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‘inception’: film review.

In a summer of remakes, reboots and sequels comes 'Inception,' easily the most original movie idea in ages.

By Kirk Honeycutt

Kirk Honeycutt

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In a summer of remakes, reboots and sequels comes Inception , easily the most original movie idea in ages.

Now “original” doesn’t mean its chases, cliffhangers, shoot-outs, skullduggery and last-minute rescues. Movies have trafficked in those things forever. What’s new here is how writer-director Christopher Nolan repackages all this with a science-fiction concept that allows his characters to chase and shoot across multiple levels of reality. The Bottom Line In a summer of remakes, reboots and sequels comes "Inception," easily the most original movie idea in ages.

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Following up on such ingenious and intriguing films as The Dark Knight  and Memento , Nolan has outdone himself. Inception puts him not only at the top of the heap of sci-fi all-stars, but it also should put this Warner Bros. release near or at the top of the summer movies. It’s very hard to see how a film that plays so winningly to so many demographics would not be a worldwide hit.

Not that the film doesn’t have its antecedents. Dreamscape (1984) featured a man who could enter and manipulate dreams, and, of course, in The Matrix (1999) human beings and machines battled on various reality levels created by artificial intelligence.

In Inception , Nolan imagines a new kind of corporate espionage wherein a thief enters a person’s brain during the dream state to steal ideas. This is done by an entire team of “extractors” who design the architecture of the dreams, forge identities within the dream and even pharmacologically help several people to share these dreams.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a master extractor, who is for what initially are vague reasons on the run and cannot return home to his children in the States. Then along comes a powerful businessman, Saito (Ken Watanabe), who offers Dom his life back — if he’ll perform a special job.

Saito wants Dom to do the impossible: Instead of stealing an idea, he wants Dom to plant one, an idea that will cause the mark, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), to break up his father’s multibillion-dollar corporation for “emotional” reasons.

Dom’s late wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), haunts his own dreamworld like a kind of Mata Hari, intent on messing with his mind if not staking a claim to his very life. He doesn’t let on about this, but Dom’s new architect, Ariadne (Ellen Page), figures it out — which makes her realize how dangerous it is to share dreams with Dom.

A good deal of the first hour is spent, essentially, selling the audience on this sci-fi idea. As you witness an extraction that fails and then Dom’s recruitment of his new team around the world, the movie lays out all the hows, whys, whos and what-the-hells behind “extractions.”

If you don’t follow all this, join the club. It will perhaps take multiple viewings of these multiple dream states to extract all the logic and regulations. (At least that’s what the filmmakers hope.)

Something else might come more easily on subsequent viewings: With incredibly tense situations suspended across so many dreams within dreams, all that restless energy might induce a kind of reverse stress in audiences, producing not quite tedium, but you may want to shout, “C’mon, let’s get on with it.”

This is especially true when the hectic action in one dream, a van rolling down a hill with its dreamers aboard, causes a hotel corridor to roll in another, producing a weightless state in the characters. Even Fred Astaire didn’t dance on the ceiling as much as these guys do.

Page too displays sharp intelligence and determination in the face of this absolute jumble of reality. Especially surprising is Murphy as the mark; you find yourself genuinely sympathetic to a guy who just wanted to catch a little shut-eye and finds his mind kidnapped.

It also is nice that Nolan strives to keep CG effects to a minimum and do as many stunts in-camera as possible. This photo-realism certainly helps to keep the dream realities looking more plausible.

Credit cinematographer Wally Pfister with so neatly blending the real and surreal without any hokey moments. Ditto that for production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas and the various stunt coordinators and effects teams. Meanwhile, editor Lee Smith does a Herculean job of juggling those different realities.

Sometimes originality comes at a cost though: At the end, you may find yourself utterly exhausted.

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Inception Reviews

Overall, “Inception” is a triumph, a perfectly oiled dream machine that can blow minds on first viewing and satisfy cinephiles on repeat viewings.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Apr 11, 2024

Nolan is exploring dreams and the possibilities are endless, which is why it’s a little disappointing that so much of the film feels like a generic CGI action movie, albeit a high-class one.

Full Review | Mar 20, 2024

It is, simply put, a cerebral masterpiece from Christopher Nolan. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Feb 7, 2024

As the corridor spins the characters as well as the audience have to grapple with the blurred boundaries between reality and the subconscious.

Full Review | Dec 11, 2023

There are thrillers, and then there are thrillers. Gripping every second and couching its pages of exposition in the smartest way possible, Inception is original filmmaking at its finest.

Full Review | Oct 17, 2023

"Inception" delivers twists that fit the evolving context of the story it's creating and commandingly wins your attention enough to not turn you off. While it may not seem like it, there is a point and a light at the end of the tunnel to this maze.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 4, 2023

This film must be revisited, talked about, analyzed, and rewatched again and again. It will surely grow upon each viewing, but it proves instantly enthralling the first time.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 18, 2023

Still one of the best original films of the last 25 years, Inception is a groundbreaking action drama with some of the most intricate plot mapping this side of dreams and reality.

Full Review | Jul 20, 2023

Fresh, innovative stories told in non-traditional ways...

Full Review | Apr 26, 2023

This is Christopher Nolan's insane, original concept...

Full Review | Apr 20, 2023

[This] caper film that heists dreams instead of treasure is surely the most cerebral action thriller to become a blockbuster.

Full Review | Apr 8, 2023

Tech achievements duly noted (and their scale is certainly not nothing), I’m drawn back to Nolan’s 2001 fixation, unveiled to truly embarrassing effect in the dire, airless Inception...

Full Review | Jan 24, 2023

Confusing nightmare. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Oct 26, 2022

Inception’s inspiring imagination and ingenious innovation are still as staggering and stimulating today as they were ten years ago.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 1, 2022

...a modern cinematic masterpiece.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 22, 2022

Blows up completely the notion of reality based on an extraordinary overlay of Borgian levels... [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 21, 2022

Nolan's "dream within a dream" heist film, not only keeps you on the edge of your seat with incredible visual effects and memorable action set pieces, but also makes you a part of the puzzle-solving team from beginning to end. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | May 6, 2022

It's not nearly as confusing as many make it out to be, but if you do find yourself losing the plot a bit, remember you're at the movies and just let it overwhelm you. That's part of the fun.

Full Review | Sep 13, 2021

Inception engaged on a mainly intellectually level, but that isn't to say that film didn't pack an emotional impact.

Full Review | Jun 9, 2021

"They say we only use a fraction of our brain's potential" we are told in Inception. The same will never be said of Nolan.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | May 19, 2021

Inception Review

Christopher nolan follows up the dark knight with his best film yet..

Writer-director Christopher Nolan explores the realm of dreams in Inception , his first film since his acclaimed box office juggernaut The Dark Knight . The sci-fi thriller's premise sounds simple enough, but its execution by Nolan is anything but. Ostensibly an international heist caper, Inception follows Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), an "extractor" whose form of corporate espionage is to invade the dreams of the rich and powerful and pluck their most tightly guarded secrets from the depths of their subconscious. "A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules," Cobb says at one point.

Cobb is an international fugitive due to a dark deed from his past that prevents him from being able to return stateside to see his children. A shady corporate titan, Mr. Saito (Ken Watanabe), offers Cobb a chance to wipe his past clean and go home. The job? Inception -- planting an idea into a mark's subconscious rather than stealing one. Saito wants Cobb and his longtime point man, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), to invade the dreams of Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), the heir to an energy conglomerate who is also riddled with daddy issues. Saito wants to take out the competition so to speak.

