Inception is one of the most elegant and intriguing, yet confusing and puzzling films you will ever see. Only Christopher Nolan, the director of Memento, could have created such a non-linear spectacle. But don’t be intimidated by it. You will often find yourself wondering, ‘what exactly is going on here?’ Know that you’re in good company—it’s impossible to understand everything on first viewing. Even the characters in the film are unsure when they’re dreaming and when they’re awake. Like its dreams, Inception has layer upon layer, and will require many viewings before all is clear. It’s best just to ride it, like a surreal wave.

Set in the near future, Leonardo DiCaprio, as the smoldering Cobb, heads a team of information harvesters. What they do is not exactly legal, but they are hired to share dreams with corporate heads, wandering around inside their subconscious minds until they find the strategic information they’re paid to extract. Planting a new idea--or inception—now that’s quite a different story, but one that’s too hard to resist for the characters, each with his or her own reasons for risking so much on an intricate, three-layer dream that’s full of danger and mystery.

This is certainly one of the most stellar casts every assembled. Juno’s Ellen Paige is the brilliant new architect of the dreams. Joseph Gordon-Leavitt is a seasoned handler. Marion Cotillard is Cobb’s wife and Ken Watanabe is the business magnate who hires them for this ultimate project. Cillian Murphy is the corporate heir whose dreams are invaded, and Pete Postlethwaite is his ailing father. Michael Caine checks in every now and then as DiCaprio’s father-in-law. Their chemistry is magic – the stuff dreams are made of.

The score, from Hans Zimmer’s workshop, is also a major character in the film. The music is so compelling it adds yet another remarkable dimension.

Although it’s being released mid-summer, expect to hear a lot more about Inception early next year during awards season. It will most assuredly be nominated in almost every category, and is more than worthy of all the kudos it is bound to receive. It is, in essence, a cinematic masterpiece.

Rated PG-13

—Lisa Johnson Mandell