Without a doubt, one of the most cryptic and open-ended movie endings of recent times has been Inception, the Christopher Nolan-directed sci-fi movie whose plot-lines were as complex as the graphics were stunning.

However, movie icon Sir Michael Caine has offered fans what could be a definitive answer to the film’s final riddle – is Leonardo Dicaprio’s character Dom Cobb still dreaming, or has his life returned to normal, reunited with his children?

The 85 year old star recalled in an interview with SyFy a conversation he once had with Nolan during the filming of Inception. It turns out that even the actors don’t often understand what happens in the movies they’re in, but it turns out that, regarding Caine’s character of Professor Stephen Miles, it’s quite simple.

Michael CaineMichael Caine explained the end of 'Inception'

“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.”

Therefore, in the very last scene, before the film cuts to black, presumably Cobb is back in reality, as Professor Miles is present. His totem, a spinning top, spins indefinitely in a dream but eventually falls if Cobb is in reality, but the viewer never gets to see at the end.

DiCaprio himself has described Inception as “very confusing” in interviews. Its labyrinthine plot hasn’t stopped the film being one of Nolan’s most acclaimed, but the actor said he insisted on being absolutely sure what was going on.

“I needed to know implicitly where we were. It got incredibly confusing at certain points in the beginning, but the more we talked, the more I understood,” he said.

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