Cobb and Arthur assemble a team that includes the forger Eames (Tom Hardy), Yusuf the chemist ( Avatar 's Dileep Rao), and newcomer Ariadne (Elliot Page), an architect who will literally design and build the world of the mark's dreams. Shadowing Dom in the dream realm is the enigamtic Mal (Marion Cotillard), a woman from Dom's past who threatens the entire operation. (Michael Caine, Pete Postlethwaite, Tom Berenger and Lukas Haas pop up in small roles.) The deeper Cobb and his team venture into Fischer's subconscious, the more dangerous the mission becomes and the more likely it is that they could all end up trapped there -- a seeming eternity in the time of the mind and a fate that could render them all vegetables in the real world.

Inception Movie Trailer - Trailer #2

With Inception , Nolan has made his equivalent to The Big Sleep (ironic given the subject matter of Nolan's film), a thriller whose near indecipherable storyline will boggle minds for decades to come -- or even his 2001 , a genre opus guaranteed to confound or amaze viewers. Or is it Nolan's finally realized attempt at making a James Bond film? Or a heist thriller to rival Heat ? A better version of Dreamscape ? Inception is all of the above, and yet it's also a singular accomplishment from a filmmaker who has only gotten better with each film. Indeed, Inception could very well be Nolan's masterpiece.

At times evoking the works of Jean Cocteau, Stanley Kubrick , and Michael Mann , Nolan has crafted an elaborate cinematic labyrinth where, like the dreams the protagonists are invading, there are different levels, each with its own distinct palette and style. As confusing as the film can be at times (there's one point where there are at least four different storylines going on simultaneously), one never senses that Nolan himself is lost, and that's the difference between a brilliant, multi-layered narrative and a movie that's just a mindjob for the sake of being clever.

Inception may be a cerebral film, but it's still one that knows how to entertain. There are shades of the Ocean's films in the heist sequences, The Matrix at other points, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service during the snowbound finale (with Hardy as 007). And unlike some of Kubrick and Mann's films, Nolan manages to keep the viewer emotionally invested in his amoral characters, particularly Cobb, and doesn't ever let the film become too cold or remote. His top-notch cast helps him achieve that.

DiCaprio finds the tortured center of his character, a man who is part thief and part spy and whose own guilt-ridden subconscious stands to destroy his chances of succeeding at the proverbial one last job. Inception is sort of a companion piece in a way to Shutter Island , the year's other mind-bender DiCaprio thriller. Gordon-Levitt -- who, like DiCaprio, was a child sitcom actor -- continues to prove he's one of the brightest up and coming dramatic actors with his turn here. And although she has less screen time than the rest of the cast, Cotillard shines as the film's closest thing to a femme fatale. She's certainly better served here than she was in Public Enemies (and she'd make one helluva Catwoman, but I digress).

Page has left her Juno persona behind and graduated into her young Jodie Foster period, and she is solid as DiCaprio's protege of sorts and the audience stand-in for all the necessary exposition. It was great to see Watanabe get more screen time here than he did in Batman Begins , and he finds the humanity in a greedy captain of industry out to destroy another (and possibly better) man's life and livelihood. (That's the thing to remember about these characters: They're actually bad guys who are out to ruin an innocent person's life, and yet we like them.) The biggest surprise in the cast is Hardy, who plays the suave badass of the group; seeing as how general audiences probably didn't see him in Bronson , this will be their introduction to him. If Bronson was his Layer Cake , then this is his Munich (so when Daniel Craig is no longer 007, EON would do well to hire Hardy).

On a technical level, the dreamworld special effects, score by Hans Zimmer , and cinematography by Wally Pfister are all superb. It may seem far too soon to speak of awards consideration, but Inception could be the film to do what Dark Knight didn't do for Nolan (i.e., win him an Oscar -- or at least a nomination). His decade-long commitment to this project, the depth of originality and intelligence he's brought to it, and the confidence and skill he shows not only behind the camera but as a writer demands recognition of the highest order from the industry.

Simply put, Inception is a breathtaking achievement and a movie-going experience well worth your time and investment. In a year full of 3D remakes, reboots, sequels, and empty star vehicles, one hopes audiences will reward such terrific but challenging original entertainment with their wallets.

5 out of 5 Stars

Inception is a breathtaking achievement and a movie-going experience well worth your time and investment. In a year full of 3D remakes, reboots, sequels, and empty star vehicles, one hopes audiences will reward such terrific but challenging original entertainment with their wallets.

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'Inception': What Dreams May Come (And Go Away)

Kenneth Turan

Dream Weaver: Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Inception as Cobb, a thief who specializes in extracting secrets from others' minds. Melissa Moseley/Warner Bros. hide caption

Dream Weaver: Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Inception as Cobb, a thief who specializes in extracting secrets from others' minds.

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Genre: Action, Science-Fiction
• Running Time: 148 minutes

(Recommended)

Watch Clips

'I Am The Most Skilled Extractor'

Media no longer available

'I Need An Architect'

Dreaming is life's great solitary adventure. We experience its pleasures and terrors alone.

But what if other people could literally invade our dreams?

Welcome to the world of Inception ; it's as disturbing as it sounds. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a thief who specializes in what's called extraction, in taking secrets from the subconscious. He's hired to perform the even riskier task of inception -- to put ideas in the head of one of the world's richest men. For this he has to employ Ariadne, a young architect played by Ellen Page.

Inception 's plot is easier to follow than to explain, and it's not always possible to know which world the characters are in from one moment to the next. But even if specifics can be tantalizingly out of reach, you always intuitively understand what's going on and why.

Besides its science fiction theme, Inception 's roots are in old-fashioned genre entertainment. The picture has strong film noir aspects, and everyone will recognize tropes like the glamorous femme fatale and the always-fateful decision to take on "one last job."

These elements come together because writer-director Christopher Nolan, who did the last two Batman films, is a master at creating what he calls a "tumbling forward" quality, keeping his cameras in motion so audiences are pulled along into the action.

And you will be. Inception is a popular-entertainment knockout punch so potent it'll have you worrying if it's safe to close your eyes at night. (Recommended)

Related NPR Stories

'inception,' art, edelstein, and the impossibility of accounting for taste.

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Intense, complex, brilliant sci-fi thriller; violent scenes.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Amid the intense scenes and images, the movie offe

The main character acts for personal reasons -- to

Positive casting of trans actor Elliot Page in key

Though most violence takes place in dreams and is

The main character pines for his dead wife, whom h

A few uses of "goddamn it" and "Jesus Christ," as

Adult characters drink wine, beer, and champagne,

Parents need to know that Inception is a complex, original science-fiction fantasy movie from the director of The Dark Knight . It has lots of action and violence -- including guns, blood, fighting, car crashes, etc. -- as well as some slightly scary imagery. But it's very light on language ("goddamn"…

Positive Messages

Amid the intense scenes and images, the movie offers positive examples of teamwork and helping others. A subplot involving death and grieving promotes acceptance and moving on. A more ambiguous message is sent by the main story, in which the characters try to plant an idea in someone's head against his will -- but manage to bring him a kind of peace in the process.

Positive Role Models

The main character acts for personal reasons -- to earn the ability to return home to his kids -- and has a job that's slightly on the shady side. But when he's at work, his team shows excellent teamwork, as well as selflessness when it comes to their teammates' well being.

