Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera, Tim Meadows, Dylan Gelula, Dylan Baker
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 100 mins

Dream Scenario is the latest Nicolas Cage vehicle in his career resurgence, a surreal fantasy satire directed by Kristoffer Borgli and produced by Ari Aster, the mastermind behind Hereditary and Beau is Afraid. Cage plays a hapless yet mild-mannered biology professor, Paul Matthews, who inexplicably starts appearing in the dreams of people around him. He soon becomes a celebrity in the town but as ever, with fame comes the inevitable toxicity. 

Dream Scenario is yet another interesting choice for Cage and while the film poses a lot of interesting ideas, it doesn’t always explore them in the most satisfying way and it begins to fizzle out as it reaches its conclusion. Although marketed as a black comedy, I didn’t laugh once and Borgli just isn’t as accomplished a director for tackling this avenue of surrealism compared to Aster or genre stalwart Charlie Kaufman because he lacks subtlety. There’s lots of good work here though – the dream sequences are disturbing and tragic and the exploration of cancel culture is fascinating. A sexual encounter Cage has with another character is particularly awkward, as is a late scene in a restaurant where he is refused service.

Cage expectedly turns in a terrific performance as the middle-aged professor with an increasingly large bald patch, who feels the world owes him something as his career stagnates. He deftly captures a pathetic nature of someone who wants to receive stardom and feels hurt his academic peers have seen success with writing novels, yet he has never pulled his finger out to take the time to write his thoughts on paper. 

There’s some strong performances from the supporting cast too, with Julianne Nicholson rock-solid as his wife and Dylan Gelula a highlight as a PR assistant. This may possibly be a career-best performance from Michael Cera, who plays the head of a viral marketing firm. Visually, the film’s crisply shot Mandy cinematographer Benjamin Loeb, although I found Owen Pallet’s score jarring and it never seemed to fit with the events being portrayed on-screen. 

Dream Scenario is an interesting film in Cage’s career and worth seeing for his performance alone.  Although a good watch, it’s just shame the film doesn’t quite live up to the potential of its lofty premise. 

⭐⭐⭐ (Good)