An ordinary family man Paul Matthews finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. But when his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate the consequences of his newfound stardom. A film by Kristoffer Borgli, starring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera, Tim Meadows, Dylan Gelula, and Dylan Baker.

As the family gathers for breakfast, Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) can’t help but be intrigued by his daughter’s dream. Sophie (Lily Bird) recounts a strange vision where he stands frozen in the backyard, witnessing impossible events unfold around him: a keychain and a shoe plummeting from the heavens, his daughter inexplicably levitating. Yet, in this surreal scene, Paul remains curiously passive, offering no reaction to the bizarre spectacle.

After his biology lecture at Osler University, Paul heads to Madre restaurant, where he has booked a table. The hostess looks startled to see him the moment he enters and asks if he knows her. At the restaurant, Paul meets Sheila (Paula Boudreau), a former classmate who is about to publish a paper on ant intelligence, an idea Paul had shared with her in grad school years ago. He thinks he deserves credit, but Sheila has no intention of acknowledging him, asserting she had done all the hard work while Paul merely talked about an idea in his head.

Paul and his wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson) attend a play, and as they’re leaving the theater, Paul bumps into Claire (Marnie McPhail Diamond), an ex-girlfriend from way back. Claire mentions that Paul has been on her mind lately and keeps appearing in her dreams, even when they’re not about him. It’s strange, she says, because he’s just a silent observer in them. Later, Claire hesitates before asking if she can include the dreams in an article for The New Inquiry, an online magazine. Paul sees no reason to object and gives her his permission.

A phone call during family dinner disrupts Paul’s routine. It’s Richard, the renowned scholar who throws regular dinner parties for fascinating minds, where Paul, curiously, never finds himself on the guest list. This time, however, Richard’s call isn’t about an invitation. Instead, he recounts a curious tale. His wife has been having dreams of Paul, and one of his dinner guests also had similarly described recurring dreams of a remarkable nobody who kept appearing. When shown Paul’s picture, the guest confirmed he was the man from her dreams.

Claire’s article is published with Paul’s image and a link to his Facebook profile. Paul’s inbox explodes with hundreds of messages from strangers seeking explanation, claiming they see him in their dreams. He also receives messages from news channels expressing their interest in interviewing him. Paul becomes a national sensation, and he seems to enjoy his stardom status, believing that it will help him sell his book that he has not yet written.

An ad agency headed by Trent (Michael Cera) approaches Paul with a lucrative offer to be the face of a new Sprite campaign. Despite the appeal, Paul pushes back, adamant that they focus on promoting his upcoming book. He desires to carve his own path as an author, free from the shadow of the strange dream phenomenon.

Things take a horrifying turn as the Paul people saw observing them ominously morphs into a terrifying figure who viciously attacks his victims within their own dreams. This warped image spreads like wildfire, leaving people deeply unsettled and avoiding Paul in public. His students abandon his classes, and even his wife’s career suffers under the shadow of this new nightmare version of him. Despite his attempts to understand and counter this bizarre phenomenon, Paul feels powerless to control his own image in the realm of dreams.

Written and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, the film blends dark comedy and fantasy in a narrative about a listless protagonist unexpectedly propelled to fame by the unexplained phenomenon of people recurringly seeing him in their dreams.

While Nicolas Cage delivers a terrific performance brimming with the emotional range we’ve come to expect from him, the film, despite a promising start, stumbles short of its full potential. The final act unravels somewhat, hinting at the promise of a mind-bending twist that never materializes, leaving viewers frustrated and questioning the point of it all.

The introduction of a futuristic dream-entering device feels like a missed opportunity. Adding only a thin layer to the plot and remaining underdeveloped, it might have been better served as the focus of a separate film.

DREAM SCENARIO premiered at Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023. The film received a limited theatrical release in the United States 10 November, before a nationwide release on 22 November, by A24.