Inception Film Theory | Mal's Totem

[@FILMCRUX]

What do you think of this theory?

[@TeaQualizer]

I quite like this theory but it relies on being very literal about some things. Caine saying "come back to reality" is totally something that would make sense for him to say to an awake Cobb who still dabbles dangerously in dreamsharing.For me there's two things to consider with the totem. First is that it's never actually confirmed that Cobb is using it as a totem. Second is that the top as a totem doesn't function in the way Arthur describes to Ariadne. "That way you can know for sure that you haven't been pulled into someone else's dream". A totem that confirms you're awake is far more useful than a totem that confirms you're asleep. If the top was an effective totem Cobb and Mal wouldn't have ended up in that mess in the first place.I think at the end Cobb truly believes he's arrived home with his kids in reality. He doesn't wait to see whether or not the top falls because he's already convinced that he's awake. If you look through the movie there are other potential details that cobb might have used to confirm he's awake.Edit: Also consider that if he had other means to confirm reality he likely wouldn't have told Ariadne what they are.

[@jackjohnston9005]

What's your thoughts on Cob and his wedding ring, I always thought that was his own totem as the spinning disc was Mal's

[@FILMCRUX]

@@jackjohnston9005 I think that the wedding ring can't be Cobb's totem because if you never see it while he's awake, he can't use it to test his reality. It's just a dream object, the same way that he only see's Mal in a dream. And if the wedding ring is his totem, there's no need to have the spinning top, which Cobb makes a tremendous effort to keep with him throughout the film.

[@a_chosenGeneration]

You just gave me goosebumps! This is the best theory yet

[@FILMCRUX]

@@a_chosenGeneration Thank you so much!

[@chillmere4799]

I was just thinking this as I watched Inception for the 17,000th time. Glad someone else thought of this too.

[@FILMCRUX]

Awesome! Yeah, you can really watch Inception a million times and catch something new each time you watch it.

[@VulKus117]

This is one of a few films I hold as a key part of myself, a true 10/10 to me. I really appreciate your take, always enjoy people adding more to this world.

[@FILMCRUX]

Wow, thank you! I feel exactly the same way. In fact, this is my favorite film of all time. -Lion

[@VulKus117]

FILM CRUX ‘Which film are you writing about now?’ ‘Inception. Now, before you bother telling me it’s impossible -‘ ‘No it’s perfectly possible, just bloody difficult’

[@FILMCRUX]

@@VulKus117 Haha. This is great!

[@th3b0yg]

It's funny - I agree with your conclusions but not with how you got to them. I think you've misunderstood how totems work. As Arthur says, they let you know if you're in someone else's dream. They actually CANNOT tell you if you're in your own dream. This is because of how totems work. A totem is a real world object - something you acquire and keep in the real world. But it has to have a secret property - again, in the real world - that only the owner knows about. This is why a totem let's you know you're in someone else's dream. Because no one else knows the secret of your totem, they cannot dream your totem correctly. So, if you're in their dream you will either 1) not have your totem because they didn't dream it, or 2) have your totem, but it's secret property will be missing because the dreamer didn't know what the secret property was, so they couldn't dream it. It's just like in the opening sequence when Saito recognizes that the carpet in his apartment isn't correct. The dreamer hasn't dreamed it correctly, and so it's a giveaway to Saito that he's in someone else's dream. OK, but I also said that your totem can't tell you if you're in your own dream. That's because you know the secret of your totem, so you CAN dream it correctly and never know you're dreaming. The logic of totems saves you from getting fooled by someone else's dream, but does nothing to protect you from getting lost in your own dream. And we know that Cobb is dreaming because he doesn't recognize that his description of how Mal's totem works doesn't make any sense. Her totem, as he explains it, doesn't have a secret property in the real world. So, if you're in someone else's dream with Mal's totem, checking it proves nothing because the dreamer will just dream it like a normal top. So in this sense Mal's totem, as Cobb describes it, CANNOT work as a totem. The fact that he carries it around and apparently uses it to check whether he's dreaming proves that he IS dreaming, and he's forgotten how totems work because he's lost in the dream.

[@FILMCRUX]

Hey Robert, that's very insightful but I don't think that's quite how it works. If Cobb is in his own dream the entire film, then we can't trust any of the descriptions of how totems work by your own account, because there is no example where it would be explained outside of a dream. So assuming we do trust those descriptions, we must also trust that when Cobb says in the dream world the top just spins and spins, he's referring to all dreams, including your own. This is proven by the fact that down in limbo, Mal's top continuously spins, as we are in all likeliness in her and Cobb's shared dreamspace. That's why she just chooses to lock it away instead. The problem then would be that Cobb is using Mal's totem, which he expressly says he is.

[@th3b0yg]

@@FILMCRUX dude, you need to think that through. Central to the film is Cobb's inability to control the things he brings into the dream. E.g. Mal, the freight train, seeing his kids in the hotel. You need to think through the logic of totems. I know, it was explained too quickly in the film - deliberately. You see, it's not until you wake up that you notice that something was strange. Mal's totem doesn't work as a totem, and can't work as a totem. Think - does any other totem in the movie work by having magical properties in the dream while being ordinary in the real world? Think - if you're in someone else's dream and they dream the top as being normal, how would you know you were in a dream? Think - can you reliably dream the top to never topple? If you can't control Mal in your dream, why do you think you could control how you dream the top?

[@FILMCRUX]

​@@th3b0yg That's a very good point, and represents an alternate theory that does work, but it has to be based solely off of an assumption that you're making which isn't firmly expressed in the film; the assumption that Mal's totem can't work as a totem. If it can't work, it makes no sense why Mal would have chosen it in the first place. Also, you might be slightly misunderstanding how the totems work. The totems must have a feature that only the user of the totem is aware of, therefore it's impossible for someone else to accurately recreate that totem in a dream. Cobb's totem is not a regular spinning top, it has a hidden feature, feel, texture, weight, or some other dimension that only he is aware of, just like Arthur's loaded die. Of course Cobb never revealed that to the other characters, or us as the audience, but it still exists. It's actually a misconception that the top simply falling over is his only way of determining his reality. It may be the way the top falls, how long it takes to fall, or some other dimension of the top that he's determining his reality with. It makes sense, because if this wasn't the case, why would he just openly tell Ariadne the exact method he uses to determine his reality, which is the one rule of a totem?

[@KushalBarman20]

@@th3b0yg Thanks Now I understood totally about totem

[@MrFunkytaco007]

a fascinating conversation to read... thank you so much

[@wzblackstone]

First off, how do you not have a million followers? Secondly, this is my favorite movie of Nolan's and I've never heard this take before. Splendidly composed and entirely plausible.

