Dream Scenario review.
Nicolas Cage is the man of everybody’s dreams in this dark satire of fame. We go horror adjacent for Nic Cage…you know that by now.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Dream Scenario
Directed by Kristoffer Borgli
Written by Kristoffer Borgli
Starring Nicolas Cage, Lily Bird, Julianne Nicholson, Jessica Clement, Star Slade, David Klein, Kaleb Horn and Tim Meadows
Dream Scenario Review
Let’s address the elephant in the room right off the bat. Dream Scenario isn’t a horror movie. Horror adjacent, perhaps. This is a dark satire…but it does utilize some horror elements in its darker dream sequences. The story’s real nightmare is reserved for its main character…played by the always interesting Nicolas Cage. He tones down the Cage-ness here to give us an everyman who finds himself at the center of a strange, life-changing phenomenon. Listeners of our podcast will know that Cage is a frequent topic of conversation. How could we let even the slightest horror elements pass by with him in the lead?
Paul Matthews (Cage) is a regular guy. There isn’t one interesting thing about him. That is until he starts appearing in millions of people’s dreams. At first, he appears as a hapless bystander…a non-threatening passerby. This brings him (and his family) a level of unwanted fame they aren’t equipped to handle. It gets much worse when those people’s dreams turn into nightmares.
There is probably a version of Dream Scenario that is a pure horror movie. Some of the nightmare sequences in the second half of the film are very effective. Dream Scenario chooses to play them out in service of its commentary on fame culture. It works. The rise and fall of a man who wasn’t asking for any of this…who didn’t actually do anything to warrant the attention…is an intriguing story.
The story shows Paul dealing with two types of fame. He initially receives positive attention. He hopes that will open some doors for him. Doors to the life he’s always wanted. Not fame and fortune…just a seat at the cool table, the respect of his peers and a publisher for the book he hasn’t even written. He finds those things difficult to attain even as one of the most famous people on the planet. At least…difficult to attain without strings attached. Later in Dream Scenario Paul receives negative attention for his role in people’s nightmares. His non-threatening everyman becomes the boogeyman overnight.
Both versions of Paul that people encounter in their dreams lead to negative consequences for Paul and his family. Fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Whether attracting a mentally ill home invader or attending pitch meetings on how to monetize the situation…Paul is immediately inundated with undesired attention. You can imagine how much worse it gets when his dream presence turns into a murderous nightmare man. The toll it takes on Paul and his family becomes too much to handle.
Paul’s frustration over how people see him is at the core of Dream Scenario. He is blamed for the actions of his dream avatar. Which is insane, of course. Not only are the dreams not real…but Paul isn’t responsible for them. This is a story about the celebrity and ruination of a decent man by a society that simply chooses to do it. Paul affects almost nothing in the story and, by extension, his life. He’s as passive as he appears in people’s dreams at the start of the phenomenon. Dream Scenario never tells us why the switch occurs. Why this is happening isn’t important. What happens as a result is.
Dream Scenario is an imaginative satire of modern fame culture. Cage’s performance keeps things interesting througout. There are a lot of ideas here…and most of them work. There was room for a bit more fun with the concept, but the nature of Paul’s character makes that somewhat difficult. He has to be an unwitting participant in his own fame for the deeper satire to work. Thankfully, it works well enough to excuse the potentially wilder impulses left out of the story.
Most importantly, Dream Scenario is unique. It’s a fresh take on a relevant idea. Paul goes viral, becomes famous overnight and sees his life fall apart as quickly. Throughout it all his modest life goals remain unattainable. The real horror of Dream Scenario is that in the end…whether it be your dream job or dream homelife…you still have to work for it.
Scare Value
Dream Scenario deploys some horror techniques inside of its nightmare sequences. For the most part, however, this is a dark comedy through and through. Cage is excellent as the remarkably unremarkable Paul Matthews. It explores an intriguing concept. At times, however, it feels like there were missed opportunities. It’s still an entertaining, and original, film.
3.5/5
Dream Scenario Link
In theaters now – Fandango
