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Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” has made for one of the most tightly guarded projects to come along in quite some time. Plot descriptions have been relegated to “it’s a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind,” while the teaser trailer that debuted online yesterday and with select prints of “Inglourious Basterds” over the weekend was careful not to give away too much of the story. It was a teaser in the strictest sense of the word, and I fully respect Nolan for that.
I’ve heard that Nolan hates the internet. He is a director who respects the integrity of experiencing a film fresh and without the barrage of story-specific publicity that can ruin, or at the very least, lessen the impact of that experience. Having helmed two of the most hotly anticipated films of all time in “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight,” I can certainly understand how he might develop this position, if in fact he has. And “Inception,” with all it’s secrecy, has this same air of anticipation around it as fans and journalists clamor for more information. (A faux script review was even posted as an April Fools Day prank, drumming up tons of excitement.)
So with that in mind, you can probably understand why I would feel somewhat conflicted about revealing what I know of the “Inception” plot after the jump. I’ve sat on this for quite a while, actually, but with elevated interest in the project following the trailer debut, I thought it was a good time to spill.
Please note, if you want to remain pure as to what this film has to offer, do not continue reading. I implore you. (There are spoilers.) But for those happy to be spoiled, well then I’m happy to divulge.
I have not read the script for “Inception,” so this information is all second hand from someone who has. If it seems vague in areas, it is because my source was recounting from memory. I can’t be 100% sure how much of this gels with the truth because WB publicity can’t comment on the film’s plot points. I’m not able to verify this with them. But it all seems fairly legitimate to me.
In a nutshell, the source says “Inception” takes place in a world where we have developed a means by which we can enter people’s dreams. Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Cobb has been described as a “CEO type,” but he is also something of a criminal. He dives into people’s dreams to extract information.
Ellen Page will play Ariadne, a young college student studying in Paris who is a part of Cobb’s team (along with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Arthur and Tom Hardy’s Eames). Cobb’s team actually “creates” the dreams and Ariadne is an “architect” of the them. She engineers them.
When Cobb’s team enters the dreams, it is not via a machine such as “The Matrix” or “The Cell,” I’m told. It is via injection, and the technology can easily be transported in a suitcase. In one scene (featured briefly in the trailer, I believe), the team actually enters a person’s dream while on an airplane.
Cillian Murphy stars as Fischer, a business-type who is soon to become the head of a company. Cobb’s team is attempting to insert an idea into Fischer’s mind to compel him to separate the company into two smaller companies. The reasoning for this is unclear on my end.
Ken Watanabe plays Saito, a character blackmailing Cobb. For what reason and to what extreme, I do not know. Aside from him, there is no classic villain in the story, but Cobb’s wife (Marion Cotillard) causes some trouble.
The two of them at some point find themselves stuck in many levels of a dream and Cobb’s wife tries to convince him to stay in that world, that it is much better than real life. However, Cobb wants to return to his children and the real world.
This plot point is a bit unclear (and is a massive SPOILER), but I’m told that the wife commits suicide in the dream in order to return to the real world. When Cobb himself returns, he is charged with his wife’s murder and has to flee with his children.
The film will not be typical sci-fi fare at all. It is set in the real world, present day. And virtually all of the “action” scenes take place in the dream environment. This should go a long way toward explaining the “Your mind is the scene of the crime” tagline that accompanied the trailer. Ultimately it seems like a grounded, more tangible blend of “Minority Report” and “The Matrix.”
That’s all I’ve got. If you’re still reading, your thoughts?
81 responses so far
1 8-25-2009 at 9:22 am
Joel said...
Huh. Well then. He’s definitely returning to his Memento days. This’ll be interesting. I know that the teaser had me sold on seeing the movie. Very, very cool. I can’t wait.
And that is some kinda cast.
2 8-25-2009 at 9:23 am
Robert Hamer said...
You know what? I don’t think I’m gonna read it. I like the mystery.
3 8-25-2009 at 9:27 am
Johanna said...
Jesus Christ. I just read a book called “The End of Mr Y” which is basically the same, including most of the characters, except the protagonist is female. And she does not enter a world of dreams but minds.
Inception was my most anticipated movie of next year without even knowing what it’s about. However, knowing what it’s about (and only the teaser too) makes it somehow harder. I love Nolan but not Matrix. Nor Minority Report. Nor that book I read. The ending (and it’s last third, actually) never worked for me. I hope Nolan knows how to make it work.
Oh, wait. I ‘m sure he knows.
4 8-25-2009 at 9:31 am
Simon said...
Isn’t the name Jacob Hastley from ScriptShadow’s April Fool’s Day joke?
