Dream Scenario review: "Nicolas Cage is on fire in this wickedly dark comedy"

What happens when an unremarkable man starts popping up in the dreams of thousands? That’s the delicious idea at the core of this English-language debut from Kristoffer Borgli (2022’s Sick of Myself).

Nicolas Cage, in one of his more restrained, vanity-free performances (a la Adaptation or Joe), plays college professor Paul Matthews. Married to Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and a father of two daughters (Lily Bird and Jessica Clement), he’s a real Mr. Average – until, that is, he becomes a shining star at night…

Although he can’t witness others’ dreams – he’s often a passive observer in them – Paul initially revels in his new-found notoriety. Borgli craftily replicates some of these fantasias (classroom earthquakes, jungle raids), and wisely makes no attempt to explain this phenomenon.

Instead, the writer/director has Paul courted by a slick ad-agency – led by Michael Cera’s unctuous CEO, who wants to exploit his ability to penetrate the subconscious and turn him into a dream-fluencer.

For a while, the film seems unsure which direction to take. But a darker third act sees Paul’s benign personality begin to warp in people’s dreams, impacting his entire life. Meanwhile, echoing the work of Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich in particular), Dream Scenario morphs into a wickedly funny satire on the pernicious nature of social media. Are memes like dreams? Maybe so...

A late cameo from Succession’s own Cousin Greg, Nicholas Braun, also amuses, but nothing outflanks Cage, far more real here than he was playing himself in last year’s The Unbelievable Weight of Massive Talent.

Dream Scenario is in US and UK cinemas on November 10.