[@FILMCRUX]

Thank you so much! This is probably the nicest thing I've ever heard and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Inception is my favorite film of his too so I'm really glad you liked it.

[@daniellevy8935]

If Mal really did wake up instead of die than she could just wake Cobb up herself using a kick, music to let him know he's in a dream, or simply set the timer on the shared-dream machine

[@FILMCRUX]

Unfortunately that's not how it works. Because of time dilation in limbo, Cobb could live another hundred years or longer just in the time it takes Mal to wake up and then wake him up. This is what they explain to Saito when he gets shot when they're down in the first layer of the dream. That if he dies in that layer and goes down to Limbo, even if they exit the dream and wake him up immediately, he could have spent so much time down in Limbo that his mind would be gone and he wouldn't even remember that they ever had an agreement. In fact, that's what nearly happens to him, even with time dilation on Cobb's side. He goes from the third layer of the dream directly down into Limbo to retrieve Saito, and by the time Cobb reaches him, even though only seconds have passed outside the dream in the plane, Saito is a very, very old man. Very likely well over 100, and he only barely remembers Cobb and the agreement because of the totem Cobb uses to refresh his mind, and Saito's total commitment to honor the agreement and remember to the best of his ability. When he finally wakes, mere seconds have passed on the plane since everyone else has woken up, but for Saito, decades or even centuries may have passed.

[@kushalsaiyam9254]

@@FILMCRUX but before killing herself,why didn't mal just simply kills cobb(her husband) if she wanted him to wakeup in the reality,then kills herself after?

[@FILMCRUX]

@@kushalsaiyam9254 A couple reasons. One, she could have failed to kill Cobb, got herself imprisoned or something, or he may have killed her in self defense, thereby preventing her from being able to convince him later, because unlike regularly being in a dream, he was convinced he was in reality. More importantly, why would you do that to your loved one when they're convinced they're in reality, and they've been trapped there for so long? It's the same reason Cobb didn't go to Limbo and just kill Saito (in addition to the fact that he himself forgot why he was there). Like Cobb did for Saito, Mal wanted Cobb to make the choice, and be aware of that choice. Plus, as their quote says, "Because you'll be together."

[@mercilessforever]

This movie is based on the master schuang’s paradox. I went to bed and dreamed i was a butterfly. Now i dont know if im a butterfly dreaming” something to that effect

[@FILMCRUX]

Never heard of that but that sounds very cool. Gotta look into it.

[@Rosskles]

Similar to Descartes thoughts on reality.

[@masihnajafi5055]

Let me make it even more complicated. 1.Mal was in the other apartment's balcony when she threw herself down. How could she be there?did she fly?It's somewhere else.It's not part of the hotel. 2.the Mombasa scenes are not normal and the chasing scenes reminds me of maze.Which they said that they use maze to design cities of limbo

[@FILMCRUX]

Yeah, I've always found this very interesting. It could be that Mal went to a window opposite of the hotel room after staging the struggle so that Cobb had no way of stopping her, but it also seemed very much like it could be dream architecture. I think once again Nolan did this intentionally. The Mombasa scene as well is very much like a maze. I never realized this until you pointed it out. I did notice that Cobb's projection of Mal pointed it out at the end of the film. "Chased around the globe by anonymous corporations and police forces, the way the projections persecute the dreamer?"

[@masihnajafi5055]

@@FILMCRUX wow It's like I found the one I was looking for. To talk about movies😍😍

[@masihnajafi5055]

@@FILMCRUX look if you see that scene again, Cobb is telling Mal to get back in but the way he points with his hands is like she can come back straight to there .like there's no distance and air while there is. Remember what Nolan was gonna say to us in first Ariadne's limbo. In that scene Cobb said when we are dreaming we don't realize things are strange. only when we wake up we find out some of things were strange. Exactly like this scene. everything about this scene is strange. but we didn't notice that while watching the movie.

[@FILMCRUX]

@@masihnajafi5055 That is so cool! Never thought of that before but I did see someone mention somewhere about how Cobb waved Mal back inside towards himself. That's a brilliant idea.

[@lavinder11]

What? Hotels have separate wings. They're not all just one block.

[@a_chosenGeneration]

My favorite theory yet.

[@FILMCRUX]

Wow, thank you!

[@fayezfawzi3255]

Just watched and personally It seemed clear to me that he is dreaming the whole movie. due to something else though: The part with his wife originally. he says they "went too deep into the dream" and lived for 50 years in the dream and could have lived longer. we know that time in a dream compared to real life only increases when you jump into a lower level. connect the two together. He went multiple levels deeper with Mal. after spending 50 years, he thought killing themselves would wake them up based on the rule of a level 1 dream. He didn't yet know that in a multi level dream killing only leads to moving to another dream area (called the limbo here, although I suspect the limbo in this movie is simply another dream level, as we are never shown anything special about it compared to the other dream levels). So he did the 1 suicide that led to the other dream area/limbo and has been living there ever since, including all the movie. Mal was right, although I doubt that even the 2nd jump led her to reality. However, I must also say the point Robert Johnson made was great too.

[@FILMCRUX]

Yeah, Cobb can easily have been dreaming for the entire film. As for Robert Johnson's take on the totems, some knowledge on lucid dreaming and reality checks is helpful to understand. The totems are just reality checks for lucid dreaming. When practicing lucid dreaming in real life, one of the techniques is to look at a sign, turn away from it, and look back. If you're in a dream, the wording on the sign will have changed. That is an obvious way to know that you're dreaming which will allow the dreamer to become lucid. The totem works in the same way. Beyond that, the spinning top has an additional feature that no one but Mal (and possibly Cobb) knew about, beyond the fact that the totem will spin endlessly in the dream. It's just never shared with you, in the same way that the special feature is not shared with anyone about any of the character's totems. You don't know what makes Arthur's totem special for example, or Ariadne's, or Eames'... we can only infer. This makes sense because why would Cobb so readily share the secret feature of his totem. Nolan inserted this brilliantly because he also has Arthur explains to Ariadne that Cobb spends a lot of time doing things he tells people never to do, so it's believable that he would share the secret feature, but also believable that he wouldn't, since that's the one rule of a totem. It's quite genius actually.

[@fayezfawzi3255]

@@FILMCRUX well, what do you think about the point I provided? Just curious, because I didn't see it pointed out in the various discussions I read.

