The big picture
Nicolas Cage’s performance in Dream scenario ” is a perfect fit for this wild, dark comedy that satirizes celebrity culture. The film explores the benefits and consequences of being a celebrity, with Paul experiencing both admiration and demonization.
Dream scenario offers a dark and thought-provoking commentary on the concept of celebrity, revealing how fame exposes its flaws to the world.
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for “Dream Scenario” We never really know what kind of Nicolas Cage performance you will obtain. Cage went from one of the most exciting actors in the industry in the 1990s to the star of countless terrible straight-to-VOD genre films. Although Cage essentially became a meme thanks to his eccentric roles, he managed to experience a late-career resurgence thanks to his dramatic turn in the 2021 film. Pig and its self-referential role in the years 2022 The unbearable weight of massive talents. Now that Cage has critics on his side again, he is able to give the type of performance that only he is capable of giving. The cage fits perfectly Kristoffer Borglithe new black and wild comedy Dream scenario. The film manages to blend comedy, horror, and plenty of “cage-isms” while satirizing celebrity culture. It’s the kind of film that wouldn’t have worked without a unique actor like Cage at the center, not least because of its bizarre ending.
Dream scenario
Hapless father Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. But when his late-night appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound fame in this wildly entertaining comedy from writer-director Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself) and producer Ari Aster. -A24
Release date
November 10, 2023
Director
Kristoffer Borgli
Notation
R.
Duration
100 minutes
What is the “dream scenario” about?
Dream scenario follows kindly professor Paul Matthews (Cage), who leads a relatively normal family life with his wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and their two young daughters, Hannah (Jessica Clement) and Sophie (Lily Bird). Although Paul was beloved by his students, his life’s work amounted to little, as his attempts to conduct critical study while in college failed. Paul’s best quality is that he is ordinary; he has had no significant impact on the lives of any of his students and he does not seem to leave much of an impression on his colleagues.
Paul’s life takes a strange turn when Sophie confesses to him that she had a dream where he was in the middle of an apocalyptic event. Sophie claimed that she was flying away, but that in her dream her father didn’t bother to break out of his usual routine of cleaning their garden. Paul thinks it’s strange, and feels somewhat disturbed that he didn’t bother to “do anything” while in Sophie’s dream. However, Paul quickly realizes that his daughter is not the only one who dreams of him.
In what seems like an overnight sensation, strangers across the world begin reporting that Paul has appeared in their dreams. In most of these scenarios, it is completely harmless; Paul only seems to hang around in the background when strange or dangerous things happen. While Janet is shocked by the surprising attention her husband is now receiving, Paul discovers that many people want to take advantage of his new celebrity status. After hosting a television interview, he is contacted by a marketing company to launch into the dreams of Barack Obama.
Paul’s meeting with company employees, Trent (Michael Cera), Marie (Kate Berlant), et Molly (Dylan Gelula), doesn’t go as planned when he realizes they aren’t interested in him as a person. Paul had hoped that being a celebrity meant he could share some of his research and talk about topics that interested him; however, the company seems only interested in using Paul’s celebrity to further its own goals. Unfortunately, this disappointing encounter is not the only problem Paul now faces; Molly admits that Paul has also appeared in her dreams and that she has had crazy sexual fantasies about him.
What happens to Paul?
Although Paul initially discovers that Molly is willing to listen to his grievances about the company, she begins making sexual advances toward him. Coincidentally, Paul’s personal indiscretions begin to affect how he appears in everyone’s dreams. Initially, Paul would only be in the background of a dream; now he has become the subject of everyone’s nightmares. Paul’s students, who once admired him, begin to express anxiety about being around them. A furious Paul attacks the dean of his school (Tim Pres) when he is asked to leave the university because the students are simply afraid of him.
Rumors of Paul being a Freddy Krueger-like villain in people’s dreams begin to appear and his life is turned upside down. Paul’s marriage is breaking up, his daughters are spending less time with him, and he can’t even eat lunch alone without being told to leave a restaurant. News reports detailing Paul’s “wickedness” make it even more difficult for him to live a normal life. Paul becomes furious at the idea that he has been “demonized” overnight; he has no control over how he appears in other people’s dreams and begins lashing out at anyone who made assumptions about him. Paul’s anger intensifies when he is told that he cannot attend a play in which Sophie appears at his school.
Although Janet initially agrees that Paul should stay home to let Sophie have her moment, he is not willing to listen to her. Paul breaks into the school play and accidentally injures a volunteer when he breaks in through the door. This basically confirms to all the viewers that he is indeed the villain they imagined him to be. Paul and Janet break up as he decides to withdraw from the public spotlight. Although Paul attempts to gain public sympathy by claiming that he also had nightmares about a version of himself, his new comments simply fall on deaf ears.
Despite the media storm he initially caused, Paul is largely forgotten by all those who were outraged by him. As time goes by, Paul no longer appears in anyone’s dreams and the world evolves. A new form of technology that allows advertisers to enter people’s dreams ends up becoming more popular than Paul ever was, but his life is still essentially ruined. Jan has moved on and remarried, and Paul’s attempts to market his autobiography abroad fail. The film offers a brief glimpse of hope in its final moments when Paul appears in Jan’s dream, where he is wearing a David Byrne In Stop making sense costume that she had always dreamed of seeing him wear. This raises an interesting question; Was Paul always the man she wanted, and how did the dream scandal affect that?
While Dream scenario may appear to satirize the concept of “Cancel Culture,” its themes are a little more complicated than that. Paul experiences all the benefits and consequences of being a celebrity. Being instantly recognizable means everyone is willing to listen to him, but no one will really know who he is. Everyone seems to know Paul’s face, but they don’t want to know anything about him. Being a celebrity also means that all of your flaws are exposed to the world. This is a thoughtful commentary on a very strange and often quite dark fantasy story.
2023-11-10 20:15:33
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