Huh? What just happened? Often, when the film unravels to an end on the big screen, we tend to feel confused about how the film ended…Huh? Come again?...It is the intention of the directors to leave the ending of their films open-ended, leaving the conclusion up to the viewer’s imagination.

I got to thinking about this notion after I watched the recently-released film, “Inception.” Dream or no dream, reality or no reality, I could not figure out whether Leonardo Dicaprio’s character, Cobb, was back in reality or still in his subconscious dream in the end. Did his totem stop spinning before the film cut to black? Finally, I decided that Cobb was back in reality. Whew.

(If you have not yet watched “Inception,” I strongly suggest you to watch it—it will blow your mind!—and come back to read my blog)

Perhaps that is the magic of film-making: The ability to add ambiguity to a film.

When I google, “What really happened in Inception,” a wealth of discussion boards containing possible conclusion theories pop up.

The lack of final clarity encourages us to think, discuss, and draw theories on our own, using our brains a little more on the art of a specific film.

It makes the spark of a film live a bit longer in our minds and in our hearts.