Diverse Representations

Positive casting of trans actor Elliot Page in key role of Ariadne. Otherwise, only two characters of color in minor, non-stereotypical speaking roles. One is a wealthy Japanese businessman (Ken Watanabe) and the other is a South Asian British pharmacologist (Dileep Rao). While part of the film takes place in Mombasa, Kenya, local residents are depicted as faceless or as an angry mob.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Though most violence takes place in dreams and is therefore not "real," it includes guns and shooting, gunshot wounds with blood, fistfights, rioting, explosions, car chases, car crashes. Characters scream in pain when shot or stabbed. In the movie, being "killed" or committing suicide can "wake" you out of the dream. One character is shot in the head, another is stabbed, another plunges off a building to her death. Frequent suspense/tense scenes. Repeated scenes of a father reaching out for his children who are being separated from him.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The main character pines for his dead wife, whom he still sees in his dreams. They share some intimate emotional moments, but there's no kissing, nudity, or sex. Two other characters share a brief kiss.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

A few uses of "goddamn it" and "Jesus Christ," as well as "hell," "ass," "a--hole," "bloody," "bastard," "screw," and "damn." Partial use of "f--k."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adult characters drink wine, beer, and champagne, but not to excess.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Inception is a complex, original science-fiction fantasy movie from the director of The Dark Knight . It has lots of action and violence -- including guns, blood, fighting, car crashes, etc. -- as well as some slightly scary imagery. But it's very light on language ("goddamn" and "a--hole" are as strong as it gets), sexy stuff, and drinking, so teen fans of star Leonardo DiCaprio should be able to handle it. The movie takes place in several different locations around the world but is noticeably short on diversity on-screen. Crowds in one scene in Kenya are simply used as the backdrop to action sequences. It's not an easy story to explain, but it's fairly easy to follow, and it includes positive examples of teamwork and sacrifice. Parents and teens may find themselves talking at length about the story and the notion of a dream within a dream. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (100)
• Kids say (373)

Based on 100 parent reviews

An exciting, wild, and mind bending ride!

Amazing movie, what's the story.

In INCEPTION, Dom Cobb ( Leonardo DiCaprio ) is a skilled "extractor," able to enter people's dreams to find information. A businessman ( Ken Watanabe ) hires Cobb to plant an idea in the mind of a competitor, even though this may not be possible. Cobb assembles a team (which includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Elliot Page ) and prepares for the complicated job, which will require creating three dreams-within-dreams. Unfortunately, the subject ( Cillian Murphy ) has been trained for such invasions, and the job will be far more dangerous than planned -- and then there's the fact that Cobb's dead wife ( Marion Cotillard ) keeps unexpectedly turning up inside the dreams and wreaking havoc of her own. But if the team fails, they could end up trapped in a subconscious limbo forever.

Is It Any Good?

Inception is an intense, complex story, but it's always coherent, imaginative, and entertaining. Filmmaker Christopher Nolan has proven himself a master of time juggling; he rarely presents a story in chronological order. He often flips time or stacks time on top of itself, balancing several simultaneous storylines precariously, but with remarkable clarity.

That said, although Inception is a terrific film, it lacks a strong emotional connection with most of the characters -- the movie's roller coaster ride feel means that there's little time to stop and get to know anyone. Likewise, unlike Nolan's The Dark Knight , it doesn't really represent any current fears or desires, save for a vague fear of technology. It's really just a very intelligent, slam-bang popcorn movie. And that's absolutely fine.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Inception 's violence . How did it affect you? Was it thrilling? Did the fact that it takes place in a dream give it more or less impact?

Was the movie scary? If so, what made it scary?

Why is it important to dream? What do your dreams tell you? Is it right to plant an idea in a person's head, even if that idea makes the person happy?

We learn that Leonardo DiCaprio's character does what he does for a living because of several kinds of loss. Talk about loss and the importance of grief and how to grieve.

How did the characters exhibit teamwork to accomplish their mission? Why is teamwork an important character strength ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : July 16, 2010
• On DVD or streaming : December 7, 2010
• Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio , Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Elliot Page , Tom Hardy , Ken Watanabe , Marion Cotillard
• Director : Christopher Nolan
• Inclusion Information : Non-Binary actors, Queer actors, Transgender actors, Asian actors, Female actors
• Studio : Warner Bros.
• Genre : Science Fiction
• Character Strengths : Teamwork
• Run time : 148 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : sequences of violence and action throughout
• Last updated : July 14, 2024

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Movie Review | 'Inception'

This Time the Dream’s on Me

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By A.O. Scott

• July 15, 2010

The relationship between movies and dreams has always been — to borrow a term from psychoanalysis — overdetermined. From its first flickerings around the time Freud was working on “The Interpretation of Dreams,” cinema seemed to replicate the uncanny, image-making power of the mind, much as still photography had in the decades before. And over the course of the 20th century, cinema provided a vast, perpetually replenishing reservoir of raw material for the fantasies of millions of people. Freud believed that dreams were compounded out of the primal matter of the unconscious and the prosaic events of daily life. If he were writing now, he would have to acknowledge that they are also, for many of us, made out of movies.

And movies, more often than not these days, are made out of other movies. “Inception,” Christopher Nolan’s visually arresting, noir-tinged caper, is as packed with allusions and citations as a film studies term paper. Admirers of Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” and Stanley Kubrick’s “2001” will find themselves in good company, though “Inception” does not come close to matching the impact of those durable cult objects. It trades in crafty puzzles rather than profound mysteries, and gestures in the direction of mighty philosophical questions that Mr. Nolan is finally too tactful, too timid or perhaps just too busy to engage.

So “Inception” is not necessarily the kind of experience you would take to your next shrink appointment. It is more like a diverting reverie than a primal nightmare, something to be mused over rather than analyzed, something you may forget as soon as it’s over. Which is to say that the time — nearly two and a half hours — passes quickly and for the most part pleasantly, and that you see some things that are pretty amazing, and amazingly pretty: cities that fold in on themselves like pulsing, three-dimensional maps; chases and fights that defy the laws that usually govern space, time and motion; Marion Cotillard’s face.

Ms. Cotillard, her most famous movie role evoked by occasional eruptions of Édith Piaf on the “La Vie en Rose” soundtrack, is the film’s principal enigma and its chief signifier of emotion. She is not, however, exactly a character in “Inception.” Rather, at least as far as a first-time viewer can guess, she is a projection in the subconscious of her husband, a specialist in corporate mental espionage known as Cobb and played by Leonardo DiCaprio with some of the same twitchy melancholy he brought to “Shutter Island.”

To say too much about their marriage would be to risk compromising some of the pleasures of discovery tucked into a carefully crosshatched, multilayered story. Better to explain what Cobb does for a living, since that exhaustive enumeration of the metaphysical rules of his profession occupies an awful lot of the dialogue in Mr. Nolan’s script. Using a combination of drugs, wires and other vaguely Matrix-y methods, Cobb and his co-workers penetrate the minds of their slumbering targets, usually for the purpose of extracting hidden information. But a wealthy client named Saito (Ken Watanabe) induces them to try the much more difficult trick known as inception, which involves planting an idea someone else’s mind that will bear fruit in the real world. “That’s impossible!” more than one person has occasion to exclaim.

In any case, Cobb and his team are trying to induce a young man (Cillian Murphy), whose father (Pete Postlethwaite) is a business rival of Saito’s, to break up the company he is about to inherit. This bit of commercial intrigue provides the fairly banal material foundation on which Mr. Nolan’s phantasmagorical world is built. The pursuit of competitive advantage by well-dressed, emotionless men is hardly the stuff that dreams are made of, Humphrey Bogart’s observations at the end of “The Maltese Falcon” notwithstanding.

And the content of those dreams, once Cobb and company have dropped into their mark’s sleeping mind, is often curiously pedestrian. Most of the time, one group of guys with guns chases another, in cars across the rain-soaked streets of Los Angeles, on foot through the corridors of a retro-elegant hotel, and on skis and snowmobiles through an icy Alpine landscape from which James Bond might recently have departed.

