Dream Scenario ★★★☆☆
Nicolas Cage in a bizarre black comedy where he’s the man of your dreams—and nightmares. It’s like that one recurring anxiety dream you have, except now the whole world is in on it. Who knew being a middle-aged schlub could make you famous? Or infamous, depending on the twist of the dream.
Paul Matthews (Cage), a humdrum evolutionary biology professor, wakes up to find that millions of people around the world are inexplicably dreaming about him. At first, this dream-celebrity status feels like a comedic gift—who wouldn’t want to be the talk of everyone’s subconscious? But as the dreams turn from awkwardly benign to disturbingly violent, Paul’s surreal ride takes a sharp nosedive into social media scandal and nightmarish infamy. The premise takes a stab at the sudden and uncontrollable nature of viral fame, filtered through the absurd lens of collective dreaming.
At its heart, Dream Scenario explores the fleeting and often destructive nature of fame, particularly the kind that’s manufactured overnight by meme culture and virality. Paul is the everyman stand-in for all those figures who’ve found themselves caught in the digital limelight, only to have it morph into a nightmare. It’s as much a commentary on cancel culture and the fragility of reputation as it is a reflection of society’s thirst for—and subsequent destruction of—its icons. The film leaves you wondering: is Paul a victim of his own insignificance, or the world’s insatiable need to create and crush celebrities on a whim?
Director Kristoffer Borgli leans into a visual style that’s unsettling in its calmness, blurring the lines between dream and reality so subtly you often forget which one you’re in until something goes horribly wrong. Filmed in gritty 16mm, there’s a tangible, almost claustrophobic texture to the movie that amplifies the discomfort of Paul’s spiraling life. Borgli plays with deadpan humor and slapstick awkwardness, creating a film that’s a bit like watching a slow-motion car crash: you can’t look away, even if the outcome is bleakly inevitable.
Nicolas Cage is, unsurprisingly, the center of this fever dream, delivering a performance that’s somehow both hilariously absurd and quietly tragic. His Paul is the embodiment of a man completely out of his depth, grappling with the sheer randomness of his rise—and fall—from grace. Julianne Nicholson as his wife, Janet, is the grounding force, providing a much-needed counterbalance to Paul’s unintentional slide into madness. Michael Cera, in a small but notable role, plays a marketing executive who capitalizes on Paul’s dream fame, adding a sharp satirical edge to the proceedings.
The film’s pacing mirrors a dream: it starts slow, with small surreal moments that build gradually into full-blown absurdity. While the premise is fascinating, it does run the risk of feeling repetitive. By the third act, the novelty of Paul’s situation begins to wear thin, and the movie struggles to find a satisfying resolution to its otherwise intriguing setup. It’s as if the dream itself has gone on too long, leaving the audience a little fatigued by the end.
We’ve all had that recurring nightmare where we show up to work unprepared or, worse, suddenly find ourselves in the middle of some inexplicable disaster. Paul’s ordeal taps into that universal anxiety but adds the public humiliation of the internet age. Watching his descent, I couldn’t help but think about how terrifying it must be to become a global meme—beloved one second, loathed the next—all while never fully understanding why it’s happening. It’s a fitting metaphor for our hyperconnected, hyperjudgmental world.
This film will appeal to fans of dark comedies that don’t shy away from awkwardness, discomfort, and a heavy dose of satirical wit. If you’re into movies like Being John Malkovich or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you’ll likely appreciate Dream Scenario’s off-kilter humor and eerie examination of fame. But be warned: it’s not a light, breezy watch. It’s a nightmare—and that’s exactly what it intends to be.
