Damn top in “Inception”: Christopher Nolan finally explains the open ending of his sci-fi blockbuster

On July 20, 2023, “Oppenheimer”, the new film from mastermind director Christopher Nolan, hits theaters – and fans can hardly wait for the day. After all, the filmmaker knows like no other how to combine exciting action scenes with profound, scientific life questions. With great certainty we can also expect this special mixture in the biopic about the father of the atom bomb, which “Oppenheimer” will be about.

The ending of “Inception” has been raising a big question for 13 years!

One of Nolan’s most philosophical films is undoubtedly “Inception”. The star-studded sci-fi blockbuster was released in theaters in 2010 and continues to be a source of much debate among film fans to this day. However, it is not the quality of the film that is discussed, but especially the brilliant ending – because it is anything but finished…

Let’s remember: In “Inception,” Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his associates plan a grand heist that will lead them through several levels of a dream. Actually, Cobb wants one thing above all: back to reality, back to his family. To distinguish reality from dreams, Cobb repeatedly uses his totem: a simple spinning top. When the top falls, Cobb is back in the real world. He also does this test at the end of the film, when he apparently has achieved his goal and is with his children.

But the viewers of the film do not find out whether the top falls or continues to rotate. Cobb is distracted by his children and seems to forget about the spinning top. The spinning top slows down, but the movie ends before a clear decision is made. So is Cobb real or is he still dreaming?

Christopher Nolan on the ending of “Inception”

In an interview with Nolan has finally commented on this big ‘Inception’ question. We still don’t know if the top falls — but according to Nolan, the answer shouldn’t really matter that much! Nolan explains that, of course, there is a nihilistic take on the film’s ending. But for him, Cobb’s attitude to life plays a much bigger role:

“He has evolved and found his way back to his children. The ambiguity is not an emotional ambiguity. It is more of an intellectual nature for the public”.

So Nolan is more or less saying that the top doesn’t have to play a role for Cobb anymore, after all he got exactly what he wanted – one way or another. Nolan has already made a similar statement in this debate. He held one in 2015 Speech for the graduates from Princeton University, explaining that our dreams are also virtual realities, i.e. parts of our reality. That Cobb is no longer interested in the spinning top at the end of the film is a statement to Nolan: “Perhaps all levels of reality are equal”.

Can Michael Caine really solve the “Inception” question?

So Nolan answers the “Inception” question his own way – and still leaves people who want to know for sure in the dark. Not so Michael Caine, who also had a role in “Inception”. and after shooting, Nolan specifically asked what was reality and what was dream in the movie. Nolan’s reaction: “When you’re in the scene, it’s reality”.

So if you want a really specific answer, just watch Inception again and look out for Caine’s character Miles in the last scene…

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