Dream Scenario

DREAM SCENARIO (15)

D: Kristoffer Borgli 

A24 / Saturn / Square Peg (Lars Knudsen, Ari Aster, Tyler Campellone, Jacob Jaffke & Nicolas Cage)

US 🇺🇸 2023

102 mins

Comedy/Fantasy 

W: Kristoffer Borgli

DP: Benjamin Loeb

Ed: Kristoffer Borgli

Mus: Owen Pallett

Nicolas Cage (Paul Matthews), Julianne Nicholson (Janet Matthews), Michael Cera (Trent), Tim Meadows (Brett), Dylan Baker (Paul), Dylan Gelula (Molly)

Nicolas Cage gives a remarkable performance as an unremarkable man in this black comedy fantasy from Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Bergli. 

Cage plays Paul Matthews, a rather dull and bookish college professor who becomes the subject of a global phenomenon when he randomly appears in the dreams of both people he has and hasn’t met.  While the dreams just feature him doing nothing & just simply being there, he becomes something of a celebrity and uses the opportunity to promote his as-yet-unwritten book about biological evolution.

As time goes by, Paul becomes less passive in the dreams of these strangers and becomes a threat to their subconscious - turning him into a villain in the real world & resulting in a deterioration of both his career and family life.

It’s a strange story, for sure, but its probably the most original film of 2023 & akin to some of the works of Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry.  The shaggy dog story ending is a bit of a let down, but the rest is an astute fable about the price of fame, cancel culture & get rich quick schemes being creatively bankrupt.

At the very least, it’s a good thing to see Nicolas Cage appearing in decent movies once again.

7/10