Inception (2010)

Inception (2010), a science fiction action film by Christopher Nolan, features Cobb and Arthur as skilled ‘extractors’ hired for corporate espionage. They use innovative dream-sharing technology to delve into the subconscious minds of their targets and extract valuable information. Their current task is impressing Saito, who is interested in Cobb’s ability to create multiple layers of dreams. Saito then offers Cobb a seemingly impossible job: to implant an idea into the mind of Robert Fischer, the son of his competitor Maurice Fischer, with the goal of dissolving his father’s company. In exchange for this mission, Saito promises to clear Cobb’s criminal record and allow him to reunite with his family. Accepting the offer, Cobb assembles a team consisting of a forger named Eames, a chemist named Yusuf, and a college student named Ariadne.

Ariadne is responsible for creating the dream’s architecture, as this task poses a risk for Cobb due to his fear of being influenced by his deceased wife Mal. Following the death of Maurice Fischer, the team puts Robert Fischer into a three-level shared dream aboard a plane headed to America, funded by Saito. Each layer operates at a slower pace than the one above it, and one member remains in each layer to execute a coordinated ‘kick’ (accompanied by the French song Non, je ne regrette rien) simultaneously waking all dreamers. While abducting Robert in a city on the first level, they encounter resistance from his highly trained subconscious projections. After Saito sustains an injury, Cobb discloses that instead of waking up upon dying within the dream, they will enter ‘Limbo’: an infinite world of subconscious. To introduce the concept of an alternate will to dissolve the company, Eames assumes the identity of Robert’s godfather, Peter Browning.