10 Ambiguous Movie Endings That Had Ridiculously Simple Solutions
1. Inception
The Ambiguous Ending: Is Cobb awake or not?
Nolan has a thing for ambiguous endings doesn't he? His third film on this list (although as I stated, The Dark Knight Rises depends on the person) is his most hotly debated. Inception had everything people wanted from a great blockbuster, including some brilliant post-movie conversation. The ending has an unbelievable happy ending, with Leonardo DiCaprios Dom Cobb succeeding in the inception and getting back to his kids. But in the final shot, with his totem still spinning, left viewers unsure if hed woken up. A film full of potential clues didn't help; could he have been asleep from the start, or halfway through. And through this all Nolan remained as tight lipped as ever.
The Simple Solution: It doesn't matter. You still care? Fine, then look at the ring.
Its something thats travelled around the Internet for long enough now that its no longer a shocking discovery. Cobbs totem wasn't the iconic spinning top, rather the presence of his wedding ring; its only on his finger in the dream (where hes not fully let go of Mal), but not when awake. In the final scene we clearly see Cobb definitely not wearing it. It took a long time for this to be discovered and even longer for it enter popular knowledge, hence why the ending is still met with an air of ambiguity.
As we all know, in the end it didn't matter to Cobb if he was awake or not, but I'll be damned if it isn't satisfying knowing the truth.
Are there any more endings people which cry ambiguity at, but you have solved? Still confused by one the examples in this list? Let us know in the comments below.