In the Christopher Nolan universe, where endings can be a tricky riddle to solve, Inception stands out as the mind-bender that got everyone talking. The wobble of the totem in its final moments left legions of fans on the edge of their seats, craving the ultimate truth. Thus, amidst a sea of theories, the bossman himself decided to finally spill the beans. In an interview with Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he revealed the hidden meaning behind the film’s unforgettable ending.
Christopher Nolan Finally Explains the Ending of Inception!
Inception is one of Christopher Nolan‘s best works, featuring an interesting storyline and twists so good that the 2-hour and 28-minute movie held the audience’s attention throughout. However, things reached a boiling point when the last scene unfolded, leaving everything elusive.
The director revealed that he witnessed groans of frustration and anger from the audience when he sneaked in to observe their reaction. Thus, in a podcast interview with Happy Sad Confused, he finally decided to reveal the true meaning behind it, and fans might not find it as interesting as the movie’s origin story. Interestingly, even after over a decade, he is still being hounded by questions about it.
He revealed,
“I went through a phase where I was asked that a lot, I think it was [producer] Emma Thomas who pointed out the correct answer, which is Leo’s character…the point of the shot is the character doesn’t care at that point. It’s not a question I comfortably answer.”
Speaking about the ending in a Wired interview, the director stated,
“There is a nihilistic view of that ending, right? But also, he’s moved on and is with his kids,–The ambiguity is not an emotional ambiguity. It’s an intellectual one for the audience.”
This means that whether Cobb’s top spins or falls hold no significance over the emotional aspect of the situation. For Nolan, the heart of the story lies in Cobb reuniting with his kids. The character’s emotional arc is complete by the end of it no matter what, making the top’s fate pretty insignificant to him.
Christopher Nolan Sneaked into Theaters to Witness Audience Reactions to Inception’s Ending!
Christopher Nolan also revealed that one of the most cherished moments in his career was watching the live audience reactions by sneaking into theaters while Inception played. In an interview with Insider, Nolan detailed his experience,
“In terms of sitting with a crowd and experiencing the end of the film, ‘Inception’ was a very unique type of ending–If I would sneak into the back of the theater when it was playing, and we would get to the end, there would be a tremendous sort of gasp, groans, frustrations — it was an incredible mixture and I would feel very much like I need to get out of here before anybody notices I’m there. So that was a pretty remarkable ending to sit through with audiences over the years,”
Despite the now-revealed, relatively straightforward ending, fans, determined to solve the mystery, burnt their brains out with various theories. Nolan thus appreciates the intense commitment to uncovering the truth. Now that the final piece of the puzzle has been found, everyone can be at peace.
Inception is available on Apple TV for rent.
