Audible Audience Reaction To Inception's Ending: This Is The Sound Of Awesome

Critics and bloggers and pundits around the world have spent the last week doing two things, consistently: First they’ve been busy praising Inception, and boy did it deserve it. Second, they’ve been trashing moviegoers… and deserve it they don’t.

We’ve only done the first of those two things here on Cinema Blend this week because much like Inception director Christopher Nolan, we believe in all of you. While the world has been quick to declare audiences to dumb to embrace this new masterpiece, Nolan’s movie has burst into theaters determined to assume that you’ll be smart enough to follow along with it. And you know what? He was right. You are, and here’s the evidence.

SPOILER WARNING: If you haven’t seen Inception, go no further. Turn back now! Huge spoilers follow.

Seriously, big spoilers which will ruin the entire movie for you are coming. Get out.

Everyone who hasn’t seen it gone? Great. Let’s keep going.

Inception’s ending is a risky proposition. For an audience that isn’t smart enough to get the movie, it’ll be frustrating, maddening, and disappointing. Yet I’ve seen the movie twice now, and the reaction to what happens at the end has been the same both times… and audible. Friends I've talked to who have attended other screenings have reported the same. It’s a sound being heard all around the country right now, an audience reaction quite unlike any other you’ve probably heard after any other film. It’s the sound of people, who are in on what’s going on, and happy to walk out the door without getting all the answers spoonfed to them. It’s the sound of smart moviegoers laughing and groaning all at once, the sound of frustration and delight colliding together in one cacophony, and here it is, thanks to one moviegoer brave enough to sneak in a recording device just to capture this one, singular audience moment right as the Inception credits roll:

Final Warning: This video shows the end of the movie. Don’t click play if you haven’t seen it!



Go easy on the guy who recorded this Warner Bros. Technically it’s piracy but of the harmless variety. More importantly, this is the sound of awesome. This is the sound of money, filling up your coffers. This is the sound of Inception.