Inception (2010)
Inception is a 2010 action movie directed by Christopher Nolan, with a running time of 2h 28m. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ken Watanabe.
A thief named Cobb steals secrets by breaking into people's dreams, and he is good enough at it that a corporation hires him for the reverse job: not to steal an idea but to plant one, buried deep enough that the target believes he thought of it himself. Christopher Nolan builds the heist across nested dream layers, each running at a different speed, so a van falling off a bridge up top buys hours of gunfight in a snowbound fortress below. Hans Zimmer's score bends time with the visuals. It is a blockbuster that trusts you to track five realities at once.
Quick answers
What is Inception about?
A thief named Cobb steals secrets by breaking into people's dreams, and he is good enough at it that a corporation hires him for the reverse job: not to steal an idea but to plant one, buried deep enough that the target believes he thought of it himself. Christopher Nolan builds the heist across nested dream layers, each running at a different speed, so a van falling off a bridge up top buys hours of gunfight in a snowbound fortress below. Hans Zimmer's score bends time with the visuals. It is a blockbuster that trusts you to track five realities at once.
When was Inception released?
Inception was released on 15 July 2010.
How long is Inception?
Inception runs 2h 28m.
Who made Inception?
Inception was directed by Christopher Nolan.
Where can I watch Inception?
Inception is available on Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home and Spectrum On Demand.
Where to watch Inception
Rent: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home, Spectrum On Demand
Buy: Fandango at Home
Official site
Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur
- Ken Watanabe as Saito
- Tom Hardy as Eames
- Elliot Page as Ariadne
- Dileep Rao as Yusuf
- Cillian Murphy as Robert Fischer, Jr.
- Tom Berenger as Peter Browning
- Marion Cotillard as Mal Cobb
- Pete Postlethwaite as Maurice Fischer
- Michael Caine as Stephen Miles
- Lukas Haas as Nash
Similar movies
Explore Inception guides
Inception in our writing
- Film / Culture War: The Odyssey Dislike Campaign Is a Verdict on Nothing
- Companion guide: Amnesia & Memory
- Companion guide: Dreams & the Subconscious
- Companion guide: Mind Control & Brainwashing
A few thoughts on Inception
Christopher Nolan turns a heist into a puzzle box you assemble while it collapses. The Matrix chases the same what-is-real vertigo, and Disco Elysium hands you a whole fractured mind to walk around inside as a game.
Mind-bending sci-fi that rewires reality
Inception stacks dreams inside dreams until you lose track of which layer is real. These films play similar games with perception and identity, dropping characters into altered spaces, swapped lives, or first contact where the rules keep shifting. Bring your full attention; they reward it.
Smart thrillers about surveillance, cons and manipulation
Cobb's crew doesn't steal ideas so much as engineer belief, planting a thought so the target owns it. These shows and thrillers live in that same territory of watching, hacking, and mind games, where the real weapon is knowing how people think. Tense, plotted, and paranoid.
Wall-to-wall action spectacle
Between the puzzles, Inception delivers zero-gravity brawls and a fortress under fire. These action films go for the same big-canvas set-pieces and relentless pace, trading brainteasers for pure momentum. Put them on when you want the spectacle side of a blockbuster without the four-layer chase.