10 Sci-Fi Movies That Broke All The Rules

The big, ambitious hook of Christopher Nolan's Inception is that it's a heist film-of-sorts taking place within the dreams of its central characters, with much of the film focused on notions of reality, namely how easy it is for someone to become lost in a dream.

Protagonist Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) commits the titular heist in order to legally return to the U.S. and be reunited with his children, an end goal that is very much rooted in reality.

But the final scene of the movie calls the apparent "success" of Dom's mission into question, as he spins Mal's (Marion Cotillard) reality-defining totem - a spinning top - and walks away to see his children.

We never see the outcome of the top's spin, and though it certainly seems to waver before Nolan cuts to black, there's no clear-cut answer as to whether or not we're seeing Dom's reality or Dom's dream.

But the real point, of course, is that Dom no longer seems to care about finding an objective truth, walking away from the spinning top and embracing not only his children but also whatever reality is presented to him.

For a movie as high-concept as this to basically throw out its primarily dramatic conceit - the reality or unreality of Dom's situation - in the final shot is bold as hell, and absolutely fantastic.