Rent Dream Scenario (2023)

Brilliant first half - Dream Scenario review by Alphaville

Dream Scenario is that rare beast – a visually interesting comedy... at least for half its length. It has a great surreal concept, a great look and startles from Frame 1, making it engrossing to watch as well as funny. But then it switches to less humorous satire, taking a welcome swipe at cancel cultuire but getting bogged down in uninteresting scenes. A boring meeting with social media nerds seems to go on forever. It gets bleaker as it progresses and eventually feels as though it has missed its targets, losing both its edge and its sense of humour.

A bit odd, but its Nick Cage so 4 stars - Dream Scenario review by JD

Its a film i felt to be drab, bland and awkward. But that might just be because Nic plays a drab, bland, awkward man. A man who lets face it is like a lot of us men.

The film seems to touch strongly on several issues. Marketing BS, Cancel culture, a mans fear of not taking action when needed (an interesting contrast to the other side of men who take action when they really shouldnt), the human desire to have some relevance, and the various ways people react to the impact dreams have on our emotions. There are other things in there to and it makes the film far more interesting than it appears on the surface.

I also liked the end where instead of doing the arty thing and being a complete let down, it simply reinforced where it had been heading and added some additional food for thought.

Im still not quite sure what to make of it all tho.

Cage continues his renaissance with a beautifully observed performance set in a crazy world - Dream Scenario review by TB

Nicolas Cage has had a complete turnaround in recent years. After his early performances in critically acclaimed films such as Birdy, he then reached the peak of his success with his Oscar win for Leaving Las Vegas. This then led to multiple offers for action films including The Rock & the magnificent Con Air. However, starting in the mid-2000's, Cage then became infamous for basically starring in anything & everything, seemingly turning up just for the cheque. And he was involved in some terrible, painfully bad dreck, even though he released some absolutely incredible films, including my own favourite The Bad Lieutenant, during this time.

But the pendulum has now mercifully swung back the other way & we have been treated to some absolute gems, including Pig & Mandy. And taking its place comfortably alongside them is Dream Scenario. It is a film which is in many ways unbelievably slow & gentle, but it also is biting sharp in its satire & scorn of how the world now treats people who through no fault/want of their own becomes "famous."

Paul Matthews is an extremely easygoing, gregarious & slightly goofy tenured evolutionary biology professor. He has a fairly stereotypical family life & everything is painfully, painfully ordinary. Then, Paul randomly starts appearing in people's dreams, from all over the world. Whilst this starts with his own daughter, soon he is popping up all around the globe, there as a presence which at first is anodyne but then violent & vengeful. From there, his life starts to go in a downward spiral as he struggles to cope with this infamy.

The reason why this suddenly happens to Paul is never explained, which is absolutely to the script's credit. We are simply put into this world & everything feels remarkably natural. It is also interesting how we as the viewer really identify with Paul's predicament, putting ourselves in his shoes. Whilst at first his presence is almost humourous in its mundanity, soon he becomes a violent, demonic presence, traumatising everyone who has these visions.

But the film is much more interested in looking at the effects to Paul's life, over & above the dreams he is in. And here is where the film is for me genius: we now live in a world where there is unquestionably a "cancel culture," although the severity of this differs depending on who you talk to (for some it doesn't go far enough, for others it is an totally out of control monster.) But this story looks at someone who isn't famous & more than that, truly has done absolutely nothing wrong at all. Paul has no control over his appearances in these dreams, but is eventually vilified, along with his whole family.

And this gentle examination is what makes the film really hit home for me. The idea of someone making a film about cancel culture & turning it into this bulldozer of a message, often wouldn't work. Whereas this just shows you what happens & people's hysterical reaction to this panic, which makes it's message all the more powerful.

But the star of this all is Cage. His study & portrayal of Paul is unbelievably nuanced & razor sharp. Paul is exactly what you would imagine an easy-going dad would be. As he slowly starts to lose his mind, you start to feel truly sorry for him. Also for Cage purists, there are the requisite freak-outs, but these are earned & not simply thrown in to get a cheap laugh.

And you are left really looking closely at the society which we exist in today. If this were to happen, I think that the film's events would be understated in many ways. The mobs that would form, demanding justice against a man who has in no way been a part of what has happened to him, really makes you think. As much as this is a satire, it is also a devastating look at how we as humans currently treat each other. And the results aren't pretty...