8 Fan Theories That Totally Change Your Favourite Movies

5. Cobb Was Leaving Himself Open For Abuse - Inception

Just when you got your head around that, here's more Nolan because f*ck if he isn't a tricksy fellow. Keeping quiet about the meaning of his movies (he's still never officially stated the truth behind Memento), alternate fan takes on Nolan's entire filmography are unrelenting. Heck, release day wasn't over before someone wastheorising the ending of Interstellar was all in Matthew McConaughey's dying mind (which surely means ghosts are real).

Anyway, to Inception. The final shot of a possibly-wobbling spinning top had everyone going "wahh?" followed by a more coherent "wait, is he awake or not?" Obviously it doesn't really matter - Leonardo DiCaprio's Cobb has chosen this world as his reality - but for those who crave answers, Nolan snuck in a clue that provides the closest you'll ever get to a resolute answer. Turns out Cobb's real reality-testing totem is his wedding ring, which he only wears in the dream world where he's still obsessed with his dead wife. This obviously reshapes the ending into something more literal (he's not wearing it in the final scene, so must be awake), but also has the unexpected side effect of changing his entire character outlook.

Both Joseph Gordon Levitt's Arthur and Ellen Page's Ariadne refuse to reveal the secret of their weighted die/chess piece totems, yet Cobb is brutally honest about how (what he believes to be) his works. Which means he's actively leaving himself open for dream attack (the dreamer just has totopple the totem in a dream and Cobb's locked in unreality forever), suggesting he's becoming increasingly suicidal, actively choosing to lose his grip on reality in a way hitherto not suggested.