“Dream Scenario” Review
Starring Nicolas Cage, “Dream Scenario” depicts Cage asa biology teacher inexplicably pops up in the dreams of thousands which quickly ascends him to a celebrity status.
With Nicolas Cage being a remarkable actor that loves independent cinema and the freedom it provides and with the studio A24 being one of the most prolific independent production and distribution companies in the world, it’s surprising that these two pop culture giants haven’t worked together. After all, both of these entities are incredibly passionate and critically acclaimed while also having a reputation for acting completely insane and having it be regarded as genius.
Well, just over 10 years after A24 was founded, their long-awaited collaboration has arrived with Kristoffer Borgli’s “Dream Scenario” which focuses on the very real problem of constantly dreaming about Nicolas Cage or, as I like to call it, the trajectory of my entire life ever since I saw Cage punch a woman to the ground while dressed as a bear in “The Wicker Man” and passionately recite the alphabet in “Vampire’s Kiss” on a cold October day in 2017. With an outstanding leading performance by Cage, a supremely smart script and bizarrely inventive visuals, “Dream Scenario” is a uniquely enjoyable picture that will fit nicely in Cage’s inevitable gigantic box set from The Criterion Collection (fingers crossed).
Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) is a biology professor who is happily married to Janet (Julianne Nicholson), a successful career woman, and has two wonderful children named Sophie and Hannah (Lily Bird and Jessica Clement). While he’s happy as a family man, Paul feels completely anonymous with the rest of the world. No one appears interested in publishing a book he wants to write about how ants communicate, his classes aren’t especially riveting and he never gets invited to the exciting dinner parties of his colleague Richard (Dylan Baker). However, Paul unexpectedly finds fame when he starts appearing in the dreams of thousands of people. In these dreams, he doesn’t really do anything and Paul doesn’t even have control or awareness of what he does in them. He’s just there. With this newfound fame and people finally beginning to take notice of Paul. As his presence in the dreams becomes more menacing and disturbing, Paul begins to deal with the consequences of celebrity.
As per usual, Nicolas Cage is incredibly engaging in this film. To sum him up as an actor reminds me of the classic Mae West line “When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better.” He just makes everything he’s in wonderful to watch but “Dream Scenario” is a clear depiction of his talents in both drama and comedy. While Cage is instantly recognizable with his distinct looks and persona, he still manages to find a way to disappear into these unique characters.
As Paul, Cage presents himself as awkward yet likable and you do feel the simple joys of his life but also understand his desire to be seen. When these dreams begin to happen and more people recognize him, he embraces this newfound fame. Maybe he’ll even get a publishing deal out of the whole thing. But, of course, things do go wrong and you begin to see the pain that Paul is going through as people begin to turn against him for something that he has no control over. It’s a rich performance that continues to display why Cage is as acclaimed as he is.
With a clever mix of social commentary and bizarre humor, Kristoffer Borgli has made something truly engaging. Watching “Dream Scenario”, you have no idea what’s going to happen next but you want to keep diving deeper into this world. Much of the film’s comedy derives from seeing how extreme the film can go especially with the depiction of people’s dreams. The creative visuals create such a hilariously weird environment that someone like Cage can just thrive in.
There are certain celebrities that we just look at and ask “how did you even get famous?” In this story, even Paul asks himself that question but decides to run with it in order to accomplish some of his goals and just be seen as cool. Like most celebrities, Paul realizes that the public’s perception of him is a prison. One scene that exemplifies this is when Paul meets with a marketing firm, led by Trent and Mary (Michael Cera and Kate Berlant), where he hopes to lay the groundwork to get his writing out there. However, their ideas feel like they’re trying to make Paul into the kind of internet influencer that you try to scroll past on Instagram.
We also see these consequences affecting Paul’s family with Janet, Sophie and Hannah all getting their fair share of isolation, bullying and harassment for things that they have nothing to do with. “Dream Scenario’s” study of fame isn’t just limited to its protagonist and it keeps exploring just how many avenues of Paul’s personal life can be affected by this new public persona.
As Paul’s fame gets worse and worse with each passing minute, “Dream Scenario” feels like such a cautionary tale for anyone who wants to get famous for seemingly doing nothing. It’s for the influencers, the TikTok challengers, the “content creators” and it’s all told with the kind of humor that will make you laugh hard in the moment but then take a step back to admire the joke’s construction and overall point.
With the fans of Nicolas Cage and A24 films often falling into the overlapping portion of this cinematic Venn diagram, “Dream Scenario” is sure to entertain them. I also believe that this film could really be popular with the mainstream crowd if given a chance. It’s a smart film that never loses focus and has one of the most entertaining actors of all time at the center of it. What’s not to love?
