Dream Scenario (2023) - Review

Dream Scenario is a black comedy film, which is the most recent offering from Nicolas Cage where he plays Paul Matthews, an unassuming and unimpressive professor. This may seem like a large dig at the completely meek man who finds himself at the center of unwanted attention - appearing in the dreams of those by which he is acquainted, and quickly reaching the larger community, even the world. Paul must navigate this new reality, coping with his newfound fame and infamy, or suffer the societal consequences. No one is sure exactly why Paul is at the center of these at first innocuous then graphic (in many ways) dreams, however they continue to suffer from this collective phenomenon until it passes for good.

The strength of Dream Scenario is its superb casting; the film boasts a solid cast of actors who on sight triggered memories of their comedic performances - Michael Cera, Tim Meadows, and Dylan Baker - but delivered subtly angry performances. The dean of Paul's university (Meadows), Brett, is a concerned friend but must walk the line between personal and professional lives, Trent (Cera) is the lead of a small marketing start-up and has to deal with Paul's newly inflated ego, and Richard (Baker) continues to be frustrated that he has to contemplate the aforementioned mediocre professor. These characters are all upset with the fact that they have not received a dream visitation by Paul in their own ways, yet for different reasons, and I cannot imagine any other actors being able to deliver these nuanced and subdued performances. Julianne Nicholson portrays Paul's wife Janet, another person who fails to have any dreams of her husband like all of those around her. She is also tortured by her husband's newfound celebrity status, and refuses to give in to his slow unraveling due to his self-serving nature. 

Out of the performances described above, Nicholson's performance deserves the most credit - the focus on her character's struggle is especially important because Paul does not know how to regulate the oxygen being sucked out of every room that he so desperately craves, even when his world comes crashing down. Her story highlights just how much that Paul tries to be mild-mannered, unassuming, and capitulating, but all of those character traits are just a mask for his egotistical desires. Cage also delivers the promise of his character from the absolute start: he remains this low-achieving academic who by no means has any control over his emotions. The Paul Matthews at the start is the same at the end, for better or for worse. The casting of Cage was also a wonderful move - this is a man 40 years into his acting career who is self aware of the image that he has in the public eye. I have made no attempt to hide the fact that I got into watching Nic Cage movies with more interest because of the viral freakouts of the late 2000s and early 2010s, and this seemed like the best form of closure that Cage could have ever had to his viral fame. Dream Scenario has quickly cemented itself as a staple for Cage's career and will be one of the films that haunt his fans, for better or for worse.