In Kristoffer Borgli’s satirical comedy, Cage plays the role of an evolutionary biology professor, who goes viral after he shows up in other people’s dreams
Could anyone ever imagine action hero Nicolas Cage finding himself in a situation where he is at the mercy of a dangerous intruder? Well, that’s exactly what happens in Dream Scenario. Norwegian writer-director Kristoffer Borgli’s film is a rare gem where unusual events happen to Nicolas Cage, as opposed to Cage doing strange things to other people. In this unique narrative, Cage’s action hero reputation is supremely challenged by the passivity of his character, Paul Mathews. This dynamic is what makes the film an interesting watch, arguably even more so than the intelligence of the story.
Paul, a tenured evolutionary biology professor, is bald, unattractive, an average everyday man, whose most ambitious dream is to publish a book on ants. He derives amusement from teaching about the evolutionary purpose of the black and white stripes found on zebras which is to help them blend in with the herd.
The violent turn of dreams
Hilarity ensues (or at least it earnestly attempts to) when Paul begins appearing in people’s dreams as a random bystander, turning him into an overnight viral sensation. Initially, he enjoys this interesting phenomenon. However, as he listens to more and more people’s dreams of him, he becomes increasingly frustrated for not taking any action in the dreams, no matter how violent, gruesome the dreams seem to be.
Things take a turn for the worse when the harmless appearances in people’s dreams become violent and traumatic. Now, Paul is actively engaging in unsettling actions within the dreams and it begins to have a negative impact on his job, family and his public perception in general. Ironically, Paul is being punished for being too Nicolas Cage, the action hero that audiences have loved for all these years.
Funnily, Cage was actually aware of this over-hyped aggressive image that existed of him, before he signed the film. In fact, he was motivated to be a part of the film because of it. In an interview at TIFF, Cage shared an incident where he woke up one morning to discover a viral video of him called Nicolas Cage Loses His Shit. The video gained sensational popularity and created this distorted version of himself that he did not agree with. Cage expressed feeling helpless, witnessing an image of him being circulated across the internet that didn’t reflect reality. And so when Dream Scenario came his way, he immediately saw it as a way to use his personal experience with fame, for the part of Paul, “now I can turn this lead into a little bit of gold,” he said. Not so passive after all.
Fame as the storytelling device
But besides the inadvertent meta laughs, the film attempts to convey something relevant. The birth of the idea is more grounded in truth than fantasy. Borgli explained his motivation, stating, “I saw like a bunch of different cases of professors getting fired, and I got really intrigued…. these professors would go on podcasts and talk about how they felt that they couldn’t recognise what they were being accused of, these crimes were all fabricated in the minds of others, and that was the thing that clicked. That there could be real life consequences for something that happens purely in a dream.”
The film delves into the challenges that come with becoming obsessive about others’ opinions about you. Fame serves as the storytelling device through which the message is delivered in the film. However, the challenges of likeability do operate at a smaller scale as well — social media, peer pressure, social customs etc. And this is where the film fails. The only disappointing aspect of the film is that it doesn’t offer anything new, nor does it articulate its message too eloquently. Perceptions have always had consequences.
As teenagers or young adults, we have all felt the pressure to conform, fearing social ostracisation, only to be ousted by the same group for another standard we fail to meet. Learning to be misunderstood or disliked is a lesson we learn from a young age and keep learning as we get older. And so as fun as it is to see Nicolas Cage experiment with a character who doesn’t do that much, it is not enough to support the film.
A nobel message
That is not to state that the film doesn’t have substance. There’s a poignant scene in the film where Paul’s character goes online and tries to defend himself to those he has traumatized in their dreams, expressing how he is far from the man in their dreams, but nothing seems to help his case. It’s a powerful moment in the film; sometimes the only agency we have as humans is to speak our truth, and when that doesn’t work, what do you do?
You write a book, of course. Fired from his job, and separated from his wife, the film concludes with Paul going on a tour to France to sign copies of his autobiography, Dream Scenario, which, unbeknownst to him, has been renamed I Am Your Nightmare.
The film’s strength lies in its self-awareness and in its casting, more than narrative itself. By embracing this self-awareness, Dream Scenario could have further amplified its impact. Alternatively, the script and message might have found greater resonance with a relatively unknown actor. Nevertheless, the film earnestly attempts to sensitize us to the effects of perception, urging mindfulness in forming opinions based on facts, and that is a noble message in any form, and even better with the memorable face of Nicolas Cage.
