Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Dream Scenario Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 21, 2024

According to an interview with Nicolas Cage included on this disc as a bonus item, there have only been five times in what he describes as "45 years of doing this" when he's been reading a script sent to him for review and has almost instantly thought, "I have to make this movie". Can you guess which five films he mentions? Well, Leaving Las Vegas is probably an easy one, given that it gave Cage a notable trophy or two including an Academy Award to take home, but what about the other four? Rather interestingly, two of the remaining four were, like Leaving Las Vegas, released decades ago, and both within just a couple of years of each other, namely Raising Arizona, and (rather incredibly) Vampire's Kiss, to which some jaded types might respond, "Well, one out of two ain't bad". Spot number four rather interestingly goes to Adaptation. from 2002, especially since that film traffics in some of the same "meta" flourishes that this one does. The fifth "must make" film for Cage, though, is of course Dream Scenario, and if there are fans out there of everything from Peggy Sue Got Married to Wild at Heart to Face/Off to Moonstruck to Pig to (again saliently considering its "meta" content) The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent wondering why those films didn't make Cage's quintet list, the good news is that Dream Scenario provides Cage with one of his more appealing if still occasionally maddening characterizations in years.

The basic setup of Dream Scenario may seem to be sui generis, but lovers of cult films may remember an at least somewhat similarly themed effort from a couple of years ago called Strawberry Mansion. In that regard, Dream Scenario actually doesn't get to Strawberry Mansion's premise of ads being inserted in dreams until its third act, after the first two acts have been devoted to the bizarre adventures of "everyman" Paul Mathews (Nicolas Cage), a nondescript college professor who for unexplained reasons starts showing up as a passive observer in otherwise calamitous dreams being experienced by vast swaths of the population, most of whom have of course never met Paul and who don't really know much if anything about him. This in turn of course sends Paul reeling, suddenly thrust into a spotlight he never expected to shine on him, and completely perplexed not just with regard to why it's happening, but why he's so damned uninvolved during dreams that frequently feature the dreamer being threatened by someone or something.

It's all very odd, and gives Dream Scenario an appropriately off kilter and askew perspective, one that is at least intermittently bolstered by some rather dark humor. Paul is for all intents and purposes a schlub, a hapless and lackluster individual who may be basically decent but is incredibly ineffectual and certainly not a "man of everyone's dreams", so to speak, even if he in fact is in everyone's dreams. There are some none too subtle points writer and director Kristoffer Borgli makes about the vagaries of fame, including how inexplicable it can be, as well as the traumas it can inflict on unsuspecting folk who suddenly become famous.

The film has some wonderfully detailed performances, especially by a lovely and touching Julianne Nicholson as Paul's wife Janet. Some supporting performances may be slightly hobbled by Borgli's tendency to overwrite material in the search for killer punchlines, as when Paul visits a marketing "think tank" with the hopes of being able to write a book about his experiences, only to be urged to make Sprite commercials. That probably reads as a good deal funnier than it actually plays on screen, courtesy of some arguably too self aware by half work by the likes of Michael Cera as marketing head honcho Trent. That said, the marketing angle does pay some dividends, offering more almost Job-like indignities for Paul, both professionally and even personally vis a vis a relationship with Trent's co-worker Molly (Dylan Gelula).

The film takes an abrupt left turn rather late in the proceedings after Paul's humiliation is more or less complete, to divulge that research into why Paul ended up in everyone's dreams has opened access to a "dream portal" that some enterprising entrepreneur has made available courtesy of an almost tooth-like bracelet that can be worn during sleep and which allows the sleeper to enter anyone's dreams anywhere. That allows Paul to reconnect with an estranged Janet, though by that point the film has gotten so presentationally bizarre, mixing everything from an individual being burnt at the stake to David Byrne's outsized suit in Stop Making Sense (interestingly due quite soon on Blu-ray and 4K UHD disc from this film's studio, A24), that some of the underlying emotional content may have gotten swept up in the weirdness of it all.

Dream Scenario Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dream Scenario is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of A24 and Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. While Dream Scenario's data points of having been shot on 16mm and then granted a 4K DI may seem positively anachronistic, the result is actually rather interesting looking, with some nicely precise fine detail levels offered even within an understandably gritty and textured looking grain field. The palette is toyed with throughout the presentation, but often struck me as kind of autumnal or even wintry, offering almost "golden hour" light values a lot of the time, something that adds a slightly burnished orange quality to things, especially some of the flesh tones. Other moments, though, definitely have a cooler blue grading, often combined with some less fulsome lighting conditions, and in those moments it's probably arguable that some fine and even general detail levels can ebb a bit. There's an understandable qualitative difference toward a more "digital" look quite late in the film when the "Norio" dream portal device is introduced via a quasi-commercial.

Dream Scenario Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dream Scenario features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that tends to offer its surround activity rather subtly at times, but which can on occasion suddenly erupt (relatively speaking, at least) with more immersive capabilities during some of the dream sequences, as in what seems to be an earthquake in a cafeteria at one juncture. Owen Pallett's score is quite interesting, at times offering almost halting cello cues, but overall nicely populating the side and rear channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Dream Scenario Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Writer / Director Kristoffer Borgli


• Dream Like Nobody's Watching (HD; 9:21) is a fun EPK with some good interviews with Nicolas Cage and Kristoffer Borgli.


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 1:30)

Additionally, digital and DVD copies are included and packaging features a slipcover.

Dream Scenario Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For all the brickbats that have been thrown at him through the years, Nicolas Cage continues to be one of the more fearless actors when it comes to choosing a wide variety of roles, and Paul Matthews certainly qualifies as one of his more interesting, which is rather ironic given that Paul is basically so uninteresting. This film has a killer premise which then kind of weirdly morphs into something quite different, and at least for me some of the "comedy" didn't quite land as uproariously as was seemingly intended, but the overall effect of Dream Scenario is appropriately hypnotic. Technical merits are solid and the supplements appealing. Recommended.