Film Review - Dream Scenario

Kristoffer Borgli's tragicomic satire features Nicolas Cage as an unremarkable professor inexplicably appearing in everyone's dreams

Credit A24

The pitfalls and price of fame remain a preoccupation for Sick of Myself (2022) director Kristoffer Borgli in his new film Dream Scenario. A satirical skewering of those who profess to eschew fame whilst covertly craving it, this features a high-concept hook, bolstered by a first-rate Nicolas Cage performance. It arguably bites off more than it can chew in the final act, but up to that point, the film is entertainingly strange and silly.

“We’re not even the type of people who like attention,’ says Janet Matthews (Julianne Nicholson), wife of Paul, and the mediocre evolutionary biology professor who inexplicably starts appearing in everyone’s dreams. Paul (Cage) verbally echoes her sentiments yet unwisely bludgeons headfirst into the celebrity status he seems to think is his due, especially as his contemporaries are all published, and he isn’t. Of course, there’s still the matter of writing the book, but he just hasn’t got around to it. For twenty years.

Paul is bothered by how he is inactive in everyone’s subconscious. He’s evidently insecure regarding the way he has dragged his feet over writing when his colleagues haven’t, especially when his own daughters (Lily Bird and Jessica Clement) tell him he does nothing when appearing in their dreams. Again, Janet urges him to stop and think before chasing fame, but Paul is determined to make the most of his time in the spotlight.

In one hilarious scene, Paul is approached by condescending marketing guru Trent (Michael Cera). He explains why doing commercials for Sprite would be smart, despite Paul wanting him to find a publisher for his non-existent book (Trent “holistically pair brands with more unconventional celebrities”, apparently). Paul even finds himself the object of erotic desire by one of Trent’s employees, leading to an off-the-charts cringe factor sexual misadventure. The resultant self-loathing seems to trigger a change in Paul’s activities in everyone’s dreams, whereby his passivity becomes something far more frightening.

The upshot, as Paul becomes loathed for things he hasn’t even done, and the consequences not just for him, but for his wife and daughters, are where the satire strikes hardest. Borgli’s sharp screenplay takes aim at everything from self-serving social media apologies to safe spaces, eventually broadening the focus to cancel culture and the commercialisation of technological innovation. At this point, it arguably takes on too much and loses focus, but not before it makes smart observations about how celebrities on a downward spiral often gravitate to right-wing outlets, and the cruelty of social media mobs.

As director, Borgli infuses his darkly comic subject matter with moments of alarming violence, within the dream worlds. By shooting on Super 16mm, the grainy, opulent images add a heightened, uncanny texture, in which proceedings occasionally feel like a horror film. At the same time, although entitled, easily led, and whiny, Borgli finds genuine pathos in Paul’s predicament.

When you get right down to it, Dream Scenario is actually a very sad story. For all his stubborn folly amid the injustices he endures, I wound up pitying Paul. His character personifies a particularly broken aspect of the human condition, in its susceptibility to the deceit and delusion of potential fame, whilst overlooking and thereby losing the blessings one already has, only to realise too late what is truly important in life.

Despite the third act flaws, this is well worth seeing, purely for the performances. Cage is predictably brilliant, but Julianne Nicholson also deserves a special shout, for her unshowy, subtle turn. Add to that the well-observed script, fine direction, smart satire, and a splendid Talking Heads reference, this winds up as a satisfying cinematic cautionary tale with much contemporary resonance.

(Originally published on Medium.)

The Dillon Empire beyond Substack

For a full list of my published novels, click click here.

For more on my novels and other projects, click here for my blog.

For my Patreon page, click here.

For my Medium page, click here.