
Both Inception and the Matrix tell the story of false realities, and the results of living in them. Although both have other themes in play, the other themes all come together to connect to the theme of reality. These themes include suicide, creation of fictional worlds, and distraction from danger.

The “false reality” in Christopher Nolan’s Inception is created by people in order to gain knowledge and implant ideas into other people. Cobb uses these dreams as a business to make money. However, in the Matrix, the “false reality” was created as a way to harvest the energy of living people. Both benefit one side and negatively affect the other. However, the way this is approached is different with both movies. 

In Christopher Nolan’s Inception, Suicide is considered a safe way to exit a dream world, unless the dreamer is under heavy sedatives. Although this is considered safe in the dream, it does have consequences. For example, Cobb’s wife Mal committed suicide in the real world, believing that she was still in a dream and still needed to find a way to escape. This act shows the linking of the dream reality with the real world. In the Wachowski’s Matrix, death in the “false reality” always means death in the real world. In the final act of Inception, this consequence and danger becomes real, as death in the dream world means death in the real world due to the heavy sedatives that the dreamers are all under. This consequence in both the Matrix and Inception connects the false world with the real one, and makes the false reality feel like a reality. 

In inception, Cobb shares a story of how he and his wife had been trapped in limbo. They knew they were trapped in a false reality, but Mal did not want to return to the real world. They spent 50 years creating anything they wanted, and sharing the entire world with no one else but each other. Eventually, both Cobb and Mal grew old and Cobb felt that he wanted to return to the real world, but was not allowed by Mal. So Cobb uses inception to convince Mal that she is dreaming and the world they are living in is not real. After committing suicide and waking up, the subconscious thought that she is not living in the real world still exists, so Mal kills herself in the real world to try to “wake up”. In the Matrix, Cypher tells Agent Smith that he would like to forget that he is living in a false world, and would like to live in a blissful ignorance. This is the opposite of what happens to Mal, as she is living in a blissful ignorance and is then told she is not living in reality. However, due to her “knowledge”, she commits suicide in the real world. In this way, Inception almost promotes this blissful ignorance. However, in the Matrix, Cypher is portrayed as a traitor, so the Matrix makes this act of blissful ignorance seem as weak. The stronger ones, such as Neo, accept the real world, and lead the fight to free those trapped in the Matrix, while the weak, like Cypher, cannot accept the real world and instead chose to forget everything they know just to stay happy.  

In Inception, Cobb must hire an architect to create the dream world he is travelling to. The world can be created anyway we wants, and any way to sit him. In limbo, the world is a giant sandbox that can be crafted and shaped by anyone who travels there. In this way, the dream world would become better than the real world, and it would become difficult for anyone to leave. In the Matrix, the fictional Matrix world is much better than the dystopian real world, which would leave some, like Cypher, to prefer to live in the false world rather than the real one. 

In Inception, when a person discovers or realizes that the world is in fact a dream and not the real world, the world begins to collapse. The entire world grows unstable, and leaves buildings crumbling, people begin to target the dreamer, and the world falls apart. In the Matrix, this realization leaves one in danger of Agent Smith, but also morally responsible to fight the machines that are using humans. Both interpretations mean that a person cannot continue living a normal life after this realization. 

In the Matrix, Morpheus trains Neo how to control the world of the Matrix by taking him through different computer simulations. In one of these, Neo becomes distracted by the projection of a woman in a red dress. Because of this distraction, he is unaware of an agent holding a gun right in front of him. In Inception, Cobb is haunted by the projection of his deceased wife in the dream worlds he travels to. She presents danger whenever she appears, and tries to kill whoever Cobb is with. Both involve a woman as a distraction and danger to the man, as she prevents him from getting to his goal. However, in Inception, Mal acts as a distraction because Cobb cannot let go of his relationship with his wife. This failure to move on from his past puts everyone else in danger.  

Both the Matrix and Inception use themes and topics of suicide, designing a fake world, ignorance, and diversion in order to comment on living in false realities. Although both use different styles and messages in order to get their points across, for the most part both share the same overall theme. 