5 8-25-2009 at 9:38 am
Kristopher Tapley said...
It was used there, yes, but I’ve also seen the name pop up elsewhere and it’s also listed as Jacob at IMDb.
6 8-25-2009 at 9:39 am
geha714 said...
I like the whole “architecture of the mind” concept and I wonder how Nolan could pull it off.
Nolan is right too about the Internet’s role on the movie experience. Too much is gave away before the film make it to theaters.
Oh, crap! I just contradicted myself. I read the entire article before commenting on this.
7 8-25-2009 at 9:42 am
M said...
Why exactly are you spoiling it? You know how many other websites are going to pick it up now?
I like spoilers but I feel if a Director went through so much to not give away anything then the critics and websites could respect his decision.
8 8-25-2009 at 9:45 am
Kristopher Tapley said...
Fully understood, M. But truth be told, if it weren’t me, it would be someone else. And soon.
9 8-25-2009 at 9:46 am
Kristopher Tapley said...
And there isn’t much here that won’t be revealed at some point via studio publicity anyway, so I don’t think it’s spoiling so much as letting the cat out of the bag earlier than anticipated.
10 8-25-2009 at 9:55 am
adam said...
Hmm.
I would expect a lesser site to post this stuff.
11 8-25-2009 at 9:57 am
Kristopher Tapley said...
*sigh*
12 8-25-2009 at 10:00 am
Pete said...
His name is not Jacob Hastley – that name came from the April fools joke. His name is Cobb.
13 8-25-2009 at 10:00 am
Anthony said...
I read the first sentence of the spoiler details. Then caught myself.
I think I’m kind of upset the cat’s out of the bag. Nolan guards this stuff so tight.
14 8-25-2009 at 10:03 am
adam said...
Just my opinion. It just seems all very cheap.
So what if another site would have posted it first?
Least you would have known you didn’t post it and shown a bit of respect for Nolan’s wishes.
The fact you just say another website would have posted it. Well is that just what you interested in, being first and getting ton more web traffic?
Hmmm. Hopefully you can stick what this site is best at and not cheap stuff like them.
15 8-25-2009 at 10:03 am
Kristopher Tapley said...
Pete: Where’d you get that from? My source didn’t give the last name, by the way. I took it from IMDb.
16 8-25-2009 at 10:04 am
Mr. Gittes said...
Whoa, Kris! Get this out of here. Ahhhh! It’s nearly too tempting. Must…not…look…I mean read…
17 8-25-2009 at 10:05 am
Kristopher Tapley said...
But then IMDb lists Ellen Page’s character as Isabell, and that’s from the April Fools Joke, too, so I’ll take your word for it.
18 8-25-2009 at 10:08 am
limeymcfrog said...
Hmmm, using some Greek Mythology references with the architect being named “Ariadne”. Ariadne was the daughter of the architect of the labyrinth and led Theseus out of the labyrinth when he killed the Minotaur… any possible parallels there that you can see?
19 8-25-2009 at 10:09 am
Marlowe said...
Well, apparently Ellen Page’s agent has stipulated she now only plays characters with names from mythology.
20 8-25-2009 at 10:13 am
Bill said...
Kris, I think Nolan released a call sheet somewhere with “Cobb” at top billing, presumably DiCaprio.
21 8-25-2009 at 10:22 am
Kristopher Tapley said...
Oh right, I remember that. Well I just scaled it back to “Jacob” for now, but I do recall the call sheet.
22 8-25-2009 at 10:24 am
Kristopher Tapley said...
adam: Much as I appreciate your diagnosis of my failures, this isn’t information that would have remained secret through release. It’s simple premise info that would have been necessarily released in some manner by the studio before the film eventually landed.
Like I said, I was conflicted about posting it, held it for two months, decided to go ahead because it seems to me the info will out soon enough.
And by the way, the last thing I’m concerned about is traffic.
23 8-25-2009 at 10:26 am
Zan said...
Thanks for the post, Kris. Who cares if Nolan wanted the leak or not? It was going to happen at some point before next summer. You can’t keep a movie this chock full o’ stars completely under wraps.
It’ll be interesting to see how Nolan pulls everything to a close with this type of premise.
24 8-25-2009 at 10:53 am
aaron said...
Somehow I’ve resisted the temptation to read this. I will say, though, that cobb was the name of the villain in nolans first film, following. Also, I’ve seen a few people mention ariadne and the minotaur myth: that reminds me of a theme in the dark knight with gordon, dent, and batman forming a triumvirate like ceaser and his cohorts in rome. Also, the joker was conceived with allusions to the “trickster god” myth (joker was frequently compared to a dog and the name of the native american trickster god is “coyote”). Anyway, interesting stuff.
