10 Insane Movie Theories You Won't Believe

3. Cobb's Totem Is His Wedding Ring

Hoo boy, do people love having theories about Inception. Marriages have ended over arguments less passionate than the debates people have about this movie's ending. Throughout Christopher Nolan's mind-bending blockbuster we have it drilled into us that you can tell the difference between the real world and the dreamspaces the characters so often break into by their "totems" - physical objects which act differently in the former than the latter. For Leonardo diCaprio's Cobb, it's a spinning top; in reality, it will eventually topple over, whilst in a dream it spins forever. The film ends on a total cheap shot of a cliffhanger as Cobb finally gets to return to his kids, no longer exiled from America after having his criminal record expunged. The final shot is of his top spinning, wobbling a little, and then - credits. Is this real or a dream? What the heck, Nolan?

Well, part of the point is that you're not supposed to know. And it's not supposed to matter - Cobb has finally found some closure, who cares if it's real or not? Either way, his French wife is dead. Give him at least a quantum of solace (did we use that right?) from that, you guys. Except we actually do have a definitive answer, according to one fan theory. See, the spinning top was actually said dead French wife's totem, meaning that Cobb shouldn't be able to use it. This reading suggests that his wedding ring is his real totem, which we always see him wearing in dreams but never seen in reality. At the end of the film? No ring. So he actually did succeed in returning to his kids. Yay! Of course, then there's the theory that Jack from Titanic washes up on the beach of unreconstructed dreamspace in Inception....