[@FILMCRUX]

@@fayezfawzi3255 Yeah, killing yourself may only send you into a deeper dream state if you're using a sedative as Cobb and Mal were when they first reached Limbo. It's explained though that there's a way to bring people back from Limbo, which is what Cobb does for Saito at the end of the film (if he's not actually dreaming the whole time). If this is the case, killing yourself may only move you up one layer of the dream, or it may wake you up entirely if you die in Limbo. It's impossible to know for sure because whether it does or not is based entirely off of whether Cobb is dreaming the entire film or not, which there's no way to know.

[@hauntedmedic373]

Wait... doesn't that mean all the characters in the move besides Cobb aren't real?

[@dadTan-v7w]

he is dreaming the whole entire movie, remember when the walls close in on him in the supposed real world that was also a signal he was dreaming@@FILMCRUX

[@Kevinmadefilms]

First time I've heard this theory, I love it! Too bad Nolan doesn't do sequels on his original ideas, but it would make for a really good fan-film spinoff

[@FILMCRUX]

Thanks so much Kevin! Is Inception your favorite Nolan film?

[@tedeye9542]

I had this same thought after watching inception for the third time. I got the clue from the scene Mal took a leap by jumping from the story building

[@FILMCRUX]

Yeah, it's a really interesting idea because she's convinced, and essentially all we have to go off of is that Cobb is convinced otherwise. If she can trust her totem and Cobb can't because it would be unreliable for him, it would stand to reason that Mal could be right.

[@PreciseCuts]

this is new aspect of movie which i never think of, thank you.

[@FILMCRUX]

No problem! Glad to show a new angle of the film. As you can see, it's my favorite film of all time. Haha.

[@PreciseCuts]

@@FILMCRUX my all time favorite film also....

[@FILMCRUX]

@@PreciseCuts You obviously have amazing taste. Haha.

[@joesfarm8958]

bruh thats brillant. he never has his own totem, but to argue, they shared a part of reality together and first shared going that deep together. . i think they totem she locked away was both of theirs. so whose to say shes still not dreaming and leo is just trying to wake her up. i think its both theirs and she locked it to keep him trap in the world she wanted. thus why everyone else has diff totems. theres more too

[@FILMCRUX]

Thank you! That's definitely possible. That's why this film is so brilliant. I think Nolan intentionally leaves openings for the viewer to debate and investigate. A true masterpiece.

[@Smoothie72]

Those 3 minutes pass so fast.

[@FILMCRUX]

Wow, thank you Philippe. That's so nice of you to say.

[@naminabantu]

now this just changes the way i watch this film going forward.

[@FILMCRUX]

That’s great to hear! So glad you liked it, and it’s always a great time to rewatch Inception.

[@AzorAhai.]

This is exactly what I thought about. Wonder, we just saw a Dream. Not even a Glimpse of Reality in the entire Film. And even the totem has to touched by Cobb in reality, which he doesn't (he does it in limbo). So Yes, I do agree with you.

[@FILMCRUX]

Exactly! It's entirely possible Cobb was dreaming during the whole film, which plays in nicely with Mal explaining to him that he could be dreaming this whole time at the end of the film when they're down in limbo. "Getting chased by anonymous corporations..." etc. Christopher Nolan is just brilliant.

[@sctmcg]

The only reason this doesn’t work, as far as I can tell, is that it would seem obvious that Mal and family would medically wake Dom up once Mal returned to reality. They wouldn’t just tuck him up in bed and move on with their lives.

[@FILMCRUX]

No, because of the extreme time dilation. Decades or even centuries could pass for Cobb before Mal could wake up and give him a kick, because he was under a very heavy sedative and many, many layers deep as he explained. By the time Mal could have woken Cobb, his mind may have long been lost, the same way Cobb explained to the team what would happen to Saito.

[@bassgasmask]

You done it again Christopher Nolan, got people dissecting you movies even further.

[@FILMCRUX]

Yeah, definitely. He's certainly a genius, and Inception is his magnum opus.

[@ernestnovakhov]

Holy shit you're a genius

[@FILMCRUX]

Thank you!

[@haies09]

In Inception Leo has a wife roughly the same age as him, this proving that everything was a dream 😊

[@Talia.777]

🤣🤣🤣😁👍

[@carllewis3612]

This movie is a fucking masterpiece

[@FILMCRUX]

You speak the truth my friend.

[@kabirsehdev5357]

You’re right but about the father in law part, michael caine said all his scenes are when dom or anyone else isnt dreaming. They are all reality!

[@FILMCRUX]

That's what I think as well. Christopher Nolan just wanted to leave in as many layers of possibility as he could to keep the audience guessing and keep the rewatch value of the film insanely high.

[@kabirsehdev5357]

FILM CRUX the movie is one hell of a paradox :/

[@FILMCRUX]

@@kabirsehdev5357 Haha. True.

[@daniellevy8935]

Something I don't understand: At first limbo is lifeless. No projections, no one. That would mean no children for Mal and Cobb but at the end of the movie we see gaurds in Saito's palace. Did he unconsciously create them ? Didn't it seem wierd to any of them that there were no people in there ?!

[@FILMCRUX]

Saito didn't have to unconsciously create them. He could have intentionally created them. Limbo is just unconstructed dream space, so you can create whatever you want.

[@daniellevy8935]

@@FILMCRUX ok, thanks ! Also, why was Saito's limbo the same as Cobb and Mal's was ?

[@FILMCRUX]

@@daniellevy8935 No problem! That's a very good question. So Limbo, like all shared dreams, is a shared dreamspace. Typically it's unconstructed dreamspace, so if you enter Limbo, it's raw, like a Minecraft world that no one has started building on yet. You can then construct whatever you want. After Cobb left Limbo with Mal originally, their constructions still remain there, albeit they deteriorate over time. When he and Ariadne go back to Limbo to retrieve Saito, the things Cobb created with Mal last time are still there because they are sharing the dream with Cobb. This is the same way they can all see Mal. Saito lives out an entire lifetime in Limbo constructing in the same world as well, adding his own castle, guards, and whatever else he can imagine. It's likely that he even forgets he's dreaming until he's eventually reminded by Cobb with the totem at the end. So everyone sharing the dream shares the same joint Limbo, just like any other layer of a dream, and the subconscious' previous constructions down in Limbo remain, like a shared Minecraft world that any player can edit if they enter.

[@daniellevy8935]

@@FILMCRUX Thanks man !

[@FILMCRUX]

@@daniellevy8935 No problem!

[@haies09]

Wow mind blown. First time I heard this theory

[@FILMCRUX]

Glad you like it! Nolan is obviously a genius for making such a detailed and layered film. This theory is really just scratching the surface.

