Dream Scenario

Community Rating

Director: Kristoffer Borgli

Writer: Kristoffer Borgli

Stars: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Bird, Jessica Clement

Runtime: 1h 42m

MPAA: R

Released: November 22, 2023

Fame can be fickle, or so it’s said. What may seem to be a great opportunity could prove to be an undoing. It can also be unearned and thrust upon those that have not really worked for it, making it all the more difficult to navigate for the newly famous. It is these themes that Kristoffer Borgli explores with Dream Scenario.

Nicolas Cage is brought in to lend his talent as the lead character of Paul Matthews. Paul is an ordinary professor who has been appearing in the dreams of countless strangers for no apparent reason. In this role Nicolas Cage is able to really lean into what makes him a unique actor. His tendency to jump in one hundred and ten percent into whatever he’s doing works well for Dream Scenario.

Paul, desperate to move past his reputation of being boring, becomes excited for fame and the attention it brings. When this fame eventually finds him via his dream appearances he seeks to control and use it to his advantage. The struggle to do this effectively puts a strain on his own mental health, physical well being, and relationships with others.

This includes his wife and children. Julianne Nicholson plays his wife Janet, Jessica Clement is his oldest daughter Hannah, and Lily Bird his youngest daughter Sophie. Their comparatively understated performances do well to contrast Nicolas Cage, working to show the difficulties in facing a newly unwanted public life. This publicity becomes more challenging when the random dreams become more sinister, turning Paul infamous.

It is at this pivotal moment in the story, when Paul transitions from beloved public oddity to reviled menace, that the story unfortunately falls a bit flat. Whereas early dream sequences are shown in an interesting and imaginative way, those that lead to his downfall in public perception are shown in mere flashes. In these flashes we see brief moments of nightmare induced terror. These moments could have been even more impactful with longer sequences of Nicolas Cage being his most extreme.

Fortunately the overall story still works quite well as is. For as bizarre as the premise of the film is, the rise and fall of Paul’s reputation feels genuine. Moments of black comedy, horror, and suspense keep the audience engaged throughout. A couple of instances of subverted expectations do well to prevent the film from falling into predictability. However, there is still a sense that some elements could have been pushed further to really bring the most out of the unique subject matter Kristoffer Borgli is working with.

Benjamin Loeb’s cinematography is played mostly straightforward. It is almost gritty, keeping Dream Scenario grounded. But make no mistake, this does not mean the film looks boring. Interesting angles and compositions keep dialogue heavy scenes flowing in a way that does well to convey the thoughts of each character on screen.

Similarly the soundtrack by Owen Pallett is fully a companion piece to the screen. It moves between a simple score fitting of daily life to horrified tension. It is beautiful in its own right, but never dominates any scene. While effective in evoking the right tones, the audience probably won’t be left humming any score when leaving the theater.

Dream Scenario is a good film that is led first and foremost by the acting of Nicolas Cage. His portrayal of Paul is well worth checking out. Kristoffer Borgli brings forth a compelling premise of fame’s positives and negatives. Inside this character study there are also points to be had about ambition, jealousy, and complacency. Each of these drives Paul to make decisions that drastically affect his own life and those around him, for better or worse. It is here that Dream Scenario is most successful.

★★★☆☆