. In a complex labyrinth of dreams and untested theories at the forefront, survival is not guaranteed in this psychological heist where the stakes are high, and nothing is what it seems.
Release Date July 16, 2010
Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures
Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures
Runtime 148 minutes
Franchise(s) Inception
Budget $160 million
English (US) ·