[@user-zj4rg9kn1c]

my issue, is that i don't believe totems only work for a single person. the problem is if you let someone else get ahold of your totem, they would then be able to replicate that in a dream and fool you into thinking you're in reality. "only i know the weight and balance of this die" that right there is the point of a totem, so that you have something no one else can recreate. it's perfectly fine for cobb to use mals totem because she's dead and is the only other one who has used it. it was bad for him to manipulate it initially.

[@FILMCRUX]

You may not have understood the theory. In the theory, Mal doesn’t actually die, she actually wakes up when she tries to kill herself, so Cobb is actually in a dream the whole time. Because he’s only ever using the totem in a dream, he never knows its actual physical properties. Only Mal does, because she’s the only one who’s ever actually held it.

[@user-zj4rg9kn1c]

@@FILMCRUX so when mal dies, whos the architect and whos populating the dreams? if they were only there together, wouldn't something break when one dies? his father is only in that one reality, so would he be part of keeping cobb trapped there? wouldn't that mean her totem is working like its a dream in the top layer and show cobb to prove they're dreaming? i still take issue with your wording of how the totems work. and now i wonder why, if even with multiple people in limbo, why does it not get filled with anyones projections. its also interesting to think that mal invented totems. only the group is seen using them, and no other dreamonauts really mentions them.

[@FILMCRUX]

@@user-zj4rg9kn1c Well there are two options, but most likely, they are in Cobb’s dream, as the universe matches how Cobb sees himself, like Mal explains at the end of the film when talking about how Cobb is jet-setting around the world, running from anonymous corporations. The dream only collapses if the architect dies, and even then, not from Limbo, so if Cobb is the architect, the dream will have remained intact. Also, the way we explain how the totems work is exactly how they explain them in the film. If you use them in a dream, they may work exactly how you expect them to work, or would like them to work, not exactly how they should work, because in the dreams, they are not bound by the same physics they are bound to in reality. Hope that makes sense. If we missed a question, just clarify and we’ll be happy to answer it.

[@tattoosby5po0n3r3]

Watched it for the first time so take my theory with a pinch of salt...what stands out to me is cobb says he and his wife went deeper and deeper which makes me think theres more than more than 3 levels then if you account if todds still dreaming and hes entering dreams more and more throughout the movie making me think there is no baseline and that hes in an infinite diwnward spiral...i dont know it has me confused amd i need to watch it again 😂

[@FILMCRUX]

That’s actually a really good take for your first watch! You’re absolutely right in that it’s unspecified just how many layers deep Cobb and Mal actually went, setting the table for this theory that Cobb never actually woke up. It’s definitely always worth a rewatch though!

[@candyflossbunny8855]

The video is very informative. Thank you for making it and sharing it with us. This film really wracks my brain. Why does it take so long to completely understand?

[@FILMCRUX]

Thank you for the kind words. The film was designed to be better and better with each successive viewing. Nolan added many layers of depth so that each time you watched, you would discover new layers of the film that would keep it entertaining, and would engage you far more than a regular film ever could.

[@candyflossbunny8855]

Ohhh. That makes sense. Very cool. 😊 Thank you for telling me.

[@FILMCRUX]

@@candyflossbunny8855 No problem!

[@dadTan-v7w]

thank you only me and you really understand the movie

[@FILMCRUX]

Haha. Some other people understood this theory as well after hearing it, but glad you like it!

[@og_bhaiyu]

DUDEEEE

[@alanlomeli5360]

Cobb did have a totem, his wedding ring.

[@FILMCRUX]

If you only see the wedding ring in his dream, it can't be a totem. It's just a dream based object, the same way that you only see Cobb's wife Mal in a dream. A totem has to be an object that performs differently in the waking world than in the dream world.

[@JorikD]

Just because the movie didn’t show hey went up all the levels, doesn’t mean they didn’t. When Cobb wakes up in the plain, we never see him waking up in the middle levels either.

[@FILMCRUX]

That's not the argument. There's no need to show someone waking up through all the levels. But moving from one level to another doesn't mean a character isn't in a dream, or that they're in "base" reality.

[@leonardolaijaguzman1812]

Yes, totally agree

[@FILMCRUX]

Glad you like the theory!!

[@sctmcg]

Heavy Spoilers channel along with Michael Caine’s revelations seemingly have it confirmed that Cobb is drawn to France where he’s placed into a dream state - all of the other characters are either projections at times or real pre-dream mission. The only mission is to use a fake mission to convince Dom to enter dreams within dreams in order for friends and family to plant the idea at his very core that he should release his guilt for the death of his wife and come back to reality, so he doesn’t die an old man, alone. There is no Cobol threat - it’s all as Mal says, a coincidental task force trying to attack him in his dreams. If I’m not explaining it well enough, visit the Heavy Spoilers channel.

[@FILMCRUX]

I've heard that theory and it's a pretty great theory. It's certainly not confirmed though. As for Michael Caine, Christopher Nolan just told him that because he couldn't follow along with the story. Nolan himself said that he purposefully designed the film to be perfectly ambiguous, and that if you could tell either way, that would simply be an accident. He said even he doesn't know if Cobb is awake at the end, but that he'd like to believe so.

[@TonyTyga90]

My only issue with this Theory is that if Mah did wake up in another dream layer, I would hope she would of "Kicked" her husband awake also from the new dream layer. More of like an "I told you so" and not like a spitefully I am going to keep you in this state forever.

[@FILMCRUX]

The reason she couldn't just wake Cobb as soon as she woke up is the same reason they can't just wake Saito up at the end of the movie. Because of the time dilation, by the time they would be able to wake him, hundreds of years may have passed for him by the time the sedative wore off, and his mind may be entirely gone by then. Mal may have tried to wake Cobb the moment she woke up into the real world, but for Cobb, hundreds of years may have already passed for him by then.

[@Prodbyjah464]

For me personally, whilst I think this a very interesting theory I don’t think it is true. It would pretty much invalidate the ending of the film as well as cobbs overall character arch and it was never mentioned how mal even got her totem, dom could’ve made it for her or bought it for her thus him knowing it’s exact weight and balance without using it before or having one of his own. It might be a stretch but I think Nolan was probably hunting at this but didn’t want to explain it because that would mean more exposition. Who knows really, still my favourite movie ever.

