Inception's cryptic ending decoded courtesy Christopher Nolan's explanation

Inception is undoubtedly one of Christopher Nolan's most acclaimed and popular films. However, Inception also happens to be the most controversial film of Christopher Nolan's career. Nolan fans still debate about Inception's cryptic and confusing ending. Even the film's lead star, Leonardo DiCaprio, once stated that he had no idea what the film's ending was supposed to mean. In a recent interview, Michael Caine, who played DiCaprio's mentor in Inception, finally revealed the meaning of Inception's ending, as explained to him by Nolan himself. 

Inception's ending as explained by Christopher Nolan

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Inception starred Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of Cobb, a man who could enter someone's mindscape by synthesising dreams. By manipulating a person's dream, Cobb could extract information or plant false memories. However, navigating the dreamscape was a dangerous ordeal. To differentiate between reality and dreams, Cobb would use a totem. This totem was a spinning top, which would stop spinning in the real world but would keep spinning forever in a dream.

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In the final scene, Cobb spins the top one last time to find out if he is really in the real world. However, the screen cuts to black before Cobb gets a definitive answer, leading to an ambiguous ending. Fans have pondered over the fate of Cobb for years, with some thinking that he is still stuck in a dream while others are more optimistic and believe that he is back in the real world. 

In a recent interview with a magazine, Michael Caine revealed that Christopher Nolan had explained the Inception's confusing script to him. Caine stated that he was confused by the dream sequences while reading the script. When Caine asked Christopher Nolan about the difference between a dream scene and a real scene, the director simply told Caine that if he was in a scene, it was reality, and if he was not in a scene, it was a dream. 

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Michael Caine was indeed a part of the final scene of the film. If Caine's explanation is true, then Cobb was truly in the real world and not in a dream. Back in 2015, Christopher Nolan personally gave a similar explanation to the graduating class at Princeton University. According to Nolan, Cobb was finally with his kids and everything else was irrelevant to him. So it did not really matter if it was still a dream or real life, as for Cobb, being with his kids was the only reality that mattered. 

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