Inception Film Theory | Mal's Totem

Video essay about the 'Mal's Totem' fan film theory for the movie Inception.


Letter from the creator:


Thanks for watching. I'm Lion El Aton, the creator of this video. This is a theory I came up with independently, but I have no doubt many others have probably come up with the same theory as well, so props to all of them.


I made this video because Inception is my favorite film of all-time, and I haven't really seen much online talking about this particular theory.

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I don't necessarily believe that what I'm expressing in this video was the director's intent, but there are so many details in the film that make extremely compelling arguments for other theories in Inception, that I think it's entirely possible Christopher Nolan added these other layers of possibility intentionally.


This is especially plausible when you consider Christopher Nolan's respect and admiration for filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick who certainly added hidden details to their films.


What's more important is that I think that by examining films more closely, we can improve our own filmmaking. So even if there's no truth whatsoever to this theory, I think there's at least value in it as a thought experiment. Who knows? It might inspire you to go out and film something.

Plus, it's fun.


- Lion

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