This cerebral heist thriller has so many twist and turns* that every time I rewatch, I discover a new hidden detail.
So, here are some hidden details and easter eggs from Inception that’ll have you wanting to rewatch immediately.
1.
“Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” by Édith Piaf — aka the “kick” song used throughout the film — is two minutes and 28 seconds long. The runtime for Inception is two hours and 28 minutes long.
2.
After the failure of the initial Saito (Ken Watanabe) “extraction” in the opening title sequence, Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) states that he “doesn’t like trains.” Trains are symbolic throughout the film, specifically as a motif for Cobb and Mal (Marion Cotillard).
4.
If you add the remaining characters, it spells out “DREAMS PAY”: Peter (Tom Berenger), Ariadne (Elliot Page), and Yusuf (Dileep Rao).
5.
Each member of the inception team is a foil for the film making process — Cobb is the director, Arthur is the producer, Ariadne is the production designer, Eames is the actor, and Saito is the studio.
6.
3502 is a recurring number between Cobb and Mal — we first see it as the room number for their anniversary hotel room and also on the train that runs through their inception coup.
7.
528491 is a recurring number pertaining to all things Robert and the inception coup.
8.
Dom hires Ariadne because of her aptitude for mazes and puzzles. In Greek mythology, Ariadne helped Theseus escape the minotaur’s maze by giving him a spool of thread to use to enter the labyrinth and then to escape the labyrinth.
9.
Dom’s totem is a red herring — the film leads us to believe that his totem is the spinning top, when, in fact, that was Mal’s totem. Dom’s totem is actually his wedding ring — when he’s dreaming, he has it on, and then when he’s in reality, he does not.
10.
The Russian/Slavic word for “home” is дом which, phonetically, sounds like Dom.
11.
The Urdu word for “dream” is خواب (khwab) which, phonetically, sounds like Cobb.
12.
The French word for “wrong” is mal, aka Mal, Cobb’s deceased wife.
13.
In the first level of Robert’s dream, when we see the license plates of cars on the street, the state motto reads “the alternate state.”
14.
The second level of Robert’s dream takes place in Hotel Valfierno which is a reference to Eduardo de Valfierno, a con man who allegedly stole the Mona Lisa in 1911.
15.
Lastly, this line from Leo’s character is a cheeky reference to his role in Catch Me If You Can:
Did I miss any other little-known Inception facts? Let me know in the comments!