‘Dream Scenario’ Movie Review

Dream Scenario is the story of Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage). Paul is a biology professor who’s about as boring as he is insecure. Seemingly out of nowhere, people all over the world begin having dreams about him, including his students. While his wife (Julianne Nicholson) is instantly wary, Paul initially enjoys what he perceives to be appreciation. But soon the dreams become violent nightmares, and Paul must navigate a world that is suddenly frightened and repulsed by him.

First and foremost, this is an absolutely bizarre movie. It’s dry, offbeat, sometimes brazenly uncomfortable; it’s undeniably an art house film, and it will certainly not be for everyone’s tastes. But in my opinion, it’s absolutely marvelous. It’s a difficult movie to categorize, beginning as an absurdist comedy before taking a hard left turn into psychological horror, eventually culminating in a sort of Greek tragedy. Either way, it’s truly original and altogether brilliant. This is only the second feature film from Norwegian writer/director Kristoffer Borgli, and his first to be entirely in English. The film does have a distinctly mainland European flavor to it, and with the exception of some of its cast, has practically no trace of Hollywood in its DNA. A24 golden boy Ari Aster was a producer on the film, and if you know Aster’s work, it shows, especially in its occasional resemblance to Beau is Afraid. Apparently he was in talks to direct before they decided Borgli could and should direct it himself, and I think they made the right call. I look forward to seeing Borgli further develop his craft, whether he continues to do so in the United States or not.

This might be the most uncharacteristic performance of Nicolas Cage’s career, or at the very least, in a good while. You won’t find much in the way of intense muttering or wild outbursts here. He fully commits to being a hapless dork. He does a more nasally, higher-pitched voice, complete with an annoying inhale-laugh and everything. For as much grief as Cage gets for his trademark style, people forget that he can be a bit more chameleonic when he needs to be, and he’s spellbinding here. Julianne Nicholson is similarly mousy, and she’s great alongside Cage, with whom she has terrific chemistry. There are also several appearances from veteran character actors like Dylan Baker, Tim Meadows, Kate Berlant, Nicholas Braun, and even Michael Cera, all of whom make great use of their time building onto this quirky world.

This is the kind of film that is likely to be analyzed by critics and movie buffs for years to come, and I’m not sure I’m totally prepared to unpack all of it, but I’ll go ahead and try to scratch the surface here. The story revolves around collective admiration, and then subsequent disdain, for a real life person for fictional reasons. Some people (including a certain misguided character in the film) might see this as a commentary on “cancel culture” or something of the kind, but I feel like it’s more introspective than that. I’ll try to say this in a way that avoids spoiler territory as much as possible, but the film basically anthropomorphizes Paul’s insecurity. It’s a movie in which, for a brief but important period, the world suddenly sees Paul the way he sees himself, and his actions end up affecting the dreams people have about him, albeit in a somewhat more abstract manner. There’s also a slight monkey’s paw aspect to the story. Paul begins the film feeling unnoticed, even though he does have family and friends who care about him. But that’s not good enough for him, so he ends up getting the recognition he thought he wanted, just at a grave price. There are some deeply uncomfortable moments in the film, but they have appropriate payoffs, so all of those instances feel earned. And by the end of the film, you’re left with mixed emotions, but strong ones, and that’s what bold art should do.

Dream Scenario is likely to divide, and perhaps confuse, audiences, but it’s an absolutely enthralling film that runs the gamut of comedy, tragedy, and psychological horror. Nicolas Cage is completely transformed in a world populated by the absurd, and it’s sure to go down as a career high point for him. It’s captivating, utterly mad, and truly unique.

SCORE: 5/5