The entire movie takes place within a coma, not within a dream – Leo’s character is in a coma after a failed suicide attempt – his wife was unable to have children, so Leo’s character came up with the idea that they could kill themselves and have children in the afterlife, but she died and he ended up in a coma (the ending of Inception is when he finally dies, gets to meet his children, and reunites with his dead father)
Supporting examples of this interpretation of the Inception ending:
References to suicide:
– Fischer puts a gun to his own head
– Head on the train tracks method of suicide
– Jumping off of a building method of suicide
– Before the start of the film, Leo’s character attempted suicide by drowning, but he was saved by a “Fischer”
References to water:
– The opening of film, where Leo’s character emerges from the ocean (this is repeated later)
– The dreams being flooded with water
– Falling into the bathtub
– The van that falls into the water
Repeated grids and plans that go wrong, leading to inescapable mazes
– The windows of the room where they plan
– The architectural grids of the streets that are distorted, and the panoramic views that appear like a maze
– The maze that the architect draws, where the simple grid plan doesn’t work but instead is replaced by a circular maze
– The layers of the “dream” represent sinking deeper into the coma, with the cold, white snow layer on bottom
– The overall message of this film is that you shouldn’t try to commit suicide because your plan might fail and instead you could find yourself in a coma
Leo’s guilt because the idea of the suicide pact was his inception
– This explains why the film is called Inception
– He talks about his guilt in the scene with his wife in the place they invented together
The meaning of the spinning top
– As long as Leo’s character is still alive within the coma, the top must adhere to the laws of gravity that exist in the physical world
– The top is found in his wife’s safe of secrets, which is inside of a dollhouse
The ending of Inception explained
– In the end, Leo’s character finally dies
– This is why he gets to be reunited with his father (his father is already dead)
– This is why he gets to finally see the faces of his children
– This is why his “home” in the end is the one that he invented with his wife
– This is why the top no longer obeys the laws of gravity in the physical world
Please comment if you agree or disagree with this analysis of Inception
For other interpretations of the ending of Inception, please see the following links:
– “Inception Ending Explained”
– “What Did It Mean? The Inception Ending Explained!”
– “Inception Ending: The Blog that aggregates theories about the ending of the movie Inception“
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