Published via Ecency

Inception has continued to be one of my favourite movies since it was first released in 2010; I cannot keep track of the number of times that I have watched it! 😬

What I can remember, is my very first time watching it! 😄 Back in high school, my best friend and I would hang out every Wednesday after classes, and we would always rent a movie to watch at her house. One night, it was Inception, and despite knowing very little about it, I was optimistic! By the time we were halfway in, I was already trying to hide my tears from my friend 😅

I won't even begin to go into the specifics of the film because it has already been out for so long and everybody already knows -- Inception is a phenomenal movie 🙏 From the idea, to the execution, to the soundtrack -- but especially how the film was able to capture the essence of dreams. That unnerving feeling of everyone all turning to look at you at once? I experience that all the time in real life lol spot on.

No, I would prefer to focus on Cobb and Mal's relationship. Mal is the embodiment of Cobb's guilt, we all recognize that, but I don't think people truly realize the magnitude of such a situation. People may think, "well, why doesn't he just let her go?" With the death of a loved one, particularly a spouse, there will always be an element of denial. But with Cobb, his inadvertent guilt becomes a connection -- his lifeline -- with which he can stay tethered to Mal. The guilt manifests into an excuse. He will constantly feed it so long as it guarantees him "a shade of his wife." Despite knowing this, Cobb accepts it because it is easier than accepting the alternative: letting her go.

And up until the Big Plan™, Cobb had continued to feed into the illusion; he had no one he cared for and he wasn't hurting anyone. The Big Plan was the first time Cobb had to care about the outcome because success meant getting home to his children ...But it also meant having to let go of Mal.

This is why the scene where Mal is dying absolutely breaks my heart. Her illusion tries so desperately in order to make Cobb stay with her, and he knows that he cannot give into her anymore... so he confronts her with the truth... I still hear the words every time I think of the scene.

"...But we did... We did, you don't remember?"

The line had always been Mal's saving grace, "You promised we'd grow old together!" and Cobb finally rejects the lie. It is almost like he is speaking to himself during the scene, and the realization finally forces him to accept the truth: they did have their time together. Cobb knows that he can no longer selfishly cling to his guilty conscience if he wishes to be in his children's lives.

This is how I know that Cobb made it back to his family in reality. Letting go of Mal, compounded by the truth of his conversation with old Saito. If both men were able to remember lines from their first negotiation how long ago, then they obviously remembered that the top was a totem. Saito saw Cobb using the top the night before the Big Plan™, he knew what it meant if it didn't tip over. We see the realization dawn in Saito's eyes, and this is why the camera shows Saito moving towards the gun at the last minute.