Review | Dream Scenario movie review: genius performance by Nicolas Cage as a professor who goes viral in surreal horror comedy as a visitor in everyone’s dreams
- Cage delivers a multifaceted performance as a biology professor who finds fame after he begins appearing in strangers’ dreams, his visitations turning sinister
- The movie, directed by Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, switches between surreal horror, absurdist comedy and confusing science fiction
4/5 stars
What if fame were suddenly thrust upon you, only for it to devolve from recognition to notoriety just as swiftly? Norwegian writer-director Kristoffer Borgli’s English-language debut imposes just such a cruel fate upon Nicolas Cage’s mild-mannered biology professor in the darkly comic fantasy Dream Scenario.
For reasons that defy explanation, unassuming middle-aged family man Paul Matthews (Cage at his most delightfully self-deprecating) begins appearing in people’s dreams, and not only in the nocturnal subconscious of those who know him but in the dreams of complete strangers, where he appears as a peripheral figure in all manner of settings.
Initially, Paul delights at his new-found fame on campus and in restaurants, but is frustrated by the passive nature of his visitations.
After his family home is invaded by a would-be assassin, Paul reaches out to a PR firm for guidance on how to handle his swelling celebrity status. He hopes to finally publish a long-gestating book on ants, but Michael Cera’s airheaded ad exec urges him to plug big-name consumer products during his nighttime appearances.
Without provocation, Paul’s nocturnal activities take a dynamic turn. For some, like PR assistant Molly (Dylan Gelula), he becomes the unlikely subject of uncontrollable sexual fantasies, but for others, Paul morphs into the stuff of genuine nightmares, an almost Freddy Krueger-like bogeyman spreading violence and fear.
