the dream is over.

SPOILER ALERT. do not read any further if you have not seen Inception, this will ruin everything.



ok, here is a stack of definite evidence that the end of Inception ends in the real world.

i'll go backwards from the least compelling to most definitive.
for the sake of this blog, we'll call the main layer of the movie, Layer Zero. Layer Four being the sub-conscious construct, or "limbo."

1 - the top losing it's spin in the last seconds is evidence enough. if you've ever spun a top, as soon as it starts to lose it's gravity axis like it did in the very last scene, that is the beginning of the end, it can not return to a perfect spin. and they specifically point out that the top spins PERFECTLY in the dream world, and they show it doing so in the dream layers.

2 - Mal suggests that one slice of proof to Cobb that he's still dreaming in "Layer Zero" is that corporations and the american government are after him. well, for starters, that is his mind telling him that no matter what you believe, because it's on Layer Four. On the time line of the story itself, she doesn't try to convince him of that until after she kills herself. So that evidence doesn't fly in any sense, but let's use it anyway. That's not how the "being chased by your sub-conscious" works. ALL the projections come after you. So, doesn't work either way you look at it.

3 - there is no way that Mal would exit Layer Zero and either not wake him up in her "real world" or at LEAST come back in after him and try to wake him up again and again until it worked. And, all the other characters in the movie are at a minimum real people somewhere in Cobb's life, and someone would wake him up. Or if nothing else, he would wake up eventually on his own. You can argue that even if she's been dead for awhile that in her "real world" it may only pan out to minutes and it just hasn't happened yet. But that brings me to a new point...

4 - they explain the time ratio in Layer Zero, and it starts compounding there. Mere seconds in Layer Zero translate into minutes in Layer One, hours in Layer Two, etc etc. And you can't argue that it could be even less time in the "real world" because it compounds. It's not each layer is just multiplied, it's each layer compounds with the last, so by that logic, the entire movie takes place in milliseconds in the "real world." And even if you believe that that is possible, it's just plain ridiculous, and pushing it too far. Nolan is better than that.

5 - also, in that aspect, as I mentioned before, he would at least wake up on his own... well even the strongest compound available only keeps people asleep for 4 hours, equalling 40 hours in a first level dream. Well this movie takes place over several days, so that math once again doesn't work out. He would have to be asleep in the "real world" for over like 5 or 6 hours, which, is not possible according to the movie's own rules. this is not all that compelling of evidence and could be argued against fairly easily in various ways, but I threw it in anyway to prove there's a bunch of reasons leaning towards the end being real.

6 - FINALLY, and the most compelling... in Layer Zero, he spins the top twice in the first half of the movie and it topples. which means, by Nolan's own rules of this story, that is the real world. so Layer Zero is the real world no matter what you think of my other evidence. you don't think about those top displays, because the last shot of the movie makes you focus on the debate of if it's real or not. I only remember he spun the top and watched it topple twice because I saw the movie a second time. You could argue that maybe in his first level dream he makes up those totem rules, but then that's just stupid and ruins Nolan's own story... and for that matter you could say that about anything... Jurassic Park was just a dream too. And, as mentioned before, the things that happen in the dreams HAVE to stem from somewhere in his real life, that alone is the entire point of the movie. So the totem rules came from somewhere in "real life." And if the totem rules are legit, then once again, this evidence holds strong.

In hind sight, the last scene with the top spinning isn't as horribly clever as it seems. It's still absolutely one of the best movies I've ever seen, and I think Nolan did it to kind of have fun with the audience and give people something to talk about. But, if you think back through out the movie, that last scene really shouldn't fool anyone. But, it definitely does what he wanted it to, because even I had to wonder about it for awhile and here I am typing out this blog.

In my opinion, the last scene was the movie saying: "is this real life? maybe... wait for it... wait for it... YUP, it's real. thanks for coming!"