Inception ending explained: Was Cobb dreaming in the last scene?

Inception is a film that continues to be discussed even years after its release. The film blends heist with science fiction, and was written and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film was released by Warner Bros Pictures on July 16, 2010, and ended up grossing $839 million at the box office. Here's the official synopsis:

Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: “inception”, the implantation of another person’s idea into a target’s subconscious.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Marion Cotillard among others.

What is the plot of Inception?

Inception is about Dom Cobb, a thief who specializes in extracting information from his victims' dreams. He gets a job offer that would wipe out his criminal history, but that requires him to plant an idea inside the target's mind.

How does Inception end?

A still from Inception | Image via Warner Bros. Pictures UK & Ireland

Towards the end of Inception, Cobb is trying to put his idea inside Robert Fischer's mind when his wife, Mal interferes. This forces Ariadne, who is the architect of the dreams, to bring both of them into a limbo to save Fischer's consciousness. Cobb talks to Mal, and that helps him overcome the trauma that he had been living with for several years. Cobb's team also saves Saito while Fischer gets a revival, and the idea is successfully planted in his mind. The mission is accomplished, and the entire team wakes up as the longest flight lands in Los Angeles.

Later, Cobb meets Stephen Miles, his father-in-law, as he can finally enter the United States. The two arrive at his home, and Cobb finally sees the faces of his kids, who are playing in the backyard. Before he goes to meet them, Cobb spins the spinning top and leaves the frame. As he leaves, it continues to spin, and the screen abruptly cuts to black. So on the face of it, the makers don't make it clear whether Cobb is dreaming or not.

Michael Caine, who played Miles in the film, has revealed what the ending truly means. Speaking to Esquire magazine, the actor revealed his conversation with Nolan regarding the ending. He said,

“When I got the script of Inception, I was a bit puzzled by it, and I said to (Chris), ‘I don’t understand where the dream is.’ I said, ‘When is it the dream and when is it reality?’ He said, ‘Well, when you’re in the scene it’s reality.’ So, get that – if I’m in it, it’s reality. If I’m not in it, it’s a dream.”

In the final scene, Miles is also there with Cobb. This means the film has a happy ending as Cobb finally reunites with his children. Speaking to EW, Nolan revealed that the ending has Cobb looking at his kids, and that's what matters.

“There can’t be anything in the film that tells you one way or another because then the ambiguity at the end of the film would just be a mistake ... It would represent a failure of the film to communicate something. But it’s not a mistake. I put that cut there at the end, imposing an ambiguity from outside the film. That always felt the right ending to me — it always felt like the appropriate ‘kick’ to me….The real point of the scene — and this is what I tell people — is that Cobb isn’t looking at the top. He’s looking at his kids. He’s left it behind. That’s the emotional significance of the thing.”