In Dream Scenario, Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli paints a portrait of an ordinary man suddenly thrust into worldwide fame by events outside his control, and just as quickly torn down by the once-adoring public. The plot is simple – Nicolas Cage plays Paul Matthews, a professor of evolutionary biology at a small college, who inexplicably begins appearing in the dreams of nearly every person in the world. His unexpected prominence brings initial uncertainty, as Paul angles for a book deal and begins to come to terms with the changes that fame brings. He is not a man drawn to the limelight, but one who begins to come to terms with it just as people’s dreams of him turn to nightmares and his fame turns to widespread public hate.
In many ways, it is a simple story of the nature of fame and public opinion, but one that is ultimately dragged down by a muddled third act and the shoehorned inclusion of a somewhat questionable message about cancel culture. Though Cage turns in a masterful performance as the beleaguered Paul, as does the rest of the cast in their respective roles, it is not enough to save this movie from overcomplicating itself.
Dream Scenario is only Kristoffer Borgli’s third feature film, following 2017’s DRIB and 2022’s Sick of Myself. The film was also produced by Ari Aster, director of Midsommar, Hereditary, and Beau is Afraid, and his fingerprints and signature style are all over Dream Scenario. The film’s dream sequences in particular are creative, slick, and well-shot; often containing moments of genuine horror. The concept of the film is also one with a lot of potential, telling a classic story of a rise to fame and subsequent fall from grace. However, it all starts to fall apart when Paul meets with Michael Cera’s character, the head of a marketing firm. From there, the film devolves more and more into poorly thought-out social commentary and lazy jabs at issues that seemingly annoy the director.
Without spoiling the plot, towards the end of the movie, there’s a scene where Paul’s students are portrayed as a gang of stereotypical “liberal college snowflakes” trying to cancel their professor for something he had no control over. The film’s message against cancel culture lands flat in 2023 and conflating the real-world backlash against problematic celebrities to the entire world turning against a man who shows up in their nightmares seems disingenuous at best. After all, in reality, celebrities are usually criticized for things they actually did, and Paul Matthews has no control over people’s dreams. He is harmed by this situation just as much as anyone else and using him to make a point about cancel culture seems to imply that celebrities facing criticism are the innocent victims of a mob of woke college students. Though the film makes a few halfhearted efforts to place itself as a centrist, both-sides-are-bad affair, its political leanings are clearly more in one direction than the other. Finally, setting aside the politics of the film, the final act introduces a twist that loses the plot entirely and twists the formerly personal focus into a satire that is almost science-fiction in nature.
Dream Scenario starts off with incredible promise. As mentioned above, Nicolas Cage delivers a raw and emotional performance as Paul, the cinematography and dream sequences are all excellent, and the jokes are (for the most part) very funny. There is a legitimately good personal story about the price of fame buried under miles of questionable social commentary and an ending that complicates things unnecessarily and distracts from what made the movie good in the first place. The final scene of the movie is also genuinely moving, despite the twenty minutes preceding it. If the middle of the movie had been more like its first act and last scene, it would have been a significantly better experience. As it is, Dream Scenario is a movie with potential, but one that fails to do justice to its premise and excellent performances.
3/5 STARS