Questions tagged [inception]

Inception is a 2010 film directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Use this tag for questions about the film itself. Do NOT automatically use with the [movie] tag; check that tag's usage guidance before using it.

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How do they go down a level when already inside a dream?

I see how you would go from reality to a dream using a real PASIV device. But how do they hook themselves up to one in a dream when going down several levels? Where does the device come from and how ...
heena surve's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
693 views

Why did Saito age?

I just watched Inception, and am very confused about this point. This whole question is a spoiler and could probably all be spoiler-tagged, so don't read it if you haven't seen the movie unless you ...
Stormblessed's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
288 views

Who was Maurice Fischer in the third-level dream?

In the first level of the dream, Eames was able to impersonate Browning. In the second level of dream (@ the lobby), Eames also impersonated the beautiful woman and stole Fischer's wallet. But I just ...
P.K.'s user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
984 views

Is Cobb always wearing his wedding ring when he's in a dream?

Every dream-maker in the movie, Inception, uses a totem to tell if they are in a dream or the real world. The totem is a small object they carry with them and is supposed to have certain properties (...
RichS's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
92 views

In Inception, how did everyone finally get out of dream Level 1? [duplicate]

Once the job was complete, everyone was back at level 1. But how did they manage to get out of there and wake up, if they couldn't kill themselves without ending up in limbo and the armed subconscious ...
pulsejet's user avatar
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18 votes
2 answers
8k views

Why does Saito say “Have you come to kill me” in the first sequence?

In the very first sequence in Inception we see Cobb interact with Saito, Saito says, Are you here to kill me? But , what I can't understand is why he would say ...
KyloRen's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
4k views

In Inception, how does the machine determine who are the Dreamer and Subject?

In Christopher Nolan's Inception, characters can have "shared dreams" with a machine called PASIV (Nolan also published a manual about it as part of viral marketing campaign). In each dream there ...
Teem Porary's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
942 views

Why does Cobb and Ariadne remember their mission once they drop into limbo to fischer?

It has been explained to me that the main difference between limbo and another dream level is that once you are in limbo you forget the difference between a dream and reality. It has been shown ...
Charlie Simpson's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why does the dream continue in Inception after Dom shoots Arthur?

In a scene within Inception, Dominic Cobb is caught stealing documents from a safe by Saito and Mal. Saito's henchmen bring in Dom's accomplice, Arthur. Mal tests whether they are in a dream by ...
RichS's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
5k views

Why didn't Fischer recognise Saito?

In the third level of the dream (the Snow Fortress) Saito, a major competitor of Fischer interacts with Fischer, but for some reason Fischer simply doesn't notice. Surely he would know who Saito is, ...
user74742's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
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What is Inceptions End [duplicate]

I have seen Inception many times. Every time I come with a new conclusion. What I feel is that he is in dream right from the beginning, when he comes to meet syto. But, this is also confusing that he ...
user3004443's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why was Cobb so afraid to go into limbo, if he had already gone there and knows that he can use his totem to get out?

1.) When Cobb and Saito were in limbo, Cobb realized he was in Limbo because of the spinning totem. But how did Cobb realized he was in limbo, when he and Mal were stuck there? 2.) And in case it was ...
Biman Tripathy's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
481 views

Why don't the batteries run out in the dream machines on the lower layers?

According to this wiki entry, the PASIV device has a battery life of 200 hours. Multiplied by the time stretching factor of 12 given here, that equates 100 days, or using the factor of 20 for strong ...
Zommuter's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
8k views

How did Cobb and Mal end up in Limbo to start with?

To my understanding, in order to go to Limbo one basically has to die within I dream while being sedated such that one cannot wakeup, thus the mind has to remain somewhere else. But did the movie ...
Zommuter's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Why did Cobb and Ariadne jump off the building?

At the end of Inception Cobb and Ariandne jump of a skyscraper after meeting Mal. Was there any point to this? A jump is supposed to return you to that level of the dream: the bus hitting the water ...
FreshWaterTaffy's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
6k views

Why didn't the team wake up from the multi-level kick?

In the movie, there's one scene that seems very strange to me. First, the point: When the team gets in the first level, they find out that Fischer has a militarized subconscious. After they freak ...
LcSalazar's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
4k views

What happens if you die in a dream before you die in the dream within?

Why do Arthur and Eames have to arrange kicks in their respective dream levels? If all the characters want to return to reality, shouldn't a death in the first dream level (Yusuf's) suffice?
sloth's user avatar
  • 119
6 votes
1 answer
5k views

Explanation of how Cobb re-enters limbo twice and age

I watched Inception again and I started scratching my head again, which lead with a series of Google searches that made me scrach my head even more. When watching the movie, I assumed that Saito was ...
kpagcha's user avatar
  • 61
12 votes
1 answer
686 views

How is it that Robert Fisher could have been killed by his own projections?

In the movie Inception, Robert Fisher had an army of militarized projections presumably meant to protect him against extraction. However, during the street battle at the first level of the inception, ...
John Freemyer's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why did Cobb ask Ariadne for the secret passage in the third-level dream?

In the third-level dream (the snow one), Saito and Fischer are compromised when they try to enter the building. Cobb asks Ariadne to tell him the secret entrance, but she refuses because if Cobb knows,...
Guillelon's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
6k views

What happens to Robert Fischer in the limbo and third level dream states?