A lot of this is — what is the critical term of art I’m looking for? — pretty cool. And the heist-movie cast of mind-cracking technicians is also cool. Dileep Rao is the shaggy, anxious nerdy one. Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are a pair of wisecracking specialists in something-or-another, and Ellen Page is the architect. This means that she designs the physical environments in which the dreams take place, and also that, like a precocious sophomore in a graduate seminar, asks the right questions and spells out the obvious connections.

She also notices that Cobb’s personal issues are clouding his ability to work, and putting the rest of them at a vaguely defined but serious risk — a graver danger than just waking up. (The conceit that they’re all dreaming takes some of the edge off the movie’s violence, since it’s hard to grieve for extras who are just “projections” in some else’s mental theater. On the other hand, that is pretty much what all movie characters are. This is what I meant by overdetermined.)

Cobb, whose life depends on suppressing emotions and memories that he cannot control, is thus a typical Christopher Nolan hero. His air of guilt and sorrow — the sense of unfinished psychic business pushing against his conscious intentions — marks his kinship with Christian Bale’s Batman, with the detective played by Al Pacino in “Insomnia” and with the anguished amnesiac played by Guy Pearce in “Memento.” Mr. DiCaprio exercises impressive control in portraying a man on the verge of losing his grip, but Mr. Nolan has not, in the end, given Cobb a rich enough inner life to sustain the performance.

The accomplishments of “Inception” are mainly technical, which is faint praise only if you insist on expecting something more from commercial entertainment. That audiences do — and should — expect more is partly, I suspect, what has inspired some of the feverish early notices hailing “Inception” as a masterpiece, just as the desire for a certifiably great superhero movie led to the wild overrating of “The Dark Knight.” In both cases Mr. Nolan’s virtuosity as a conjurer of brilliant scenes and stunning set pieces, along with his ability to invest grandeur and novelty into conventional themes, have fostered the illusion that he is some kind of visionary.

But though there is a lot to see in “Inception,” there is nothing that counts as genuine vision. Mr. Nolan’s idea of the mind is too literal, too logical, too rule-bound to allow the full measure of madness — the risk of real confusion, of delirium, of ineffable ambiguity — that this subject requires. The unconscious, as Freud (and Hitchcock, and a lot of other great filmmakers) knew, is a supremely unruly place, a maze of inadmissible desires, scrambled secrets, jokes and fears. If Mr. Nolan can’t quite reach this place, that may be because his access is blocked by the very medium he deploys with such skill.

And the limitations of “Inception” may suggest the limits not only of this very talented director, but also of his chosen art form at this moment in its history. Our dreams feed the movies. The movies feed our dreams. But somehow, our imaginations are still hungry.

“Inception” is rated PG-13. The violence is stylized and sometimes bloody, but not likely to cause nightmares.

Inception Opens on Friday nationwide. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan; director of photography, Wally Pfister; edited by LeeSmith; music by Hans Zimmer; production designer, Guy Hendrix Dyas; costumes by Jeffrey Kurland; produced by Emma Thomas and Mr. Nolan; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 2 hours 22 minutes. WITH: Leonardo DiCaprio (Cobb), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Arthur), Ellen Page (Ariadne), TomHardy (Eames), Ken Watanabe (Saito), Dileep Rao (Yusuf), Cillian Murphy (Robert Fischer Jr.), TomBerenger (Browning), Marion Cotillard (Mal), Pete Postlethwaite (Maurice Fischer), Michael Caine (Miles) and Lukas Haas (Nash).

INCEPTION Review

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"True inspiration is impossible to fake," explains a character in Christopher Nolan's existentialist heist film Inception .  If that's the case, then Inception is one of the most honest films ever made.  Nolan has crafted a movie that's beyond brilliant and layered both narratively and thematically.  It requires the audience to take in a collection of rules, exceptions, locations, jobs, and abilities in order to understand the text, let alone the fascinating subtext.  Nolan's magnum opus is the first major blockbuster in over a decade that's demanded intense viewer concentration, raised thoughtful and complex ideas, and wrapped everything all in a breathlessly exciting action film.  Inception may be complicated, but simply put it's one of the best movies of the year.

"I'm asking you to take a leap of faith."

Inception requires so much exposition that a lesser director would have forced theaters to distribute pamphlets to audience members in order to explain the complicated world he's developed.  During my first draft of this view, I realized I had spent three paragraphs simply trying to explain the plot.  I will simply avoid this exposition and present the movie's basic premise.  Inception centers on a team of individuals led by an "extractor" named Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) who, through the use of a special device, construct the dreams of a target and use those dreams to implant an idea so that the target will make a decision beneficial to the individual who hired the team.  To say that scratches the surface would be an insult to both scratches and surfaces.  But since it takes Nolan about fifty minutes to set everything up, I hope you'll forgive my brevity.

Why is it so difficult to explain the plot in depth?  First, I don't want to spoil you.  Secondly, the film layers dreams on top of dreams to the point where a unique keepsake called a "totem" is required in order to inform a character as to whether or not he or she is still dreaming.  Then you have people in particular roles like "The Architect", "The Forger", and "The Chemist" in order to pull off the job.  Furthermore, dreams have rules: dying in a dream forces the dreamer to wake up, delving too deeply into a mind can cause an eternal slumber called "Limbo", using memories to construct dreams is dangerous because it can blur the line between dreams and reality.  In addition, intruding in the dreams of another will cause the dreamer's "projections" (human representations created by the dreamer) to attack the intruders like white blood cells going after an infection.  And these explanations only represent a fraction of the terminology, rules, exceptions, or details that are necessary for creating the world of Inception .

But it's not a confusing movie if you provide it with your full attention.  There are a lot of summer movies that ask you turn off your brain and enjoy the persistent-vegetative-state ride.  Inception is not one of those movies. There's a lot to take in, but the imaginative and thoughtful delivery of exposition keeps the viewer riveted despite the amount of information required in order to understand the premise, setting, and plot.

It tends to be the case that lots of rules create lots of loopholes.  Filmmakers can use these to cheat and let audiences fill in the leaps of logics. But Inception always plays fair.  It will twist your mind but it's not a film built on twists.  It's a film built on possibilities and the boldness of pursuing those possibilities.  On my first viewing, the film experienced a technical malfunction where a misplaced reel skipped the movie forward by twenty minutes and then played the scene upside down and in reverse.  Inception had already sent the audience through such a strange narrative labyrinth that almost everyone in the theater wasn't sure if something had gone wrong or if Nolan had just made another bold decision.

The film deserves, demands, and rewards repeat viewings, but from your first viewing you can grasp the events on screen and how they interact with each other as long as you force yourself to be an active viewer.  But with set pieces so intricate, so jaw-dropping, and so breathtaking, you'll find that there's no exertion needed to stay focused.  You'll already be swept up in the whirlwind.

"And I will lead them on a merry chase."

Inception features one of the best fight scenes of all-time.  Take a moment to consider that: in the entire history of cinema, of every fight scene that has ever taken place, the one in this movie is among the best.  Watching a fight without gravity is incredible.  It's not like in The Matrix where a character can defy gravity if they choose.  The fight scene in Inception has no gravity to defy and Arthur (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the team's point man, has to figure out how to achieve his objective while fending off projections.  I can only hope that someday in the distant future, when people with free time are on a space station in zero-gravity, they will re-enact this scene.  In the meantime, Nolan's spectacular visual effects will have to suffice.

