Inception (2010)

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an expert in dreams. He’s an extractor—an agent who enters people’s dreams to get information. He works with a crack team who support each other in dream worlds, entrusting their lives to each other. When Cobb’s latest job goes awry, and a team member double-crosses him, their latest target, Saito (Ken Watanabe), enlists him in an impossible task: implant an idea of a rival to overtake their company. As compensation, Saito promises Cobb can see his children. The procedure is called “Inception,” and since Cobb is a tortured man, the promise of seeing his children is too good to pass up. Ariadne (Elliott Page) comes in as a new team member, eager to learn and excel at the craft of building dream worlds. As they go deeper into overlapping dream worlds to enact Saito’s plan, she realizes that Cobb is ruled by his wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), who lives in his subconscious. Unless Cobb shakes her, the whole operation will fall into jeopardy. With his distraction, the team could become trapped in a dream world, and Ariadne must help Cobb with his demons and hope that the risks they take are worth it.

Christopher Nolan is known for infusing film noir with other genres, whether they are sci-fi or horror, and Inception is no exception. Spectacular visual effects, a stellar cast and an intriguing story with many twists and turns make this film a stylish adventure into dream worlds, espionage and lost love. Inception is now known as a modern classic, and you have to love the injection of Canadiana with Page as a key character and Alberta as one of the many filming locations.