[@FILMCRUX]

Well if Cobb made it for her, it would still be unreliable because no one's supposed to touch your totem, and both Cobb and Mal would have. Beyond that, we know that it's Mal's totem not only because Cobb said so in the film, but also because he said she's the one who came up with the idea of totems in the first place. I'm sure she wouldn't have a totem and break the one and only rule of totems that she herself came up with. It also doesn't in any way invalidate the ending of the film, or Cobb's character arc, because the point of the end of the film is not whether or not Cobb is dreaming, it's that he no longer cares whether or not he's dreaming. He doesn't stay to see the result of the spinning top, because he's with his children again. "How could it not matter? Because you'll be together."

[@Prodbyjah464]

@@FILMCRUX ok first of all did not expect you to reply so in that sense I’m honoured. Second, what I mean by him making it or getting the totem for her was that she came up with the idea but probably didnt know all the rules until they tested it in limbo, like you’re telling me that both mal and Cobb new that once you had a totem that Cobb wouldn’t be able to touch it otherwise it would defeat the purpose, probably not. He probably did use it at first which is why he’s reality is so fractured anyway, plus what I meant by this theory invalidating the ending and cobbs character arch is because this theory would undermine his character and if they truly weren’t in reality and that dom would have to kill himself to wake up like mal did then that would ruin half of the emotion throughout the film and sacrifice such a satisfying ending for even more ambiguity. Plus, I know the ending of whether he’s dreaming or not doesn’t matter and that the only thing that matters is him being with his kids, I know this that’s a big reason why I love the ending so much but if that theory were true then it would go against that principle because your theory suggests that Cobb doesn’t want to wake up meaning he cares that he’s still dreaming. Also if this theory were true it would make the twist of the film being us as the audience finding out that he performed inception on mal first even less compelling.

[@pewcy]

How come the top stops spinning if he was in a dream? We have seen multiple scenes where it stops.

[@FILMCRUX]

Being in a dream does not mean objects will always behave in a certain predictable way. For instance, all of the gravity shift sequences make this apparent. The problem is that it’s totally unpredictable. If he’s in a dream but he thinks it’s real, the top will behave how he thinks it should, or at least how his subconscious thinks it should (i.e. topple over). When he thinks he’s dreaming, it will spin and spin. Because the top is not his own though, it’s unreliable for him to use to determine his reality, that’s why he’s never totally sure if he’s dreaming or not, which is Cobb’s main conflict throughout the film. He’s simply trying to reassure himself that he’s not dreaming, but without a totem of his own, there’s no way to know.

[@zaarasayed5979]

Great Theory, but I’ve never understood why you can’t touch each other’s totem like it would still work right. Also totems are unreliable because in a dream can’t you just imagine that the top wobbles or keeps spinning.

[@FILMCRUX]

Not exactly. Let's say you have a totem, and it has a certain weight to it that is wildly unique, and very different than how one would imagine that weight of say dice would be if they were to pick them up and feel them, then inside a dream, the die you imagine would not match the weight and feel of the die the person is using as a totem, so they would instantly recognize they're in a dream. A lot of people think they only way Cobb can tell if he's dreaming is if his spinning top stops spinning, but that's not really true. If it were, he wouldn't tell Ariadne, because then it would immediately be ineffective. In actuality, the spinning top also has a very particular weight and feel that is impossible to mimic without touching the top itself. That's why Cobb never hands the top to Ariadne to hold. Arthur also doesn't let Ariadne touch his totem. This is because if Ariadne where to gauge the very particular exact weight and feel of their totems, she would be able to accurately recreate them in the dream world, thereby rendering them ineffective in the process. I hope that helps.

[@zaarasayed5979]

@@FILMCRUX Thanks, it’s much more clear now

[@FILMCRUX]

@@zaarasayed5979 No worries! Happy to help!

[@asilmehaboob4313]

But the totem actually belong to Mal.Then how could Cobb confirm he is in the dream.

[@FILMCRUX]

Yes, that's the point of this video. He can't, because the totem is unreliable now.

[@docdoc2011]

I think this is a very flawed theory, the only thing you're right about was that totem not being reliable. Base on what was presented in the film, when you die in Limbo you simply wake up, you don't just go back to one level above. So Cobb and Mal did come back to reality. Mal killed herself because Cobb's inception worked too well. If reality was still Cobb's dream, Mal would have come back for him, just like he did for Satio. Mal had never appeared in reality because IT WAS REALITY and she was dead. That's why she only appeared in dreams and lured him to stay.

[@FILMCRUX]

That’s only true if you simply assume they know what happens when you leave from Limbo, which they clearly don’t as explained in the film many times, especially since Cobb and Mal are the first people to be down there. That’s the entire point of the movie. Cobb honestly doesn’t know if he woke up. That’s why he keeps spinning the top and putting the gun to his head. If he knew he woke up after leaving Limbo, there wouldn’t be a movie, and he’d have no crisis at all. Second, Mal may be coming back for Cobb, but you’re missing the features of the dream world. Due to the time dilation, because Mal and Cobb were so many layers deep, by the time Mal could come back for him, hundreds of years could have passed before she could get back to him. As Yusuf says, “Decades, it could be centuries… I don’t know!” Or as Cobb explains to Saito about why going down and saving him would take forever, “By the time we reached him, his mind would be lost.” Saito then says that he would still honor their deal. Cobb responds by saying that he won’t even remember that they ever had a deal. So even if Mal comes for Cobb, she may not show up for over 100 years or more after the events in the film. As for Mal’s appearances, she only acted as his subconscious expected her to act. If he thinks she’s dead in the level we’re introduced to her, and he assumes that’s the real world, she won’t appear. She only appears when he thinks he’s dreaming, just like his kids. If he knew the absence of Mal proved he was indeed awake, he wouldn’t be questioning his reality.

[@spoonkly]

i will never sleep until i get the answer 😭

[@FILMCRUX]

Haha. Well you may get some extra study time in, because Inception is coming back to theaters.

[@daniellevy8935]

It's kinda stupid that killing you in 3rd level would get you into a limbo, but killing you in a limbo would get you out instantly

[@FILMCRUX]

While dream sharing with a sedative, Limbo serves as the base layer, the same way that killing you in the base layer of normal dreaming sharing without using a sedative would automatically wake you up.

[@bryantgrant1909]

Amazing theory, just need to go read the duck tales comic book to see if there are any meta clues. That’s just a fun way to say they ripped this story from duck tales.

[@FILMCRUX]

Haha. What? Thank you for the kind words, but I think you're going to need to elaborate on the Duck Tales thing, unless you were joking.

[@bryantgrant1909]

To be fair though the movie was pitched a year before the comics release, so they are neck and neck.