With the exception of one set piece (which I'll get to in a moment), the action scenes in Inception are spectacular.  Visually lush and imaginative, Nolan transforms car chases into countdowns, fistfights into puzzles, and shootouts into...well, shootouts.  There's a mission on a snowy mountainside that doesn't work as well as the other set pieces because there's a poor sense of location, a lack of visual diversity, and sloppy editing.  But that doesn't really halt or hurt the film because Nolan brilliantly placed the car chase, the fistfight, and the shootout on top of each other.  You would think this would cause action fatigue, but by cutting between three set pieces and having what happens in one set piece affect the others, the action climax of Inception isn't exhausting—it's exhilarating.

"If you're going to perform inception, you need imagination."

You can be the best action director around but you can only get so far if you lack characters worth caring about.  With Inception , every character not only has a particular skill and task, but has a personality that mirrors their job description.

We learn about the characters of Inception not from long monologues about their past or even (with the exception of Cobb) delving into their dreams and memories.  We learn about them by how they interact with each other.  The small moments between Arthur and Eames, "The Forger" (Tom Hardy) indicate years of working on j tolerating each other on jobs but with no animosity between the two.  Neophyte "Architect" Ariadne (Ellen Page) is a total jerk towards Cobb, but she's the only one who's willing to cut through his bullshit.  Cobb's relationship with his wife Mal (Marion Cotillard) is the heart of Inception .  The interactions among the supporting characters are standard for a well-made action movie, but the relationship between Cobb and Mal is yet another reason why Inception stands apart.

DiCaprio will take some flack for playing a similar character to his one in Shutter Island from earlier this year.  Both Cobb and Teddy Daniels have become separated from their families, suffer from unbearable guilt, and have a tough time handling the nature of reality.  Here's another similarity: DiCaprio is great in both movies.  I wouldn't worry about him getting typecast as tragic-figure-with-tenuous-grasp-on-reality-as-a-result-of-intense-guilt-and-regret.

Two of the film's stars will (hopefully) find their careers at the next level after this movie opens.  Their names are "Joseph Gordon-Levitt" and "Tom Hardy".  Gordon-Levitt has excelled at playing lost boys, tortures souls, and recently a charming male lead in (500) Days of Summer .  You can now add "bad-ass blockbuster action star" to that list.  Gordon-Levitt's versatility is why I will be excited for any movie that lists him as one of its stars.

Hardy's critically acclaimed performance in Nicolas Winding Refn's Bronson brought him to Hollywood's attention.  His performance in Inception will bring him the attention of countries.  He brings a light-hearted touch to the film and while the script forces other characters to remain serious, Eames takes a more laid back approach to the mind-heist game.  But he's not comic relief and he's not around to comment on absurd circumstances.  Like everyone in the cast, he's there to help the team achieve their goal (although the script functions in such a way that you could see each character as a representation of a specific idea).

The only actor who's a little shaky is Ken Watanabe who plays Saito, the team's employer.  His performance is great.  He pulls off the impressive feat of being threatening without being menacing.  The only problem is that Watanabe's Japanese accent is so thick that it's sometimes difficult to make out what he's saying.  In a movie where the dialogue is as delicately crafted as the rest of the film, it's unfortunate to lose a few lines due to something as simple as pronunciation.  And it's only noticeable because everything in Inception is so finely crafted.

The physical scope of this movie is astounding.  Worlds fall on top of each other, a freight train can burst onto a city street, hotels can lose all gravity, and everything that we know is impossible appears completely natural.  It's not enough to say that the cinematography is gorgeous, or that the sound design is sensational, or that this is one of composer Hans Zimmer's all-time best scores.  There aren't "supporting" elements in Inception .  Just as the film layers its narrative structure and thematic subtext, so it does with its technical elements.  You will notice the cinematography and the art direction and the sounds and the score.  It's like hearing beautiful solos mixed together in a glorious anthem.

"Dreams feel real while we're in them.  It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange."

As you've probably guessed, when I said at the beginning of this review that Inception was the first movie in over a decade to mix breathtaking action with thoughtful subtext, I was referring to 1999's The Matrix .  The comparisons are inevitable.  Both movies deal with the nature of reality combined with pulse-pounding set pieces that will be included in any action-scene highlight reel.  But The Matrix is a freshman level course compared to the doctorate held by Inception , and it has nothing to do with how far special effects have come in ten years.  It's about taking multiple genres, settings, ideas, emotions, and questions and weaving them into a rich tapestry that will have folks talking long after the credits roll.  But then you throw in those advanced special effects and you have a summer blockbuster that will blow your mind.

You've never seen anything like Inception , and you'll want to see it again and again.

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Directed by Christopher Nolan

Your mind is the scene of the crime.

Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.

Leonardo DiCaprio Joseph Gordon-Levitt Ken Watanabe Tom Hardy Elliot Page Dileep Rao Cillian Murphy Tom Berenger Marion Cotillard Pete Postlethwaite Michael Caine Lukas Haas Talulah Riley Tohoru Masamune Taylor Geare Claire Geare Johnathan Geare Yuji Okumoto Earl Cameron Ryan Hayward Miranda Nolan Russ Fega Tim Kelleher Coralie Dedykere Silvie Laguna Virgile Bramly Nicolas Clerc Jean-Michel Dagory Marc Raducci Show All… Tai-Li Lee Magnus Nolan Helena Cullinan Mark Fleischmann Shelley Lang Adam Cole Jack Murray Kraig Thornber Angela Nathenson Natasha Beaumont Carl Gilliard Jill Maddrell Alex Lombard Nicole Pulliam Peter Basham Michael Gaston Felix Scott Andrew Pleavin Lisa Reynolds Jason Tendell Jack Gilroy Shannon Welles Daniel Girondeaud

Director Director

Christopher Nolan

Producers Producers

Emma Thomas Christopher Nolan Thomas Hayslip Jordan Goldberg Yoshikuni Taki Kanjirô Sakura Gilles Castera Jan Foster Barbara Russo Sam Breckman E.M. Bowen Michael Murray

Writer Writer

Casting casting.

John Papsidera

Editor Editor

Cinematography cinematography.

Wally Pfister

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Nilo Otero Tetsuo Funabashi Ahmed Hatimi Mohammed Hamza Regragui Kevin Frilet Tracey Poirier William D. Robinson Brandon Lambdin Paula Turnbull Yann Mari Faget Richard Graysmark

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Thomas Tull Chris Brigham

Lighting Lighting

Brahim Amarak Christopher Franey Dara Norman Landin Walsh Cory Geryak Gabriel J. Lewis Martin Keough Andy Long Ryan Huston Steve Zvorsky Jean-François Drigeard Jeff Chassler Eugene Grobler

Camera Operators Camera Operators

Greg Baldi Kevin McGill Brooks Robinson Roger McDonald Zakaria Badreddine Graham Hall

Additional Photography Add. Photography

Nick Infield Alan Hall Daniel C. McFadden Yasushi Miyata

Production Design Production Design

Guy Hendrix Dyas

Art Direction Art Direction

Luke Freeborn Dean Wolcott Brad Ricker Chris Kitisakkul Abdellah Baadil Matt Sims Paul Laugier Bill Ives Jason Knox-Johnston Andy Thomson Rachid Quiat Frank Walsh

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Larry Dias Douglas A. Mowat Rich Andrade Antonio Nogueira Lahcen Elyazidi Steven Kajorinne Lisa Chugg Aric Cheng Robert Fechtman Gregory Byrne Paul Healy Pete Washburn Hélène Dubreuil Helen Kozora Thibaut Peschard Jim Barr Brett C. Smith

