Written & Edited by: Lee Fenton
Dream Scenario is a uniquely strange feature – and that’s a good thing.
Written and directed by Kristopher Borgli and produced by Ari Aster, Lars Knudson, Nicolas Cage, Jacob Jaffke, and Tyler Campellone, this film is an alt-comedy with dark undertones that utilizes surreal imagery in an effort to tell its off-beat story. Released earlier this year in November of 2023, it stars Nicolas Cage playing Paul Mathews; a rather mousy man who teaches Biology at a university but yearns for his time in the spotlight. Specifically, his desire revolves around the publishing of a theory on the formation of ant colonies – a niche subject he’s studied extensively over the years.
His friends are all beginning to have their ‘second peak’ and he seems to be left in the dust, until one day, people around the world start having recurring dreams about Paul – and his life changes irrevocably, overnight. He soon gets all the attention he’s been seeking, and then some.
This movie gets very high marks, in my opinion, for the way it adeptly navigates tonal shifts without causing viewer dissonance. It goes from being quirky and lighthearted – to deep and existential – and finally finishes with a sort of bleak, expressionistic take on the narrative. Of course, I won’t spoil the finer plot points of the film for you but in the end, this newfound phenomenon that Paul has acquired does not work out to his advantage.
It’s sort of a ‘Monkey’s Paw’ situation – be careful what you wish for, and all that.
The cinematography is delightful and has that sort of je ne sais quoi. It’s wonderfully framed, beautifully lit, and you can tell the person behind the camera has an eye for style and composition, yet beyond that there is an intrinsic quality that’s hard to place. It comes across as an art-house film that lingers lovingly on shots with inner symbolism but the film can also be ‘read’ in a much more straight-up manner. I think that’s the genius of the shooting sequence and shot composition of Dream Scenario – it’s ‘weighty’ but without being exclusive or snobbish.
If that makes any sense?
Nicolas Cage’s acting is what’s being talked about most with this feature, cause why not? The man is after-all a true thespian and employs his legendary nouveau shamanic acting style but honestly, all jokes aside – I have been a Nicolas Coppola fan for as long as I can remember and the man just keeps getting better! Yes, he did have that period in the early 2010’s when he was working almost primarily to pay off bad past financial decisions and we ended up with a bunch of mediocre films like ‘National Treasure I, II, and III’ ‘Season of the Witch’, as well as the two much derided Ghost Rider movies and a slew of other awful garbage, we then came to what most like to refer as the “Nicolas Cage Renaissance” (beginning in 2018 with his role in ‘Mandy’). This time period is looked upon favourably by fans and critics of Cage’s alike – marked by his signing on to a host of indie projects that came his way. This allowed the actor to implement some of his non-traditional acting methods. Which, in course allowed him to shine in roles that really suited this unique approach.
‘Mandy’, ‘Pig’, ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’, and ‘Army of One’ to name a few.
Ever since this recent revival in the middle-aged star’s career – the public has been reminded that Nicolas Cage does indeed take his craft very seriously. And ‘taking your craft seriously’ is a statement that is also very apt when describing the themes of ‘Dream Scenario’ – the film that we are currently discussing.
Cage manages to portray Paul Matthews with the required amount of guilelessness and naivety, inhabiting a man that is both meek and artless – while coming off as slightly repugnant for the viewer. That isn’t to say that Paul is without his positives, but the way that the film and actor construct the character doesn’t allow the audience to empathize a lot with the protagonist. I bring this up; not because it is a negative (although it might be in a lesser film) no, it’s actually a positive – since the narrative is not one of redemption, in fact the opposite is true, it focuses more on the cyclical nature of narcissism and the effects it can have on individuals, and society as a whole.
I’m happy to say, the performance by Cage (as Paul Matthews) is a resplendent one!
Cage really manages to make the transition into Paul’s world seamless. The word ‘transformative’ gets tossed around too much these days, yet I feel the majority of the films that Cage chooses are based around the want to ‘truly transform’ into a character outside of his regular purview. I would like to note that there is an obvious (still, indiscernible to some) difference between ‘Method Acting’ and a role that is simply transformative. I would even go further, to say that – although it is common that a transformative role involves the actual physical transformation of an actor, this is not always true.
However, if an aesthetic change allows audience members to lose themselves better in the action due to an actor or actress being ‘too known’ then it’s probably a practical approach to filmmaking – to make your lead ‘dress down’ or ‘play ugly’. This is true in ‘Dream Scenario’ as Nicolas Cage is made to look less attractive, to suit the role and to achieve a higher level of immersion.
But it’s the acting that does the trick in the end.
Gary Oldman is a great example of an actor that tends to give a transformative performance regardless of the wardrobe and makeup. It’s an actor’s ability to become a character that needs to come before the rest of the movie magic. Everything else is just ‘dressing’, so to speak.
On that topic,
Nicolas Cage’s transformation into Paul Matthews is nothing short of prolific.
His character’s tragedy is clearly defined and illustrated on-screen. Which is something that has been sorely lacking in Hollywood releases, as of late. It’s nice that we got this cerebral little piece of cinema gold to watch and analyze.
Thanks in part to Kristoffer Borgli,
but also largely due to the “Cage-meister’s” unparalleled acting talent.
Rating 9/10
Whatever Nick Cage was eating in the diner – before the heavy-set fellow spat in his food. Minus the spit.
Don’t eat food with spit in it.
That’s not a recommendation I would give.