[@FILMCRUX]

@@bryantgrant1909 Inception was developed over about 11 years, so I highly doubt he got much influence from a Duck Tales comic book. Haha. That's interesting though.

[@beeldmedia8450]

Whis color have Dom's totem? Black or silver?

[@FILMCRUX]

The spinning top is silver.

[@vishnutheetharappan7074]

Hold up, do you remember being born? I don't. I was just thrust into the middle of the action, i don't remember how i got there. I must still be asleep...

[@FILMCRUX]

There is no reason why that absolutely couldn't be the case, which is why this film is so brilliant.

[@Talia.777]

Your parents remember vividly 😁

[@jasewildheart]

Nowhere does it say you can't use someone else's totem if they are dead.

[@FILMCRUX]

You can use them when someone else is dead, they're just not reliable. Remember, Cobb doesn't actually know Mal's dead, he just THINKS she's dead. And the only way he has to prove that she's dead is that he thinks he's awake. And the only way he has to prove that he's awake, is her totem, which would be unreliable for him, because Mal could have been right, and actually woken up when she jumped off the building, and Cobb really could be dreaming.

[@mauricebell216]

Music?

[@FILMCRUX]

The music is actually a custom score made specifically for this video, and we created it to blend seamlessly with the Inception score so that no matter how we cut the film, the music always flowed smoothly from one shot to the next.

[@joserocha2323]

i think its okay for cobb to use mals tottem because the real point of you having one is to prevent someone that knows the tottem doestn trick you in a shared dream, for example if cobb had a brother and he know someone could kidnappe the 2 and them share a dream where cobbs brother would be the host, so with that said since is wife is dead no one else knows cobbs tottem so i think its fine but i also agree that the wedding ring is his 2nd garantie but in the end when he lets mals go in the limpo since he let go of her even dreaming he should not have the wedding ring cause there not together anymore and he accepted that

[@FILMCRUX]

That’s actually not the point. It’s that he doesn’t know how the totem’s supposed to behave, so no matter how it behaves, he can’t tell if that means he’s dreaming or not, since he may have never used the totem in the waking world. As for the wedding ring, that’s not his totem. It’s just a project, like his clothing, the train, or Mal herself. He never has it outside of when he thinks he’s dreaming, so it can’t be used as a totem.

[@Tumbledweeb]

​@@FILMCRUX​He does know how the spinning top is supposed to behave, it's a basic spinning top. Everyone knows how those things work. He even explains it to Ariadne: If the spinning top stops spinning and topples over, it's not a dream. If it just goes on spinning and spinning, it's a dream. In your video you state the following: "The whole point of a totem is that it only works if you're the only one who's used it." What makes you say that?

[@FILMCRUX]

@@Tumbledweeb You misunderstand. If it’s just a basic spinning top and everyone would know how it’s supposed to behave, it doesn’t work as a totem. That’s the whole point of a totem. The only feature a totem has to have is that it’s unique and has a feature that only the creator and wielder of that totem knows about. Otherwise, it serves absolutely no purpose as any dreamer can easily replicate it in the dream world, convincing you you’re in reality when you’re not.

[@Tumbledweeb]

@@FILMCRUX Spinning tops are unique in that they have different weights and design that determine how long they will spin for, how their spinning top is supposed to behave etc...

[@FILMCRUX]

@@Tumbledweeb Yes, but if someone else had used his totem, it’s no longer reliable. What’s more is that if he never got the totem until he was in the dream with Mal, it’s definitely not reliable.

[@yashvk1426]

You are wrong. In the ending Cobb landed to reality.

[@FILMCRUX]

Okay. How do you know that? Can you disprove this theory?

[@haies09]

I wouldn’t care if i was still dreaming, as long as I was with my kids 😊

[@moosegoose1282]

why is the music louder than ur voicce

[@FILMCRUX]

It shouldn't be. The volume of the music is an intentional stylistic choice to create a cinematic atmosphere.

[@dannyr333]

Bro reading ur comments here I have to step in and help... Saito and cobb are the two strong men here eames and arthur come second than you got ariande and fisher and yusef there like babys in the inception game.... Listen up why do you think nolan made the beginning of the movie with saito and cobb Because cobb brought saito into 3 deep of dreams and saito subconscious was still VERY STRONG enough to know it was a dream when he recognized his carpet was different... and he wakes up from train checks his wrist there is a small subtle piercing I can see in the movie his wrist looked like a needle went in... that's why saito smirked he knew...now fast forward to the end... if both saito and cobb were stuck in limbo by themselves yeah they would of been stuck there forever but since cobb did the ballsy move instigated by adriane... he we t back for saito to REMIND him to come back and that there was an arrangement .. and then when they spoke with there wierd talk cuz they were in a way deep level of dreams I believe it must of been let me count... Van 1 Hotel 2 Snowy fortress 3 Mals and cobbs house/cobbs world which is limbo 4 So they were like 4 dreams deep... saito was like 80 because he died from snowy fortress dream 3 and was there for only seconds but it prolly took a few minutes for cobb in dream 4 (limbo) to get to him cuz he was dealing with Mal (who is a hottie) which why he was already so fuckin old And also the gun at saito right hand he ended up BELIEVING cobb since he knows about inception and was REMINDED that he is simply in a dream and this world isnt real... and he took the gun shot cobb and shot himself and bam they ended up back in the plane and skipped all the other nonsense 4 things that say there in real world 1)since they got off the plane Nolan used the "how did you get here" concept to lead the viewers to know it was real world by showing allthem get off the plane go thru customs... (cuz cobb mentions to adriane *in dreams* you just appear ya know... B)The no wedding ring on... iii)Seeing his kids faces... 4)His dad was there with him at his house...no grandmother but the granddfather... If u think cobb ended in the dream world that's your take but Nolan didnt make it so... u can be like Mal and be confused all you want about the totem spinning it was just to fuck with us... like if u dont get it... than u are small minded and didnt re watch movie.... it was hard to grasp in one go....i get it guys I just watched movie twice in a 2 days which makes this 4 times now I watched it.... this is pretty thoughtful stuff pretty deep thinking honestly ....its fucking brilliant...but why would a great cast movie so thought out so in depth have a shitty ending???... the answer is IT DIDNT COBB WON HIS KIDS BACK N IS HOmE Ur welcome Peace

[@FILMCRUX]

I'm having a hard time deciphering any of what your'e saying. Is your point that you think Cobb is actually awake at the end? Because if so, that's what I said I believe. This theory is just an interesting way of looking at how complex this film is, and how many layers Christopher Nolan left in the film for interpretation and rewatchability. Obviously that was his intent as evidenced by the final shot of the film. And it's great that you've seen this film 4 times. I've seen it probably 50 times. It doesn't mean I'm right, it just means that I've definitely given this more thought than just casual viewing. The fact that you've seen it more than a few times though is evidence of the layered nature of this film, and the hidden complexity in it. There's some great interviews by Quentin Tarantino on how Nolan makes his films specifically with rewatchability in mind.