Special Effects Special Effects

Michael Rifkin Jason Paradis Jason McCameron Kelly Coe Christopher A. Suarez Leo Leoncio Solis Hanin Ouidder Tom Goodman Thomas R. Homsher Alexander Fabre Ryan Amborn Clark Templeman Lynne Corbould Jody Eltham Robert L. Slater Chris Grondin John J. Downey Mark Stanton Eric Vrba Paul Harford Scott R. Fisher Simon Quinn Robert Cole Jim Rollins Nigel Sinclair

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Peter Bebb Paul J. Franklin Andrew Lockley Richard King Slifka Terry Marriott Paul Boyd David Sanger Sourajit Bhattacharya Matthew Plummer Ian Hunter Robert Spurlock Forest P. Fischer Kim Wiseman Dominic Carus Rob Hodgson John P. Cazin Mahesh Kumar Sotiris Georghiou Alexandre Millet Gurel Mehmet Scott Schneider Erik Tvedt Miodrag Colombo George Plakides Stewart Ash Adam Hammond Joe Thornley Brandon Seifert Roy Goode Mike Chambers Scott Beverly Shannon Blake Gans Nicola Hoyle Paul Brannan

Stunts Stunts

Diana R. Lupo Tom Struthers Chris Webb Doug Chapman Terry Leonard Melissa R. Stubbs Eliza Coleman Marie Fink Jodi Stecyk Duffy Gaver Allison Caetano Stephen Izzi Ruth Jenkins Logan Holladay Dave Hospes Jason Glass Daniel Girondeaud Adam Hart Noureddine Hajoujou Terra Grant Steve Griffin Duane Dickinson Marny Eng Mark Fichera Garvin Cross Wade Eastwood Shane Brewer Mike Ching Richard Bucher Richard Burden Dean Bailey Guy Bews Andy Bradshaw Danny Le Boyer Jacob Dewitt Tony Lazzara Maurice Lee Tracey Ruggiero Andy Pilgrim John Stoneham Jr. Philip Tan Paul Sklar Mens-Sana Tamakloe Chris Webb Chrissy Weathersby Ball Harry Wowchuk Jim Wilkey Gunter Simon Brandon Sebek Scotty Richards John Street Rex Reddick Mark Rayner Simon Rhee Audrey Ottaviano Alexandre Ottoveggio Michael Li James Lew Lin Oeding David McKeown Monia Moula Gérard Lesage Philippe Losson Jess King Luke Kearney Jon Kralt Gary Hoptrough Roel Failma Brent Connolly Chad Cosgrave Marvin Campbell Tom Cohan Tarik Belmekki Mark Chavarria Yannick Ben

Composer Composer

Hans Zimmer

Sound Sound

Gary Rizzo Lora Hirschberg Ed Novick Richard King John Roesch Alyson Dee Moore Bruce Tanis Michael W. Mitchell Steve Nelson Karym Ronda Paul Berolzheimer Bryan O. Watkins Nourdine Zaoui

Costume Design Costume Design

Jeffrey Kurland

Makeup Makeup

Aya Yabuuchi Sonia Akouz Jay Wejebe Maggie Elliott Sian Grigg Luisa Abel

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Janice Alexander Fulvio Pozzobon Sharon O'Brien Sasha McLaughlin Terry Baliel Kathryn Blondell Estelle Tolstoukine Darlene Forrester

Legendary Pictures Syncopy Warner Bros. Pictures

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

English French Japanese Swahili

Releases by Date

08 jul 2010, 13 jul 2010, 26 jul 2010, theatrical limited, 17 jul 2010, 27 aug 2020, 15 jul 2010, 16 jul 2010, 21 jul 2010, 22 jul 2010, 23 jul 2010, 29 jul 2010, 30 jul 2010, 05 aug 2010, 06 aug 2010, 10 aug 2010, 12 aug 2010, 24 aug 2010, 01 sep 2010, 11 sep 2010, 24 sep 2010, 29 jan 2020, 30 jul 2020, 12 aug 2020, 13 aug 2020, 14 aug 2020, 21 aug 2020, 28 aug 2020, 03 sep 2020, 10 dec 2022, 03 dec 2010, 07 dec 2010, 08 dec 2010, 09 dec 2010, 15 aug 2012, 19 dec 2017, 22 dec 2017, 04 mar 2013, releases by country.

• Premiere Buenos Aires
• Theatrical +13
• Theatrical M
• Theatrical 12

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Bosnia and herzegovina.

• Theatrical 14
• Physical 14
• Theatrical 14A
• Theatrical Re-release
• Theatrical 12+
• Theatrical 15
• Theatrical TP
• Physical 12
• Theatrical Κ-15
• Theatrical IIB
• Theatrical 16
• Physical 16 DVD, Blu-ray
• Theatrical 16 10th Anniversary
• Theatrical UA
• Theatrical 12A
• Theatrical הותר לכל
• Theatrical T
• Theatrical limited G
• Theatrical G
• Theatrical N-13
• Theatrical N-13 Re-release
• Theatrical P13
• Theatrical B
• Theatrical limited B Re-release

Netherlands

• Physical 12 DVD
• Physical 12 Blu ray
• TV 12 SBS 6

New Zealand

Philippines.

• Theatrical M/12

Russian Federation

• Physical 12+ DVD, Blu-ray
• Theatrical 12+ Re-release
• Theatrical PG
• Theatrical PG Re-release

South Africa

• Theatrical 13

South Korea

• Theatrical 12 Re-release
• Physical 11 DVD & Blu-ray
• Physical 11 4K UltraHD

Switzerland

Syrian arab republic.

• Theatrical 保護級
• Theatrical 保護級 10周年紀念版
• Theatrical 13+
• Premiere 12A London
• Premiere PG-13 Hollywood, California
• Theatrical PG-13
• Physical PG-13 DVD, Blu-ray
• Physical PG-13 4K UHD

United Arab Emirates

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Popular reviews

Review by ksenija ★★★★½ 27

christopher nolan spent years writing this movie's complex plot and really named the main character dom cobb

Review by kirst ★★★★ 23

fellas, is it gay to go inside ur bros dreams?

Review by David Chen ★★★★★ 14

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

"The most important emotional thing about the top spinning at the end is that Cobb is not looking at it. He doesn't care." -Christopher Nolan, Wired interview, December 8, 2010.

Review by Patrick Willems ★★★★½ 23

Dom Cobb seems like he's never told a joke in his life and has zero friends

Review by gal pacino 58

finally watched inception the way christopher nolan intended for it to be seen: only the first 10 minutes and on the big screen in fortnite 😌

Review by cathy ★★★★★ 2

cillian murphy: no dad i'm giving up on YOUR dream!

Review by dani✨ ★★★★★ 15

arthur and eames: interact  me: Gay

Review by ciara ★★★★★ 4

hans zimmer: BWAAAAHHHH BWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

me: I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!!

Review by andrea🌹 ★★★★½ 5

ilysm (i love you scillian murphy)

Review by shannon ★★★★½ 7

how is joseph gordon-levitt? is he okay? where is he? is he being taken care of? is he safe? will he ever work again? what is he doing? is his career over? oh how I wish my husband would return from war

Review by Travis Lytle ★★★★★ 62

"Inception," at its most basic, is two things. It is a heist film dressed in science fiction conventions; and it is a study of a man trying to free himself from a near-suffocating past. "Inception," at its more complex, is a cerebral pop-masterpiece. It is an enthralling combination of thought-provoking, layered story-telling and sumptuous aesthetics enhanced by near-flawless editing, sound design, effects, and musical score. Driven by a pitch-perfect cast and the confident directorial hand of Christopher Nolan, "Inception" is a brilliant and unrivaled piece of filmmaking.

