A dream within a dream within a log upon a stream

Rating: 9/10 (12 September 2016)

I had seen this film three times in the theater, and countless other times on the small screen, and I still notice little things that are new to me. Unlike in The Matrix where the plot goes nowhere, Inception has layers in its storytelling that forces the viewer to question everything that is happening on screen. I have come to the conclusion that the entire movie is a single dream narrative, and many red herring's are used to mislead the viewer into separating the film's "reality" and "dream" narratives. There is no reality in this movie; all of what the viewer is seeing is a constant dream state that either Cobb himself is experiencing, or perhaps another party is experiencing. Perhaps someone has infiltrated Cobb's mind and planted the idea that inception was possible -therefore Incepting the idea of Inception in Cobb's mind. Perhaps Mal is the culprit, but I cannot know for sure.
Many people see Inception as a metaphor for filmmaking, as many great films provoke thought and "plant" ideas in the minds of its viewers. Inception is fantastic at planting ideas in the viewers mind in an attempt to redirect the truth. But, the viewer can never know what the truth is. Is the spinning top Cobb's or Mal's totem? What is Cobb's totem if the spinning top was used as a red herring. Man, Inception is even planting ideas in my head now. A truly thought provoking film.
The only gripe I have with this movie is that the characters spout constant exposition, but perhaps that was the point. The exposition in this film is used as a red herring to plant ideas in the viewers mind about how the dream states work- even if they are completely untrue. Don't take anything at face value in this movie. They are trying to pull an Inception on you!