25 8-25-2009 at 11:44 am
Kristopher Tapley said...
Updated the piece. Just got a message from my source (who didn’t include character names initially) saying that Leo’s character is “Cobb” and his wife is not called Lisa. It is “Mal” or something strange like that, beginning with an “M,” he says.
26 8-25-2009 at 11:58 am
Jorge said...
I’ve heard Joseph Gordon Levitt has a huge part? Do you know if thats true Kris…? If it is, good for him! He really deserves it. So does Ellen….
27 8-25-2009 at 12:51 pm
Mark Kratina said...
Kris-
Mercy, was I excited to read that. Seems very interesting.
To all the people who are complaining about it being a cheap move by Kris- yeah, but you read it anyway, didn’t you?
All things considered, Kris, something tells me you might not be joining Bill Ramey on the Batman 3 junket (if Nolan has anything to say about it). : )
28 8-25-2009 at 1:01 pm
Dr. Manhattan said...
As a fellow Nolan fan, I’m disappointed that you posted this Kris.
29 8-25-2009 at 1:03 pm
BobMcBob said...
MAKE NOLAN KING!
30 8-25-2009 at 1:18 pm
jon said...
sounds good- love nolan. Have no problem with you posting the story (because it would have been revealed eventually) but perhaps you shouldn’t have given away a major character’s death because THAT definitely isn’t going to be revealed via “studio publicity.”
31 8-25-2009 at 2:11 pm
SciCurious said...
Well, if it’s a story about the labyrinthine nature of dreams, there’s no guarantee she’s actually dead or Cobb ever gets back to the Real World to be accused of murder. Plenty of room for Nolan to keep screwing with the audience.
What’s the release date of this Vs the new Nightmare on Elm Street? Hopefully we don’t get a month of Dream-based movies in 2010.
I’d love to see the trailer re-edited to “Mr Sandman”.
32 8-25-2009 at 3:00 pm
Vito said...
Let’s see here….
Looks like that’s Cillian Murphy getting dragged away on the helipad.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in the hallway scene fighting someone else I can’t make out.
33 8-25-2009 at 3:13 pm
John said...
Great scoop Kris! Don’t listen to the doubters.
34 8-25-2009 at 6:25 pm
Gene said...
This plot description is not accurate. At all. You’ve been duped, so just remember who told you first.
35 8-25-2009 at 6:33 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
At this point, with all the bickering over a simple premise, I frankly hope you’re right, Gene. It would bring a giant smile to my face.
36 8-25-2009 at 9:18 pm
Ryan Adams said...
If you’re right, Gene, that’s the best news I’ve heard all day. Like I said on Awards Daily this morning, “wouldn’t it be sweet if this were nothing but a carefully manipulated red herring?”
Would be very cool if a team of rumor engineers are deliberately seeding movie sites to screw around with our perceptions — our perceptions about a movie involving the slippery boundaries between dreams and reality.
All we’re lacking to complete the parallel scenario are a profit motive and possible homicide. (Kris and I are working on fulfilling the murder angle.)
(Is it unusual that this topic has a comment count of 43 at the top of the column but only 35 replies show up online?)
37 8-25-2009 at 10:08 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
It’s a glitch in the way trackbacks are counted. They show up in the number count but I’ve got a setting in place to keep them out of the actual thread. Never could figure out how to eliminate them from the number count as well.
38 8-26-2009 at 9:42 am
Ben M. said...
To be honest the trailer didn’t do much for me, but that is almost always the case with a such a brief glimpse. So I’m glad that more info about the film is coming out, hopefully this will also quiet some of the ridiculous rumors I’ve heard that Inception is actually Batman 3.
39 8-26-2009 at 4:20 pm
Algoresnuts said...
This plot info was posted on BOF a long time ago. Jett checked with Warner Bros. and asked for the post to be taken down. So you can take this info to the bank. If WB wanted it down, it has to be real.
40 8-26-2009 at 4:22 pm
Algoresnuts said...
And judging by the trailer, it doesn’t feel like MAtrix or Minority Report at all to me. IT feels like a real movie, not sci-fi at all. Even the shot of the hallway fight looks absolutely believable.
41 8-26-2009 at 4:23 pm
Algoresnuts said...
And judging by the trailer, it doesn’t feel like MAtrix or Minority Report at all to me. IT feels like a real movie, not sci-fi at all. Even the shot of the hallway fight looks absolutely believable, funny enough.