Review by Jay ★★★★ 2

living in your head rent free

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, chaz's journal, great movies, contributors, we have to go deeper: the 10th anniversary of inception.

“She became obsessed with the idea that our world wasn’t real, that she had to wake up to get back to reality.”

We’ve all felt a bit of displacement in 2020, the sense that the world around us isn’t real, that we’re in a dream from which we need to wake up. The timing of a newly-printed 70MM run of Christopher Nolan ’s “ Inception ” at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago is due to the film’s tenth anniversary and as a prelude to the release of the acclaimed director’s “Tenet,” but the film carries a different energy in our dreamlike state of Summer 2020. Everything does, really. However, watching “Inception” a decade after its release, one is struck by how remarkably timeless the film feels. It could easily come out today and make just as much money, maybe even more, which is not something that can often be said ten years after the release of a blockbuster, especially one as effects heavy as this one. What is it about “Inception” that makes it feel so current?

First, a confession: I turned down a chance to see the new print. I couldn’t do it. While I’m not going to judge someone who is ready to run back into movie theaters as the pandemic continues to thrive, I’m just not there. After much discussion with family, it actually came down to a simple argument. While my logical brain knows the chance that anything could happen is statistically insignificant—Music Box is doing an amazing amount to alleviate risk, including configuring their ventilation so it doesn’t recycle air and only pushes in fresh from outside—my emotional brain would have been too distracted to concentrate, not only during the screening but for days after, when every cough and sniffle would incite panic. I feel like I’ll be ready soon (although only for Music Box's extreme precautions). I wasn’t yet.

And there’s a certain irony in not being physically or emotionally ready for “Inception” specifically. After all, it’s about a man, Leonardo DiCaprio ’s Cobb, who is running from reality, digging deeper into levels beyond normal existence in an effort to flee his own grief, trauma, and blame. Nolan brilliantly spaces out revelations about Cobb’s purpose in his existential heist film. On one level, it’s a story about corporate intrigue, but that’s really a cover for the emotional arc of Cobb, who is dealing with his perceived failure to protect his wife, and belief that his action led to her suicide. Cobb is somehow both fleeing reality and trying to fix it at the same time. Who can’t relate to a sense of immobilized anxiety in 2020, in which we feel like we should be doing something but are stuck in our own forced routine? Or the idea that we have to push through something that feels like a bad dream to come out the other side?

Leaving aside my apprehension about seeing the film in theaters, a repeat viewing of “Inception” at home clarifies how many levels Nolan is working at the same time, much like the layered dream state of the narrative. On one level, it’s a whiz-bang action movie complete with set pieces that feel inspired by 007, especially in the final act. It’s an undeniably complex film narratively, even if that has been overblown—one that always feels like it’s a step ahead in terms of unpacking exactly what is happening—and yet it’s also a remarkably easy film to just let unfold, experiencing it beat by beat instead of trying to piece it altogether, much like, well, a dream. We don’t ask ourselves what dreams mean while we’re experiencing them—we simply ride them out. "Inception" works best when you're not trying to parse exactly what's happening and when, and you allow the emotion and action to carry the experience.

The reason it’s easy to get carried away by “Inception” is simple: it’s one of the most propulsive major blockbusters in history. It never stops. The stunning trick of “Inception” is how Nolan made such a talky film that never drags. It’s constantly explaining what it is and what it’s doing in a way that should grind it to a halt—over-exposition is the death of the action blockbuster—and yet Nolan balances that with such robust, passionate filmmaking. Whether it’s Wally Pfister ’s rich cinematography, one of Hans Zimmer ’s best scores, or Lee Smith's sharp-but-never-hyperactive editing, there’s confidence in every frame.

It’s also a film that, for better or worse, served as a tentpole for our puzzle box culture, one that loves to analyze and interpret art to extremes never imagined before the internet (go Google "Inception Ending Interpretations" and come back in about 12 hours). By the time he made “Inception,” Nolan had already fed this beast with films like “ Memento ” and “ The Prestige ,” but this takes it to another level by also serving as a commentary on puzzle box creation. “Inception” can very easily be read as a commentary on filmmaking. As Cobb and Ariadne ( Ellen Page ) work through the concept of dream construction, it echoes the way Nolan views his art, embedding each layer of the film with different ideas, maybe even working his own way into the viewer’s imagination. The dreamer, or viewer, can't know they're in a dream, much like the illusion of the film experience is best left unbroken. 

As Roger said, “The film's hero tests a young architect by challenging her to create a maze, and Nolan tests us with his own dazzling maze. We have to trust him that he can lead us through, because much of the time we're lost and disoriented.” Nolan loves to play with perception, and so a film about how what one sees and feels may be a construction is arguably the most perfect fit of creator and creation in his career to date.

One thing that really struck me watching “Inception” in 2020 was how certain I am that the movie would land with the same impact as it did ten years ago. This is rarely the case. CGI starts to look dated, a celebrity falls from grace, ideas grow stale—none of that happened to “Inception.” Part of it is how much Nolan has stayed current as a filmmaker with follow-ups like “ Interstellar ” and “ Dunkirk .” A blockbuster can often feel dated when it’s the last good thing that anyone involved made, but DiCaprio and Nolan are arguably more popular a decade later. It’s still breathtaking that a movie this complex made over $800 million worldwide and was nominated for Best Picture, but I am certain that both of those things would happen again if it was released in 2020. Well, maybe not in Summer 2020, but you get the idea.

So this is not a typical anniversary. Most of the time, these occasions feel like an opportunity for critical hindsight. They often come with words like “underrated” or, lately, “problematic.” What did people miss then? How does it play differently now? “Inception” defies this analysis, at least on its tenth anniversary. It’s still working its way through our imagination, something that feels even more important than it did when the film came out. Part of its brilliance is how much we’re all still kind of staring at that spinning top, waiting for it to fall.

For more information about the Music Box Theatre's special 70mm presentation of "Inception,"  click here

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Director Christopher Nolan continues his streak of excellence with the superb, if a little too cerebral Inception . Leonardo Dicaprio stars as Cobb, a thief that extracts secrets from the dreams of unsuspecting targets in a high stakes world of corporate espionage. Cobb's partner, and one of the primary reasons this film works, is the deadpan Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). They fail during an 'extraction' of a powerful Japanese business man, Saito (Ken Watanabe). But instead of killing them, Saito offers them the chance to redeem themselves and clear their names. He wants to place an idea - inception, in the mind of his dying rival's son (Cillian Murphy). Cobb puts together an elite team (Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao) for the job, but needs a new mind to be the 'architect' - a brilliant thinker capable of constructing the dream state for the crime. Insert Ellen Page as Ariadne, a creative visionary who discovers Cobb's fatal flaw. He's haunted by memories of his wife (Marion Cotillard), who manifests as the antagonist in the very dangerous dream state.

To say this film is riveting is an understatement. At two hours and thirty minutes, it moves like a breeze. This is an incredible achievement when considering how complex the plot is. There wasn't a second where I was confused or unsure of what was happening. Nolan's deft script and clever editing keeps what could be a jumble of story elements neatly in line. He smartly introduces several physical objects that allow the viewer and characters to differentiate between reality and the dream state. This provides an anchor-like thread throughout the myriad of plotlines. I firmly believe that for this movie to succeed, the writer of the script would have to direct as well to preserve the sanity of vision. Nolan proves himself as extraordinary in both categories.

