By Galadriel Barrett-Laffan

Christopher Nolan’s brilliant film Inception, is a mind bending drama that challenges our senses. The film’s protagonist, Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) asks the question, “What is the most resilient parasite?”  The answer is an idea.  An idea, once it has taken root, is nearly impossible to shake. Dom Cobb is one of the world’s most skilled extractors of ideas. His ability to enter your dreams has made him a fugitive with nowhere to hide. He has lost everything that gives meaning to his life. Cobb is given a chance to get his life back if he can accomplish an almost impossible task in a landscape that is hard to comprehend – the dream state of the mind.

The plot centres around the premise that by accessing a person’s subconscious when their mind is at its most vulnerable, when they are asleep in the dream state, it is possible to truly know their thoughts and ideas and to affect them.  Cobb works in a dangerous world of international corporate espionage and is one of the most expert extractors in the field.  He and his team take on a new mission that involves not the stealing of an idea but the planting of one – inception; which is thought to be impossible.  The storyline, which cannot be fully explained in a few words, unfurls almost like a dream itself.  The opening scenes are fragmented and confusing as dreams often are.  Viewers may find themselves almost halfway through the movie before they really have a grasp of what is going on.  Even then Inception requires the viewer’s keen attention. The result is that while at times deeply confounding Inception is also incredibly satisfying and thought provoking.

It is also one of the most visually stunning films of all time.  Filled with gravity-defying, eye-popping special effects, Inception is a mixture of science fiction, thriller, action and romance, resisting genre classification and making it appealing to a diverse audience.  The deep, rich colours of the cinematography, as well as, art direction and costume design that reference the past and hint at the future, make the film feel both modern and timeless.  It is further strengthened by an interesting and appealing group of supporting characters and a bold, haunting musical score.

Inception is incredibly original and vastly entertaining.  It is enhanced by and almost demands multiple viewings and its ending will have moviegoers thinking and debating for years to come.  Inception is an absolute must-see.  It is undoubtedly one of the most gratifying and exhilarating movie experiences in recent memory. Faced with a summer blockbuster season rife with remakes and sequels it would be easy for moviegoers to assume that all the good ideas have already been made into films and that perhaps there are no new ideas left at all.  Inception blasts this assumption to pieces.