Dream Scenario movie review: Nicolas Cage thrives in Kristoffer Borgli film

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Meanwhile, the book he keeps talking about himself doing on the subject remains just an animated promise.

It’s then that Paul pops his head up, so to speak. In a brilliant nudge at our inter-sectional real and virtual world, Norwegian writer-director Kristoffer Borgli comes up with the idea of Paul going viral because he keeps appearing in people’s dreams.

First it is people who know him. But then random strangers start seeing Paul in their dreams where he, to their amusement – and his barely concealed frustration – stands out for, well, doing nothing at all. Whether it is his daughter facing an attack or an accident victim dying, an alien attack or a crocodile one, Paul stands or just strolls by, casually smiling.

As it goes these days, Paul acquires instant renown, including attention of his suddenly not indifferent children (Bird, Clement). His wife played to good effect by Nicholson, though, is a little unsettled. In a nice little touch, she can’t dream of him however much she tries.

This stuff of dreams turns into one of nightmares after a very tragically funny encounter Paul has with a young woman, who claims erotic encounters with him – the only one where he is an active participant in these dreams.

So is that the trigger for the switch? One never knows, as Borgli explores the transient nature of fame, especially in the social media sphere; how quickly today’s celebrities become tomorrow’s villains; the pervading and, importantly, undiscriminating nature of cancel culture; how quickly it all becomes a vicious loop; how easily one can find one’s life refashioned into something else altogether; and how difficult it is tell when one becomes the herd.

This is the kind of role that Cage – a much misunderstood actor, too overutilised and underutilised at the same time – thrives in. In every scene, he is a person within another person hoping to be seen; who when he catches the eye, it is always at the wrong angle.

While humour and biting insight serve the film very well for the most part, in its latter stretches, it tends to drag just a little – overstretching its point.

But you walk away with one cautionary tale: not all of us are born to be striking zebras.

And even if you are a horse, looks are as deceptive in the animal world – for example, zebras are closer to donkeys and, in reality, they are black, with white stripes.

Dream Scenario movie director: Kristoffer Borgli
Dream Scenario movie cast: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Bird, Jessica Clement
Dream Scenario movie rating: 4 stars