Star Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera, Dylan Gelula, and Tim Meadows.
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Director: Kristoffer Borgli
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What’s Bad: The second and third acts of the film go around in circles, and the exciting premise just devolves into confused dramatic scenes.
Loo Break: You could probably go to the loo after the second act ends, and you wouldn’t miss much of the end.
Watch or Not?: Only if you are a Nicolas Cage fan.
Language: English
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 120 Minutes.
User Rating:
The work of Nicolas Cage is without a doubt one of the most interesting of any actor in recent memory. The actor has managed to create a mysterious and erratic persona and makes his choice of films quite a surprise. Sometimes, Cage just blows people away with roles in movies such as Pig or Mandy, but then he does many other films that are quite subpar, and you wonder why. No matter what, Cage is always interesting to look at, even in Dream Scenario, his newest film.
Dream Scenario is one movie that starts as a great idea, but the idea is all they have. In this case, we are presented with the story of a man who suddenly starts appearing in everyone else’s dreams, creating a strange scenario where everyone knows him. While the phenomenon is amusing at the beginning, it becomes something more dangerous and traumatic. This is a great premise, and it could allow for the exploration of many concepts.
However, Dream Scenario is interested in exploring only some of the concepts. It introduces synchronicity, dream state, collective consciousness, and more. Instead, the movie decides that it is better to focus on a character exploration, but an issue arises very early on, and we see that the character we are supposed to explore could be more exciting and compelling in the first place. Cage does his best and does well to make the character fun to watch, but there needs to be more in there.
Yes, it is evident that our main character is someone who has never really taken action in his life, and he is also a person who thinks very little of himself and thinks that life has passed him by; we don’t need a deep exploration of his character to come up with these conclusions, they are crystal clear during the first few minutes of the first act, which is why, when the movie moves into its second and third act, it does nothing else but run in circles telling us what we already know.
Thus, the film’s compelling premise is left behind, and we only get to explore the same place repeatedly until the movie finishes. There are a couple of scenes that are pretty amusing, even funny, but the majority of the movie is just sad a true downer, but it never allows the characters the option to break free from it and do something about it, instead it just keeps building on the sadness, and when the movie is finally over is when it decides to maybe go in a different direction, but by that time it is too little too late.
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Nicolas Cage is one of the greats, not only because he can fully explore an extensive range of emotions but because he is always fully committed to his roles, no matter how good or bad they are. He gives everything to every performance, which is easy to see, making him often the best in any movie he decides to work on. It is sad that this role is not more meaty because Cage would have gone there without a second thought.
The rest of the cast does a good job, but they are 100% supporting characters and don’t get any chance to be explored in any way. We have Julianne Nicholson playing the role of Janet, Paul’s wife, and while she gets a couple of small scenes for herself, she remains a mystery throughout the film; we don’t know what she is thinking. We can only deduce it from the small conversation she partakes in; it is an ample wasted opportunity.
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When it comes to its visual presentation, the film is fundamental. It is clear that this is not a big-budget film, but even the dream sequences feel very much devoid of any dreamlike quality other than random things happening to some of the dreamers presented in this film. This is to say that while the movie manages to tell the story it wants to tell, it only goes that little to make this movie about dreams feel like one. Instead, it just feels very tame.
Dream Scenario’s sound design is good, and in some moments during the dream sequences, it is very noticeable that at least that department wanted to create a dreamy landscape. However, besides that, sound plays a minor part in the film. The cinematography also feels relatively tame and boring, which is very strange, considering that Benjamin Loeb’s work in films like After Yang and Mandy is very much dreamlike, as he creates visuals that feel like coming from a dream or a nightmare.
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Dream Scenario manages to create expectations during its first act, but the promises of something wild or interesting always remain at a distance; we can feel the potential, but the film never goes there, which is a shame having performers such as Nicolas Cage and Julianne Nicholson at the ready. Also, for a movie about dreams and how these can affect real life, the movie is too sober and doesn’t have any dreamlike qualities, resulting in the film feeling like a true wasted potential.
Dream Scenario releases on November 10, 2023.
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