“It Was All a Dream” has been the subject of both hackery and brilliance as long as humans have been catching winks. Joseph had dreams back in the book of Genesis; Shakespeare took us through “A Midsummer’s Night Dream,” Calderon De La Barca said “Life is a Dream.” Androids have dreamt of electric sheep, and girls have dreamt of wonderlands. “Little Nemo” went to Slumberland, and the Sandman ruled Slumberland. I am a sucker for stories about the least scientifically understood and most magical of all our communal experiences. In contrast, sex is a yawningly obvious, repetitive biological drive. Most people have had basic dreams about: having sex; forgetting how gravity works; being late for some “special thing” because our clocks aren’t quite working right; or meeting significant people (dead and otherwise). We’ve also had odd dreams where wisdom is spouted by some random, insignificant person we long forgot.
“Dream Scenario” taps into that last one. It starts with a potentially brilliant premise. It involves a “loser” university professor, Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) who turns up in people’s dreams, doing ineffectual stand-by cameos. (How is a brilliant, tenured scholar a “loser”? Hmmm, he’s a bald adult, and not influencing people on TikTok, duh!)
This is the sort of thing that 70’s Woody Allen might have made funny, and 2000’s Charlie Kaufmann might have made deep. Unfortunately, “Dream Scenario” is not funny enough, and it’s also unwilling to fully explore its own weirdness. If you want an explanation of why this phenomenon is happening, or an exploration of the implications- sorry. Writer/ director Kristoffer Borgli knows as much as you or I do.
One of the better scenes involves Michael Cera as the entrepreneur behind a company called “Thoughts?” that tries to link “unconventional celebrities” (losers) with brands. If Paul pairs with Sprite, maybe people will start dreaming about Sprite? Nicolas Cage is, as usual, good because he wants to be (he works on good/bad modes, depending on how much he believes in the project- but he is also more than willing to be in projects he doesn’t believe in, because mansions require upkeep).
There is also good support from Julianne Nicholson as Paul’s wife, and particularly Dylan Gelula as the “Thoughts?” intern who has wild dream fantasies about Paul- and wants to re-enact them IRL.
But “Dream Scenario” goes sour toward the end when it abandons all its astral possibilities and descends into some weak-ass comment on cancel culture and entitled, privileged college students. An epilogue redeems the dreams. Producer Ari Aster might have added visual touches that elevated this into “Beau is Afraid” levels.
HANSEL CASTRO'S HALLUCINA 