Inception
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Claire Geare, Jonathan Geare
A brilliant thief who is gifted at the art of extracting secret information from dreams is given a chance at redemption, but his salvation comes at the ultimate price. If he succeeds in achieving the impossible – inception - then his life will be restored. If not, then the price of his failure is certain death. But will a dark shadow from Dom’s past shatter his chance at peace before it even begins?
The essence of this film may be understood when one truly considers the question that Dom asks – “What is the most resilient parasite?” The most resilient parasite is an idea; one that when fully formed is nearly impossible to eradicate. It is this same parasite that allows the audience to understand the truth buried within Dom’s story. The dream that Dom is fighting so desperately to change is his own.
For Dom, his dream has truly become his reality; a reality where his world is manifested, not as pure fantasy, but as memories of his broken past, where he is haunted by the shadows of the family he lost: his wife who he feels responsible for killing, and his children, whom he has not seen since his wife’s death. His heartfelt desire to be reunited with his children is the catalyst which compels Dom to accept Caito’s offer and take on the ultimate challenge of achieving inception. One element that supports the idea that Dom is being held captive in a dream is the fact that his is the only totem that is not truly unique. Rather than carrying his own totem, the totem he carries is his wife Mal’s and because of this, he cannot ascertain whether he is truly in reality or still lost in his dream. Dom’s captivity is also illustrated by the fact that in every single dream, Mal destroys the dream and Dom can see his children, but their faces are never shown. Because they are merely reflections of his past, he only sees their faces when he accepts the truth and wakes up from the dream.
For Dom, inception is his way of achieving peace; a peace that will break the shackles of pain and guilt connecting him to Mal and his dream world and finally allow Dom to be reunited with his children. While it is unclear, in the end, whether Dom escapes from the dream, one can draw hope from the knowledge that he has been reunited with his children and he has finally found some measure of peace.
Totems play a symbolic role in this film as the catalyst for discerning the truth of reality from the illusion of the dream-world.
As the story unfolds, we see that everyone on Cobb’s team possesses a unique totem, which they carry with them into the dream. The purpose of these totems is to allow the totem’s owner to discern when they are in the dream and when they have returned to the real world. They cannot allow anyone else to touch their special totems because if someone else touches it, the dreamer will never be sure of its behavior and will lose track of the reality. The dreamer is his worst enemy in a dream, as we can see with Cobb and Mal who are the same person.
At the end of the film, the fate of Cobb's spinning top is left ambiguous, as to whether the top would stop spinning and fall or remain spinning forever…but according to Cobb, the top was not Cobb's special totem at all...it was his wife, Mal's. I believe that Cobb's real totem is his wedding ring (which he wears only in the dream-world, but not in reality.) The question is, “Is Cobb wearing this ring – which we have surmised is his real totem – at the end of the film when he finally sees the faces of his children?” Is he truly reunited with them, or is he still lost in the perpetual dream-world where being reunited with his beloved children is just that - a dream? I believe that in the end, Dom finally returns to reality. This is supported by Dom's true totem – his wedding ring - no longer being on his finger - signifying that he has awoken from the dream - and this is confirmed by Dom's final choice. Unlike every other time when Dom sees his children and chooses to look away from them, this time, Dom chooses to be reunited with his children for the first time since Mal's death.
© 2025 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Claire Geare, Jonathan Geare
A brilliant thief who is gifted at the art of extracting secret information from dreams is given a chance at redemption, but his salvation comes at the ultimate price. If he succeeds in achieving the impossible – inception - then his life will be restored. If not, then the price of his failure is certain death. But will a dark shadow from Dom’s past shatter his chance at peace before it even begins?
The essence of this film may be understood when one truly considers the question that Dom asks – “What is the most resilient parasite?” The most resilient parasite is an idea; one that when fully formed is nearly impossible to eradicate. It is this same parasite that allows the audience to understand the truth buried within Dom’s story. The dream that Dom is fighting so desperately to change is his own.
For Dom, his dream has truly become his reality; a reality where his world is manifested, not as pure fantasy, but as memories of his broken past, where he is haunted by the shadows of the family he lost: his wife who he feels responsible for killing, and his children, whom he has not seen since his wife’s death. His heartfelt desire to be reunited with his children is the catalyst which compels Dom to accept Caito’s offer and take on the ultimate challenge of achieving inception. One element that supports the idea that Dom is being held captive in a dream is the fact that his is the only totem that is not truly unique. Rather than carrying his own totem, the totem he carries is his wife Mal’s and because of this, he cannot ascertain whether he is truly in reality or still lost in his dream. Dom’s captivity is also illustrated by the fact that in every single dream, Mal destroys the dream and Dom can see his children, but their faces are never shown. Because they are merely reflections of his past, he only sees their faces when he accepts the truth and wakes up from the dream.
For Dom, inception is his way of achieving peace; a peace that will break the shackles of pain and guilt connecting him to Mal and his dream world and finally allow Dom to be reunited with his children. While it is unclear, in the end, whether Dom escapes from the dream, one can draw hope from the knowledge that he has been reunited with his children and he has finally found some measure of peace.
Totems play a symbolic role in this film as the catalyst for discerning the truth of reality from the illusion of the dream-world.
As the story unfolds, we see that everyone on Cobb’s team possesses a unique totem, which they carry with them into the dream. The purpose of these totems is to allow the totem’s owner to discern when they are in the dream and when they have returned to the real world. They cannot allow anyone else to touch their special totems because if someone else touches it, the dreamer will never be sure of its behavior and will lose track of the reality. The dreamer is his worst enemy in a dream, as we can see with Cobb and Mal who are the same person.
At the end of the film, the fate of Cobb's spinning top is left ambiguous, as to whether the top would stop spinning and fall or remain spinning forever…but according to Cobb, the top was not Cobb's special totem at all...it was his wife, Mal's. I believe that Cobb's real totem is his wedding ring (which he wears only in the dream-world, but not in reality.) The question is, “Is Cobb wearing this ring – which we have surmised is his real totem – at the end of the film when he finally sees the faces of his children?” Is he truly reunited with them, or is he still lost in the perpetual dream-world where being reunited with his beloved children is just that - a dream? I believe that in the end, Dom finally returns to reality. This is supported by Dom's true totem – his wedding ring - no longer being on his finger - signifying that he has awoken from the dream - and this is confirmed by Dom's final choice. Unlike every other time when Dom sees his children and chooses to look away from them, this time, Dom chooses to be reunited with his children for the first time since Mal's death.
© 2025 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.