Something I don't get in the movie Inception: Robert Fischer gets shot and killed by Mal on the third level (snowy hospital level) That means he goes to "limbo" (following dream logic here) but ...
Jared's user avatar
  • 14.6k
-1 votes
4 answers
1k views

Isn't "Inception"’s concept taken from "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest"?

When I watched Inception, after watching half the movie, I was pretty much convinced that this is a concept stolen from a Cartoon Network series named The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, which has a ...
DarkHorse's user avatar
  • 133
17 votes
1 answer
3k views

In Inception why does the music played not slow down in each successive dream level?

In the movie Inception, a song was played to synchronize the kicks in the different dream levels. Now, in every level the time runs much faster than the previous level of the dream. When the music is ...
Deiknymi's user avatar
  • 675
12 votes
3 answers
38k views

Is there an actual time calculation in Inception?

In the movie, they (Cobb and his partners) are drawn into multiple layers of dreams, and they said that if you're going further/deeper you'll find the time in real world or previous layer is ...
Abie Giordano's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

What was Cobb's totem before the spinning top?

The movie explains that Cobb adopted Mol's totem after her death. Do we ever know what his totem was before he adopted her spinning top?
John's user avatar
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13 votes
4 answers
7k views

Is the spinning top in Inception a bad choice for a totem?

In the movie Inception, the concept of a Totem is that is has a special distinguishing feature, maybe weight or dimension or feel or something else - i.e. its different from a run of the mill piece of ...
user93353's user avatar
  • 361
8 votes
1 answer
503 views

Does a totem really confirm you are not in someone else's dream?

In the movie, Inception, a totem helps a totem owner eliminate the possibility that you are in someone else's dream. The explanation being - only you know your totem's unique uncommon feature, so if ...
user93353's user avatar
  • 361
5 votes
2 answers
3k views

Can a totem help you figure out if you are in reality or your own dream?

In Inception, the totem is supposed to be a device that helps the totem owner to figure out whether he is a dream or in reality. This is because the totem has some special feature which is known only ...
user93353's user avatar
  • 361
6 votes
3 answers
1k views

How does Ariadne 'riding' the kick differ to Cobb dying in the crumbling building?

Sorry for the possibly confusing title, I'm not exactly sure how to word the question. Towards the end of the movie, in the deepest level of dream when Cobb confronts Mal: How is what Ariadne did (...
Ryan Dias's user avatar
  • 315
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Isn't Cobb's Totem Invalid?

Since Inception is on, I have been thinking about this question a lot.
Michael Brown's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
5k views

In "Inception", why didn't Cobb have Miles (Michael Caine) fly his kids to France?

This question deals with my didn't Cobb take his children when he first had to run (there are various reasons as to why this would not be feasilble) Mine asks why, when established in a foreign ...
Stefan's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
4k views

Who was the captured member of Cobb's team in Inception?

I've seen the movie twice and still didn't understand this. He was seemingly a member of Cobb's team who betrayed the team. Who was the captured member of Cobb's team in Inception and why did Saito ...
Kirsty McNair's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
20k views

If Cobb's spinning top totem stops spinning, does this mean he is in the real world?

I didn't understand this concept from inception. if the totem will stops spinning, you are in real world? Maybe your dream thinks that it will stop spinning. So what does Arthur do with his dice or ...
user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
10k views

How did Cobb find Saito in limbo?

In Inception, I don't understand the ending where Cobb and Saito find themselves independently in limbo. Is it a coincidence that Cobb found Saito in limbo and that too just before the plane flight in ...
user avatar
11 votes
4 answers
1k views

Why did Cobb personally drug Fischer in the air?

In Inception when they embark onto the plane, Cobb covertly gives a sleeping drug to Fischer in a glass of water. In the next scene we can see that the air-hostess is also working with them. So why ...
user avatar
26 votes
14 answers
207k views

In Inception, how do Cobb and Saito escape Limbo?

At the end of the movie: But my question is: How did Cobb and Saito actually manage to get out of limbo and return to the plane? maybe I missed something, but didn't they miss the kicks? and wasn't ...
Jared's user avatar
  • 14.6k
52 votes
10 answers
8k views

Interpreting the end of Inception

Sorry for the vague title--I don't want the title to be a spoiler. I've seen the movie three times, and the last two times I looked specifically for clues to this question, but found none. The final ...
Flimzy's user avatar
  • 5,760
28 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is the top still reliable? [duplicate]

Several times in the movie, Cobb says that no one should touch your totem, which would otherwise lose its ability to tell you if you're in a dream or not. I understand, there is no "magical" ...
LudoMC's user avatar
  • 3,183
17 votes
3 answers
3k views

How did they get the working dream share device inside dreams in Inception?

After getting into the dream they also have that dream sharing machine with them. How did they get that machine 'working' (fully functional) inside dream because inside dream that machine was just an ...
LifeH2O's user avatar
  • 303
26 votes
4 answers
3k views

In "Inception", why didn't Cobb take his kids with him when he had to flee the country?

I feel this is a major plot point. If he could manage to stay hidden alone, he could stay hidden with his kids as well. Why leave them behind if he misses them so much?
Andrei Vajna's user avatar