In the film Inception, Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is haunted by the memory of his wife Mal (played by Marion Cotillard) and feels guilty for her death. In the film, Cobb is a professional thief who specializes in the art of “extraction,” or stealing valuable information from people’s subconscious while they are in a dream state. However, Cobb’s wife Mal became obsessed with the idea of planting an idea in someone’s mind, known as “inception,” and began to believe that their world was not real.
As Cobb and Mal attempted to plant an idea in someone’s mind, they became trapped in a dream within a dream, unable to escape. In a moment of desperation, Cobb convinced Mal that their world was not real and that they needed to wake up. However, Mal refused to believe him and committed suicide, believing that she would wake up in the real world. Cobb was unable to wake up and was forced to flee the country, leaving his children behind.
Cobb is haunted by the memory of Mal and feels guilty for her death, believing that he is responsible for convincing her to kill herself. This guilt is a major theme of the film and plays a significant role in Cobb’s character arc.
