You’re dreaming. Or are you? Maybe you are just under a drug comatose and don’t know how to escape. Or maybe your world isn’t real whatsoever.

In the 2010 film, the whole story revolves around the idea of planting thoughts of our world not being “real”. Dominick “Dom” Cobb, the main character played by the notorious Leonardo DiCaprio, plants the idea is his wife’s head that her world isn’t real. They proceed to take an extremely strong sedative to send them into a dream subconscious called “limbo”. In this dream sharing state, Cobb and his wife were stuck for 50 years, growing old together.

When they finally returned to real life, Mal, the wife, could not accept the fact that she was back. She tried to persuade Cobb to go back into limbo by killing themselves together. When he refused, she continues to kill herself, placing the blame on Cobb. Dom eventually has to flee. On the side, another plot continues to unfold in which Cobb uses his knowledge of dream sharing to infiltrate a businessman’s mind to plant ideas. When the mission to get the ideas is complete and Cobb realizes that Mal is actually dead/in the limbo, Cobb rests peacefully in the reality he wants with his two kids.

The overall production of the film was quite lucrative. In the beginning of the movie, new people and storylines come out of nowhere, throwing you in a loop. And all the while, the movie is set up to make it feel like you are in a dream while watching. Story lines of the characters in limbo and in other dream worlds actually take up no time in reality. So, while the movie is about jumping dreams with people, you, the viewer, feel like you are in a dream too. The last theatrical effect is the use of repeating images in the movie. For example, in the beginning, you see flashes of curtains all over. Then, and hour and a half into the movie, you see where the curtains actually came from.

As stated before, the lead in the movie is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Leo has played a large variety of roles in his time. From a sweet lover in Titanic to a ruthless killer in The Revenant. So, while this movie provides places where he can be a lover and an action killer, the role fits him extremely well. And while some will say Leo has “the look”, he is the perfect actor for the role since the role requires him to be very human, reaching almost all aspects of human emotion in the movie.

The supporting characters did a sufficient job also. For the character Mal, who is mostly bad in the movie, is an intimidating woman who has certain aspects like the devil. Certainly, there are parallels drawn between her and Satan since she wants to drag Cobb down in death as the devil does. The best supporting actor in the movie will have to be Ariadne played by Ellen Philpotts-Page, the mild mannered yet courageous helper of Cobb. She is the main reason Cobb can move past the death of his wife.

The special effects the movie presents are unmatched to date. Being able to capture the feeling of dreaming is not easy. In multiple cases, the screen writers needed to end the laws of physics and trick the viewer into thinking it is real. Even I was quite shocked by the elaborateness of the special effects. At one point, the producers bent the layout of a city which was very impressive.

When you finish watching this movie in entirety, there is no doubt you will be dumbfounded. Between the insane special effects and the way the movie sets up like a dream, there is enough to send you into a trip, sober. I can assure you if you are reading this you are not dead, but I can’t promise you that you aren’t in a dream.