Christopher Nolan’s Inception is a bizarre movie; one that tries to explain the fabric of reality. The movie supplies that inception, creating a thought in someone’s mind and making it believe that it was their own, is an attainable process when one’s subconscious is delved into enough. The movie insinuates that and idea is the most dangerous thing in the world as it can change one’s entire perception, thus altering their reality. The movie, all in all, has an incredibly complex plot with many simultaneous moving pieces. “The Dream is Real” movie poster by Adam Rabalais perfectly encapsulates this in one image. This image is someone paradoxical and well symbolizes multiple points the movie was trying to make. The poster has a clear image of perception as well as some rhetorical aspects of its message.

Inception makes the statement: one’s perception of reality is his or her reality, at least subconsciously. “The Dream is Real” exemplifies this. The main focus of the poster is the spinning totem from the movie, ideally the only thing that transcended perception by making a statement towards whether or not the protagonist was, in fact, in reality. This symbol can represent the entire movie, as that alone, being such from the massive unanswered question at the end of the film quite literally revolving around it, is the single most recognizable thing from the movie. So this totem, something of such a unique shape, draws in the viewer to revel in the greater message. The totem itself is somewhat the definition of reality for the protagonist, as it cuts clear through his perception, whether he is aware of it or not. This changes the entire literal definition of the trinket, into the very lifeline that holds the plot together. The use of the totem, as the foundation of the poster, parallels the two mediums. 

As the totem in the film had a much deeper meaning, so does the totem in the poster, as the bottom part of it, is in fact an upside down cityscape. That being a clear allusion to the famous scene of the movie when the designer of the dream world manipulates their own perception of reality to change it around them, causing the city to fold over itself, buildings underneath inverted buildings. This being on the bottom of the totem in the poster has both a practical and symbolic meaning. Considering that they are upside down buildings, that would logically be on the bottom facing down, as well as allowing a viewer to recognize the shape of the totem at all. On top of this, however, the feat of turning the buildings did in fact occur within a dream, a lower level of consciousness, alternatively, being placed on the lower part of the totem. A clear shift beyond the physical to the mental.

The poster features this cityscape totem standing on a middle of a spiral. Seeing as the totem was supposed to spin, it makes sense, however, as with the other two it insinuates a deeper meaning. This spiral represents the entire fabric of one’s reality, ever-spiraling into oblivion. The movie states this oblivion as limbo, where one’s perception cracks as they enter their fragmented subconscious causing their sense of reality to cease. The giant words INCEPTION, are slipped into the last curve of the spiral. This title is place here, as opposed to anywhere else on the poster, because, in the film, inception happens at the lowest level of subconscious before limbo. So the title is placed in the last curve of the “fabric of reality”, spiral, before it ceases.

Now, without seeing the film, odds are this would all go over one’s head, but that doesn’t take away from the posters hidden intricacies. In a marketing sense, Leonardo DiCaprio’s name is at the top of the cast list in big letters, as he is the most marketable name on the list. Although someone who has not seen the film would not understand the significance of the totem, the totem itself is just as important to the film as the rings would be to The Lord of the Rings franchise, though not quite as recognizable or obvious. The poster itself is black with the text and images in red or beige. Not only does it literally create a stark contrast of colors, and make the poster beautiful in my opinion, the black can symbolize the expanse of the unknown, or the limbo. With the fuzziness around the general image, the poster implies uncertainty and almost immediately pegs the film as psychological. These have all been logical observations.

Seeing as how Inception was an original idea and had no book or other pieces to the series, there is a limited ability to appeal emotionally to an audience. This film’s release in 2010 was seven years after the disappointing conclusion to The Matrix; possibly grabbing some fans who were still chapped from that with the bold tagline “The Dream is Real”. The film would end up relying on the same “altered perception to reality” plot device while still maintaining a complete separation.

“The Dream is Real” is a beautiful noire-style film poster filled with beautiful graphics and a heavily implied deeper meaning. Overall this is one of my favorite film posters, as its simple yet meaningful design both alludes to the film itself and appeals to those who have yet to see it. It is fitting that poster can be evaluated to have many levels of meaning just as the film intends to portray. Because in reality, the poster is given meaning by however and by whomever it is perceived.

