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We are living through an undeniably cursed age of the fan theory.
We can all agree that the ending actively demands interpretation.
One interpretation that it definitely doesnt demand, though, is that none of it is real.
The it was all a dream-ification ofTarstarted soon after the movies release in the fall.
Theres no way that any of this could possibly take place in reality.
And did you not notice the little jump-scare ghosts all over Tars house?
The repeated Shipibo-Conibo maze patterns?
The unexplained ticking metronome?
The random screams in the woods?
Theres weird stuff going on during the whole thing.
The reason the movies weirdness intensifies in this stretch is becausethats what a climax is.
It doesnt mean that what you see is not happening.
If anything, its extremely happening.
I dont necessarily blame whoever gets caught up in this bang out of thinking.
Im sure theyre all very nice people, but on this topic, I will not be swayed.)
Questions posed in one installment are often answered in the next.
), and entire comic-book franchises are built on it.
Its a great way to keep audiences talking after a movie ends.
But its a terrible way for us to actually enjoy it as it plays.
What bothers me most about the its all a dream theory is that its not constructive.
What, exactly, do you get out of solving a movie this way except something to post about?
How does a story become more interesting after you decide that a whole portion of it never happened?
Why are we still debating the ending ofInceptionwhen the whole point of that ending is that answers dont matter?
Whenever this theorydoesbear out onscreen, Id go so far as to say that its a bad twist.
Do we not look at thatDallasseason finalewith scorn (and, perhaps, awe at its audacity)?
To do that, and to actually engage with art, you have to be awake.
