10 Greatest Cut To Black Movie Endings EVER

8. Inception

The Matrix Keanu Reeves
Warner Bros.

Christopher Nolan had us all in the palm of his hand at the end of his mesmerising sci-fi blockbuster Inception, as Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) successfully complete his mission, wakes up, and is granted passage back into the United States.

In the final scene, Cobb returns home and spins Mal's (Marion Cotillard) spinning top - a "totem" to check that he is indeed awake in the real world.

But at that moment, Cobb notices his two young children playing in the garden and runs to them, deciding not to wait and see whether the spinning top falls over or not.

And so, in Inception's final seconds, Nolan closes in on the still-spinning top, which appears to start wavering, but we abruptly cut to black before the outcome is shown.

It's an ingenious yet absolutely infuriating ending that leaves the audience hanging quite literally on the edge of their seats, unsure of the reality (or not) of what they're seeing.

Yet at the same time, it helped ensure that Inception remains fiercely debated to this very day - even if Nolan attests that it's far more important that Cobb simply chose not to wait around for the outcome.

He has chosen to accept the reality, whatever that might be, with which he's been presented.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.