Over the last decade, Nicolas Cage has become an expert in unclassifiable roles. That, in films closer to experimentation than to an Academy Award. Of Pig, Mandy to Renfield and The unbearable weight of an enormous talent. The truth is that the performer opts to embody extravagant figures, full of winks and tics. Much more, they allow him to explore the vein of a type of acting that borders on a mix between mockery and drama. An element that, over time, has become its hallmark.
Maybe that’s why his Paul Matthews in Dream Scenario by Kristoffer Borgli seems surprisingly ordinary. This middle-aged university professor is already losing his hair and can barely boast of his knowledge of ants. The script, also written by the director, spends the first minutes analyzing the fact that the character could be anyone. If something is of interest on the tape, It is his refusal to explain or fully enter the codes of the horror and fantasy genre.
Dream Scenario
A hard look at how our times understand fame. Paul (Nicolas Cage) is a university professor who becomes a celebrity when he appears, at the same time, in everyone’s dreams. The script establishes an immediate comparison between the event and how social networks can sustain and destroy anyone in the midst of an inexplicable situation. But the interesting premise falters, when he tries to find explanations for his phenomenon, after devoting all his attention to deeper topics and less related to fantasy.
What he does want to highlight is that his protagonist is an ordinary man. Without much importance, unless from one day to the next, he appears in the dreams of the entire world. At first, he will only do it in his family circle. Then, in his city and finally, in those of every person capable of sleeping. What begins as a kind of isolated event and a witty triviality soon becomes a fascinating phenomenon, which ends up being terrifying. Almost involuntarily.
The man of the whole world’s dreams
In fact, the argument does not want to scare, nor does it want to provide explanations about what produces something similar. So it relies on its visual section — cold and similar to an Edward Hopper painting — to analyze the environment of his character. Paul appears in dreams as an elusive image, without much interest or relevance in what happens in them. He is just standing, behind a door, or walking while the fears, anxieties, or hopes of the one he sleeps on show. However, the mere fact of being there makes it a rarity.
The story carefully narrates how the collective dream begins with his daughter Sophie (Lily Bird), which will set the tone for what the experience is like for the rest. Paul He is not a hero or a villain. He doesn’t rescue or kill anyone. He is just a passive figure who causes discomfort by the mere fact of being a spectator of the dream scenario. The script tries hard to make the first part of it a kind of surreal riddle.
What it achieves, thanks to the successful performance of Nicolas Cage. His character is a man who has spent his life trying to get attention without success. The interpreter shows the nuances of that anxiety for victory, like a rare insistence on being seen. Many of the best scenes from the first installment of Dream Scenarioare based on the contrast between what Paul really is and what people imagine of him.
A rare form of fame
Having become a global phenomenon, Paul now finds the recognition he always needed. A kind of sudden fame very similar to any content that goes viral on social networks. The film emphasizes that parallel through entire sequences showing Paul enjoying his sudden stardom. They greet him on the street, his image becomes recurring on television and in all types of mass media. So now, he has the strength to admit that I always crave that kind of fame.
Everything, until the phenomenon becomes macabre. Little by little, the film becomes darker and by its second half, no one seems very happy that Paul is part of his nocturnal intimacy. Triumph turns into fear and now, the solitary and passive figure of the character is little less than a symbol of fear. The plot makes it clear, repeatedly, that Paul is only the projection of what others see of him. dthe meaning they want to give to his solitary image, in the midst of horrors, tears and in the end, terrifying scenes.
Great premise with a boring ending
However, what is an intelligent look at fame and how volatile collective recognition can be, loses strength when it seeks explanations. Not about the phenomenon, which is already assumed to be a sinister event that no one can fully predict or understand, but about how Paul insists on controlling it. At least, take advantage. Gradually, the central message about celebrity and its dangers becomes tedious and repetitive. Afterwards, generic and even unnecessary. As Paul tries to survive, to be loved — and hated — by everyone around him, the film seems to encompass more than it explores.
By its disappointing ending — with editing and narration errors that make it confusing — Dream Scenario lost all its charm. Still, his experiment in turning dreams into a complicated space for debate about identity and contemporary celebrity is of interest. Not complete, nor as suggestive as it claims to be. However, unique enough to make the film an unusual journey into modern anxieties.