{"id":20116,"date":"2023-11-09T21:58:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T02:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=20116"},"modified":"2023-12-12T03:35:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T08:35:08","slug":"dream-scenario-film-review-the-ups-and-downs-of-being-far-too-known-in-the-wrong-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=20116","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dream Scenario\u2019 Film Review \u2013 The Ups and Downs of Being Far Too Known in the Wrong Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Being told that you appeared in someone else\u2019s dream can be uneasy news to receive. That someone remembers it likely means that something significant happened and the dreamer might still be actively thinking about it. But it\u2019s not actually related to real life, at least not in any proven way, though people are often so affected by what someone does in a dream that it changes their perception of them. Dream Scenario<\/em><\/strong> takes that concept to a whole new level with the story of a totally average man who gets catapulted into the spotlight when he starts showing up in the dreams of many people he doesn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) is a professor who, to put it bluntly, just isn\u2019t all that memorable. That all changes when people suddenly start seeing him in their dreams, but as a silent bystander to whatever else is happening. The newfound fame he achieves is something for which he\u2019s entirely unprepared, and he seeks to parlay the attention into an opportunity for him to finally write the evolutionary biology book he\u2019s wanted to for years. But all the hoopla doesn\u2019t stay positive for long as, through no fault of his own, Paul\u2019s appearances in everyone\u2019s dreams take a much darker turn.<\/p>\n

\"Dream
Courtesy A24<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s interesting to see the roles that Cage, an action star two decades ago who headlined The Rock<\/em><\/strong> and Face\/Off<\/em><\/strong>, among others, is now choosing. Last year, he parodied himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, and played Dracula earlier this year in Renfield<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. This is a part that might seem perfect for him, but it actually asks of him something very different than he\u2019s used to, which is to remain mild-mannered and never get nearly as upset or passionate about something as he should. Paul\u2019s social skills simply aren\u2019t refined enough for him to know what to do with his situation, and every attempt to embrace it ends awkwardly. He also can\u2019t stand the fact that he doesn\u2019t do anything in people\u2019s dreams other than exist, and when that changes, it\u2019s not a good thing.<\/p>\n

This is by definition a bizarre movie, and it\u2019s one that remains relatively isolated in its portrayal of Paul\u2019s path from anonymous to world-famous to pariah. The happy marriage he shares with his wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and the relationship he has with his two younger daughters, Hannah (Jessica Clement) and Sophie (Lily Bird), provides some solace, but once he gets too in his head, he starts to lose them too.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s hardly a pleasant experience since Paul is hopeless to control his circumstances, and the little power he does have he doesn\u2019t put to productive use.<\/p>\n

\"Dream
Courtesy A24<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cage is the right choice to play Paul, and his family members are equally well cast. Michael Cera and Kate Berlant provide excellent stand-ins for the audience as marketers who want to try to spin Paul\u2019s celebrity into something profitable and have remarkably different ideas for him about what that might look like (think a Sprite commercial versus a book on ants).<\/p>\n

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Dylan Gelula is particularly memorable as an assistant whose dreams of Paul are far from boring but who quickly comes to see that the real thing is nothing like what she imagined.<\/p>\n

There are moments in this film where audiences will surely want to throw something at the screen, wishing that Paul would do something different when presented with a handful of options, and they\u2019re just as likely to want to sympathize with him when he couldn\u2019t have possibly done anything differently. That\u2019s the intriguing and frustrating paradox of this film, one which leans into its weirdness and a sci-fi bent that\u2019s generally appealing but also just peculiar.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s certainly a memorable experience, one most viewers would certainly never want to go through themselves.<\/p>\n

Grade: B<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out more of Abe Friedtanzer\u2019s articles<\/a>.<\/p>\n