[@dannyr333]

@@FILMCRUX I copied pasted this from what I wrote on another post... but thank God you believe hes awake... it's just common sense... but yeah sry I wrote some stuff in non understandable way I haven't been to school in like 15 yrs and even then I didn't pay attention... but yeah okay now that ur stating this is only a theory kudos man..very cool thx for the reply

[@tedeye9542]

Cobb ended a dreamer and all the scenes he played with Arthur, Ariadne... Were all in depth of his dreams. Clue: When Mal was taking the leap of faith from the story building, they were actually in a dream but Cobb didn't notice. The wedding ring tells that in that scene. About the children's faces, Cobb would still have seen they faces when he went to get Fischer. Mal called the children to come see their dad's face but Cobb hid his face. It was just hard for him to accept reality because he's been so attached to this dream,.(Life!) and he believes what he knows is what is real and he was not willing to accept what he feels, to truly be reality. So he woke Mal up only for him to remain a dreamer. That's the agony Mal is going through.

[@iwachiten8056]

Or a strange/unique memory

[@FILMCRUX]

What do you mean?

[@chikkuundakutty3023]

But, if he's still dreaming then the whole movie is his dream.. he's constructing evry stories and getting convinced and is not able to find difference between reality and dream but still....then there will be definitely loopholes in scenes tht can tell us it's a dream ! Is thr any ?

[@FILMCRUX]

Exactly. That's what this theory is explaining. I'm not sure what you mean by loopholes, but this video shows all the evidence to support the idea that Cobb is in a dream the whole time. There's a lot more that I didn't include here, like the fact that Mal brings up in the end that he may be dreaming this whole time as well, being chased around the world by global corporations the same way the dreamer's subconscious searches for the dreamer, etc., but this video covers all the main points.

[@chikkuundakutty3023]

@@FILMCRUX So if cob is in Limbo, and he's constantly dreaming then his dreams are mostly shades of his memories ! Ri8? Second thing, if killing yourself can help you to get back to real-world from Limbo...then...cob and Mal did it once....also he did it again with saito....but after both scenes.... Mal's suicide scene and climax scene totem spinning again tell us it's all a dream ! So what is all this actually ?!

[@FILMCRUX]

@@chikkuundakutty3023 Killing yourself can also send you down into Limbo. That's the importance of the totem. Since Cobb's totem is actually Mal's, and he only started using it once he was already in the dream state, it's unreliable. So both outcomes are very possible. That's the brilliance of the film. More importantly, it's that Cobb no longer cares if it's a dream at the end, which is why he doesn't stop to watch the totem at the end. Upon seeing his children's faces again, his ultimate goal, it no longer matters to him whether this is a dream world or not, which hints at the idea that all realities are valid.

[@wiz_keifa5951]

My brain

[@FILMCRUX]

Hahaha.

[@ERKEK2000]

But then Mal could initiate the kick from the real world and wake him up

[@FILMCRUX]

She wouldn't have time to give him the kick because of the time dilation. It's the reason why Cobb says they can't just wake up and give Saito the kick. Because of the sedative and the time dilation, by the time he woke up, even if they got out and kicked him immediately, he would have been in there for so long that his mind would be lost, and he won't even remember that they ever had an agreement.

[@LoveofGodSongs]

Nolan said that whenever Michael Caine shown up that was the real world. So I don't want to hear others time wasting theories, just want to hear of the script writer.

[@FILMCRUX]

We've already addressed this multiple times. Nolan said he explained to the actors, like Michael Caine, the way the story is designed to appear at first glance. Meanwhile, Nolan, who is the script writer by the way, said he intentionally designed the script, and the entire film so that multiple possibilities may be true and make logical, coherent sense, and that he designed the film that way on purpose, which is clear even by the way he did the ending of the film. So if you just want to listen to the script writer, there you go.

[@izlshf5879]

That means his real children are going to grow up while he sleeps for the rest of his days

[@FILMCRUX]

It sounds depressing when you say it like that. Haha.

[@vishveshtadsare3160]

This our reality is a dream world. Ellen turned to Elliot. Can happen only in a dream.

[@FILMCRUX]

Not sure what you mean by that, but we cannot truly differentiate our reality from a dream.

[@alvinlin0202]

Christopher Nolan has told Michael Caine that whenever Michael caine's character is on-screen, that's reality. End of discussion, love this movie so much.

[@FILMCRUX]

I've explained this a few times, but Michael Caine was confused by Nolan's script for Inception, so Christopher Nolan simply told Michael Caine when it was supposed to be reality and when it was supposed to be a dream, not because that's actually how it objectively was, but simply so Michael Caine could understand how he was supposed to be portraying the scene to the audience. That's not the reality of it though. Christopher Nolan has literally said that he himself doesn't even know if Cobb's awake or dreaming at the end of the film. He would like to think that Cobb woke up - that's his guess, because he's an optimist, but he designed it to make perfect sense that he could be asleep at the end as well, hence the very intentional ambiguous ending. In fact, Christopher Nolan took this to such extremes, that he designed the script and the film so that multiple different possibilities make perfect sense and could absolutely be the case in order to make the viewer even question what in the film is reality, and what's a dream, just like us. The final shot isn't for Cobb - that's not the point. He no longer cares if it's a dream or reality, because all he wants is to be with his children. The final shot is for us, the viewer. Think about it, at the end, the credits then play the song for waking up from a dream, not for the characters in the film, but for you, the audience. It's to wake you up from the dream. Are you still dreaming?

[@waayneinteressierts9704]

Kobbs real totem was his wedding ring

[@FILMCRUX]

His wedding ring isn’t actually a totem. It’s just a projection of how he sees himself when he thinks he’s dreaming, just like his projection of Mal. “Because in my dreams, we’re still together.” You have to have your totem both inside and outside of a dream.