42 8-27-2009 at 11:15 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
I checked with Warner before I posted this, FYI. And I didn’t see that Bill (Jett) had posted it at BOF, but I have heard, since this report went up, that the info was at one or two message boards sometime along the way.
43 8-28-2009 at 6:50 am
Avis said...
I have to say, I had no idea about the new Nolan film,”Inception”, but watching the trailer definitely has piqued my interest.As far as Kris giving away a spoiler, what exactly has he given away? The only thing I read were the characters in the film, the actors that play them(an amazing cast), and some plot lines. I dont understand what the hooplah is about. I doubt it’s more than what will be shown in the coming months when more trailers will be released. And actually I’d like to thank Kris for posting , I wouldn’t have even heard of Inception, or been at all interested if he hadn’t posted.
44 8-28-2009 at 6:58 am
Cheryl said...
I think it looks like a great film. I can’t wait to see it. I love stuff like this and I love DiCaprio. I think he’s an excellent actor and fits the screen well and will do this film justice. I think all the hype about secrecy is doing it’s job. The public is all a flitter about what this film is about and causing more interest than normal. This was definitely a planned strategy.
45 9-03-2009 at 1:22 am
CHARLIE said...
IM HERE TO POINT OUT IN THE HALLWAY SCENE THE MAN IN THE GREY SUIT IS ORIGINALY BLACK, THEN L8R IN THE SAME SCENE HE IS WHITE AND LOOKS LIKE LEO. PONDER!
46 9-04-2009 at 12:44 pm
Fitz said...
Kris hasn’t given up anything spoilery. Although several users at trailer addict seem intent on doing so.
Keep the vitriol in check, people.
47 9-06-2009 at 12:25 pm
Jett said...
I received an email with the same info a while back. No, I didn’t check with WB, FYI. But I did run it past someone who would know if it was real. And it was.
It was indeed posted — something similar — on the BOF forums. Knowing that it was legit, I deleted it myself.
Just keeping the story straight here.
While BOF wouldn’t post this info, I don’t begrudge KT for posting it at all. I only begrudge him for being a Redskins fan. ;)
48 9-09-2009 at 6:54 am
timmythegreek said...
I want to see a Dreamscape remake — Snakeman ftw!!
49 9-23-2009 at 9:52 am
jacqueline said...
well nolan is quite the director, dicaprio is hell of an actor. Did’nt care for rev. road even though the book was one of my favorits,… but this is the kind of movie i really like. so can’t wait to see it.
50 11-06-2009 at 4:26 pm
Josh said...
For all the people complaining about Kris revealing these minor plot details, GET OVER IT! You are not being forced to read it if you dont want to.
51 12-30-2009 at 9:02 pm
Zero said...
I do not care that you posted this, in all honesty I still do not know what the movie is about.
52 12-31-2009 at 3:59 am
Logan said...
Much like The Matrix was heavily, heavily influenced by Ghost in the Shell a Japanese anime, this looks to be influenced by another Japanese anime Paprika, right down to the hallway dream sequence… hmmm…
53 1-03-2010 at 8:10 am
dee said...
wow. i’m blown away by the concept. can’t wait for the movie. thanks for sharing.
54 1-09-2010 at 4:28 pm
Matthew Nash said...
I love Nolan’s films, although I can’t help thinking, watching this trailer, of the clear Matrix similarities but also those with another more under-appreciated US scifi, Dark City…
55 1-11-2010 at 1:29 am
pascal saint-clair said...
Well, I don’t think that Inception could be compared too much to the Matrix and Dark City (though I hope it is as groundbreaking) but more to the anime “Paprika” which is a story of a woman who fights villains in other people’s dreams. The villains end up out of the dreamworld and altering our existence in apocalyptic proportions.
Notheless, I regret reading the spoilers here (though I was warned!) because Inception seems like an amazing movie that has a storyline different than what we’ve seen in the theatres in a LONG time. I should have just waited for the summer.
Anyway, creative films like this one (like the recent “9″) most of the time seem to be smaller releases. I love to see unusual plots developped by major studios.
56 1-15-2010 at 11:48 am
Paul said...
Inception sounds like an original take on the storyline in the film “Dreamscape” from the 1980’s…you enter someone else’s dream, plant an idea or maybe even kill them in their dream that they actually die in real life.
57 1-15-2010 at 11:51 am
Paul said...
Keeping the plot/storyline secret is just a marketing ploy by Nolan and it seems to be working…but is the film any good?
58 1-15-2010 at 12:44 pm
Paul Outlaw said...
I decided not to read the spoilers (and therefore none of the 57 comments ahead of me). Just wanted to note that given the plots of Memento and The Prestige I can see why Nolan likes to keep things close to the vest as long as possible.