Willing suspension of disbelief is key to enjoying Inception . Nolan takes a page from James Cameron's Avatar and makes no attempt whatsoever to explain the science behind the technology. The device and chemicals that bring the characters into the dreams are a true macguffin. It is absolutely key, but just accepted as fact like a gun is a weapon. The convoluted nature of the story would have been further diluted by focussing on this device, so Nolan's genius as a storyteller grows with his understanding of how important it was to leave out the machine entirely.

There may be comparisons to the Matrix or David Cronenberg's Existenz, but apart from the avatar concept; Inception is a philosphically superior film on every level. Without revealing spoilers, Nolan is making a humanistic point. The concepts of love, loss, friendship and perception of reality are deeply explored. Inception is not a hack attempt to pursue psycho-babble with bad-ass special effects.

My primary concern walking into this film was how the visual effects would be used to drive the plot. This is not a Matrix-esque bullet time retread. The effects are dazzling, really well done. The use of slow motion, something I think most directors totally misuse, is tremendously executed. The various dream states exponentially slow down time, so events affect how the characters move. I would not be surpised to see Inception 's editor, Lee Smith, holding an Oscar next year. This is easily one of the best edited films I have ever seen.

While Leonardo Dicaprio has his name above the banners, and to be fair he does okay, the ensemble cast steal this movie. Ellen Page, who shot to fame in Juno, eclipses that roll with a star-making performance as Ariadne. She's damn good. Along with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, and Tom Hardy, they are the lynchpin of Inception . I'm sure Nolan's direction, which has garnered highly nuanced performances from his previous ensemble actors, should be credited for their success.

Christopher Nolan deserves a torrent of effusive praise for Inception . He deliver's a smart, compelling, visual masterpiece that is exceedingly rare from big-budget Hollywood. He's capitalized on his Batman series by going out and making the kind of film he, I believe, would want to see. I don't think there's a chance in hell this film would have been made otherwise. It is a master stroke from a director in his prime. Inception is leagues above any live action film released in 2010. A must see in Imax.

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Inception Parent Guide

This film brings an interesting sophistication to the dream theme once the storyline begins to take shape, slowly revealing the motivations and subconscious fears of these compelling characters..

In this sci-fi thriller Leonardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a man skilled in the illegal and unethical practice of entering a person's dreams and stealing secrets from his or her subconscious. But when he is asked to commit "Inception" (the act of planting an idea into a sleeper's mind), the stakes become even higher for both the victim and the thief.

Release date July 16, 2010

Run Time: 146 minutes

Official Movie Site

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by keith hawkes.

Dreams can reveal a great deal about what we’re thinking - apparently, including corporate secrets. Using experimental technology and heavy sedatives, talented “extractors” can break in to dreams and find that information. Dominick Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are some of the best in the business. But on a routine operation on Japanese business magnate, Saito (Ken Watanabe), Dom and Arthur find themselves exposed as Saito realizes that he is dreaming, and quickly have to go on the run. Saito catches up, and makes them an offer: to engage in a dangerous operation against corporate rival Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), or face death. Realizing that their options are poor, Dom and Arthur take the job. But this isn’t another extraction: Saito wants them to convince Fischer to break up his business empire - a technique called “inception”. Although Arthur believes it to be impossible, Dom has experience that tells him otherwise…

That said, Inception isn’t going to work for everyone. The special effects are hugely impressive, but may cause motion sickness for some viewers – definitely not the kind of movie I’d watch on a plane. The plot is also a likely cause for motion sickness (or at least disorientation), as it twists and turns around on itself throughout. This movie demands a certain amount of focus, without which the story quickly becomes fairly confusing. It’s worth the patience, though, with thought-provoking moments about morality and personal motivations.

As far as content concerns go, this film could have done a lot worse. The largest issue by a wide margin is violence, with frequent fistfights and shootouts, and more than a few large explosions. Thankfully, none of these are terribly graphic. For an action film, there is also remarkably little profanity, with almost every instance being either mild cursing or terms of deity. Combined with a complete absence of sexual content, this is a good option for teens and young adults, although too intense and confusing for younger viewers.

Between the thrilling action, the psychological curiosity, and the moral uncertainty, Inception has a little something for everyone – unless you get carsick easily. Even if thrillers aren’t necessarily your favourites, this film offers so much to think about and such brilliant visuals that it’s worth watching almost on that basis alone. And if that wasn’t enough to get you interested, it has Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, and Marion Cotillard. It’s hard to argue with a cast that good.

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Keith hawkes, inception rating & content info.

Why is Inception rated PG-13? Inception is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sequences of violence and action throughout.

Violence: Explosions occur repeatedly on the street and in buildings, injuring or killing characters. A riot breaks out. Characters are threatened with weapons. Guns are frequently used and a man takes a bullet in his leg. Characters are also shot, crushed by falling objects or between cars, beaten, stabbed, chased, and nearly caught in an avalanche. A man is accused of murder. A character commits suicide and another threatens to shoot himself. Numerous dead bodies are shown. A vehicle breaks through the safety barrier on a bridge and plunges into the water below. Characters participate in lying, theft and gambling.

Sexual Content: A married couple kisses and embraces.

Language: The script includes over two-dozen profanities and terms of Deity.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Characters use a strong sedative to induce a state of deep sleep. Social drinking is shown at home and in a bar.

Page last updated May 22, 2020

Inception Parents' Guide

How does Dom justify his reasons for exposing his team to so much danger in order to clear his own name? Would his motivations been less acceptable if the movie ended differently than it does? What are other situations in which many lives are risked for the sake of one?

If you were able, would you want to share a dream with someone else? What would be the benefits? What things might you discover about the other person?

Dom believes that an idea is a powerful, resilient parasite. What are some ideas that have changed the world?

The most recent home video release of Inception movie is December 7, 2010. Here are some details…

Inception releases on DVD and Blu-ray on December 7, 2010.

Inception on DVD includes:

Four Focus Points:

- The Inception of Inception: Christopher Nolan shapes his unusual concepts for Inception

- The Japanese Castle: The Dream Is Collapsing: Creating and destroying the castle set

- Constructing Paradoxical Architecture: Designing the staircase to nowhere

- The Freight Train: Constructing the street-faring freight train

Inception (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) offers:

- Extraction Mode: In-movie experience with over 90 minutes of bonus content featuring director Christopher Nolan and Leonardo DiCaprio

- Dreams: Cinema of the Subconscious: Taking some of the most fascinating and cutting-edge dream research to-date on lucid dreaming, top scientists make the case that the dream world is not an altered state of consciousness, but a fully functional parallel reality

- Inception: The Cobol Job: Now in full animation and motion, check out this comic prologue to see how Cobb, Arthur, and Nash came to be enlisted by Cobol Engineering and perform an extraction on Saito

- Conceptual art gallery

- Promotional art archive

- Inception trailers

- Inception TV spots

- Via BD-Live: Project Somnacin—Confidential Files: Get access to the highly secure files that reveal the inception of the dream-share technology

Related home video titles:

Inception actors Ken Watababe, Michael Caine and Cillian Murphy starred under Christopher Nolan’s direction in the Batman Begins movie. Nolan, Caine and Murphy went on to work together in The Dark Knight . Murphy also plays an assassin who kidnaps a hotel manager in midflight in the thriller Red Eye .

IMDb Charts

Imdb top 250 movies.

1. The Shawshank Redemption

2. The Godfather

3. The Dark Knight

4. The Godfather Part II

5. 12 Angry Men

6. Schindler's List

7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

8. Pulp Fiction

9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

10. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

11. Forrest Gump

12. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

13. Fight Club

14. Inception

15. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

16. The Matrix

17. Goodfellas

18. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

20. Interstellar

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24. Saving Private Ryan

25. City of God

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