[@waayneinteressierts9704]

@@FILMCRUX I don't know about that, his ring might still be his real totem. Only he knows its properties and exact weight. Since he's only wearing it inside of dreams it fullfills the same purpose as a Totem. Reminding him whenever he is wearing it that, he's in a dream. It's similar to how the fandom wiki mentions Saitos rug as somewhat of a totem in his dream since it confirm to him they're not in reality acting as a totem in that moment . So I don't see what would go against the wedding ring totem theory except for Cobb using and stating Mals spinning top to be his totem. Cobb probably also still owns his ring, he's just not wearing it anymore, except I'm forgetting a scene where he might've thrown it away or something

[@FILMCRUX]

@@waayneinteressierts9704 If you don’t always have your totem, how can you determine whether or not you’re dreaming? Not having it doesn’t mean you’re definitely dreaming. You could be dreaming you don’t have it, especially if you think you’re awake. Saito noticing the rug is more of a rule than a totem. That’s why Cobb tells Ariadne never to recreate places that actually exist. Those things, like Saito’s rug, can just bring the dreamer’s attention to it, letting them know something is off, but it’s not actually a totem.

[@waayneinteressierts9704]

@@FILMCRUX since he's always not wearing it outside of dreams, it acts as his totem, he still owns the ring tho most likely, he's just not wearing it on his finger whenever he's awake

[@FILMCRUX]

@@waayneinteressierts9704 If you all of sudden are walking around, and you don’t know you’re dreaming or not, and you don’t have the ring, that doesn’t mean you’re not dreaming. There’s no possible way you could know that, especially since you could just be dreaming you don’t have the ring. Pretty sure even Christopher Nolan himself said his ring is not his totem.

[@adelismail9321]

all and every one who come up with one of those vdo's always miss the point / he is a drug adducted and hs problem killed hs wife who she pulled hm into it / the rest are people he has to deal with in order to be come clean

[@FILMCRUX]

That’s not really the point, but that is certainly A point. Very interesting.

[@adelismail9321]

@@FILMCRUX its very clear when Michael Caine say come back to the land of the living/ in hs mind hs trip takes'm there the last person who he try to safe is he first sponsor

[@FILMCRUX]

@@adelismail9321 That’s not as clear as you think it is, but that is certainly an interesting theory, and a great parallel.

[@aayushisharma4752]

Good but there's one flaw in your theory..why would mal hide her totem when it gives wrong result to cobb..mal could deceive him that the dream is the reality by letting him use her totem

[@FILMCRUX]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean? Mal is locking the totem away from herself, not from Cobb. She is choosing to forget that they're not in reality. Cobb just uses it to convince her they're still dreaming, which of course works.

[@sallysmith1696]

Mmmm...nah.

[@FILMCRUX]

Mmmmm… yeah. Unless you can find a hole somewhere of course.

[@chase-db9jo]

Wouldn't someone else dream the top to topple with you in the dream , thinking IRS real?

[@FILMCRUX]

Yes, that's possible if the person whose dream it is is focusing on that feature of the dream. That's why the tell in Cobb's totem may not actually be the top falling over, but rather, it's the top itself. Its particular feel, weight and balance, and maybe even the way it falls over. Like Arthur pointed out, it's letting other people touch your totem that's the problem, not simply showing it to someone. If that were the case, Cobb's top and Arthur's die would become immediately unreliable as soon as they showed them to Ariadne.

[@chase-db9jo]

@@FILMCRUX before my reply, I was thinking of the ring theory and the fact presented in the movie was the totem had to be something that is always with you to rule out any complication of not having your objective test with you. If it's the ring, couldnt the thought of looking down at that ring on your finger trigger or manifest the appearance of that ring in all dreams and be the perfect totem that would, theoretically never fail to be with you. Anyway, back to the spinner. If its not the spinning, why spin it, why put so much stock in the failure to spin continuously. No offense, but way above the pay grade of movie goers to to be expected that level of critical thinking, if they want to figure the twists and turns purposely left for us to rack our brains. While what you said is certainly feasable, I have to say no for the mere fact that i cant believe the writer would be that lost to the intelligence of his audience and expect them to reach that level of puzzle solving here. Not to mention the disappointment of not even being close to figuring it out if your theory was tapped to be true. So i reject your theory but only as l feel It needs to be difficult but attainable for some people to get it just to keep everyone interested.

[@FILMCRUX]

@@chase-db9jo You misunderstand. Christopher Nolan spent a good decade working on the script for Inception. He said he wanted to include so many layers of depth in the film, that the audience would still be discovering things after multiple viewings. The top level basics of the film are what every intelligent moviegoer would understand, at least after a few viewings. Additional clues and easter eggs are weaved throughout the entire fabric of the film to increase rewatchability. So many in fact that it would blow your mind if you knew all of them. This makes since when you consider that Nolan idolizes Stanley Kubrick who did the same things in his films. All of these easter eggs and layers were included intentionally. From the fact that the first letter of each character's name spells out DREAMS, to the wedding ring, to the fact that Ariadne was a princess in Greek mythology associated with mazes and labyrinths, to the fact that all of the music in the film is built from subdivisions and multiplications of the tempo for "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien", the song the characters use as a kick queue in the film, and the fact that the film's runtime is 2 hours and 28 minutes in length, and that song is 2 minutes and 28 seconds in length, to the fact that the characters' roles directly correspond to the roles of people on a film set, etc. The list of intentional hidden things Christopher Nolan incorporated into the film is truly incredible. Another reason Cobb might be dreaming that I left out of the video, is that when Cobb goes into the hotel room that Mal intentionally 'trashed' to make it appear as though she was attacked and killed by Cobb, she actually appears outside a window of a duplicate building across the street. Doubled in the same way Ariadne doubles over the buildings and uses reflections during her first attempt at designing a dream world with Cobb. Cobb comes into the room, and pleads with Mal as if she's hanging out the window he's standing in. He even waves his hand in toward his room as if that's the direction she should come back inside. These are all indications that Cobb is actually dreaming. And since Mal is the only one with a totem at that point, it makes since that she would be confident enough to determine her reality accurately. Especially when you consider that she was the one who invented the concept of totems in the first place.

[@chase-db9jo]

@@FILMCRUX wow! So then with a hundred questions still being debated, I will ask the only one that's been eating at me and seems that if there's an answer, you would know. Why does cobb use mals totem? And why is the fact he doesnt have his own, addressed when that glaringly seems like a key that needs to turn before all other questions are answered. I'm late to the game and apologize if this has already have been answered ages ago.

[@FILMCRUX]

@@chase-db9jo No problem. He uses Mal's totem for the same reason he still wears his wedding ring. Because he can't let her go. And in the final scene of the film, he lets go of that too. He spins the top, but upon seeing his kids again, he no longer cares if he's in reality. It doesn't matter. How can it not matter? Because they'll be together.