This Movie IS For:
- Those who need another cinematic hit of Cage to keep on living
- Fans of ambiguity if it’s meant to feel deep
This Movie is NOT For:
- Moviegoers looking for an expansive plot
- Anyone expecting to see Cage at either peak crazy or peak performance
A brief review with minor spoilers
Nicolas Cage films are like gas station burritos; most will leave you with food poisoning, but sometimes, one comes along that makes the whole hunt worth it. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Dream Scenario doesn’t fall into the so bad it’s good or Oscar-worthy poles of Cage’s career. Instead, it’s somewhere in the middle of no man’s land, a half-cooked burrito but not bad enough to give you food poisoning. Let’s dive in before I get any hungrier and make a regrettable trip to AM/PM.
Dream Scenario is a wholly unique premise and it’s from A24, two variables that usually work well together. The film’s first half is intriguing just based on the outlandishness of its premises and for the entertainment value of watching Nicolas Cage be Nicolas Cage. An unassuming man accidentally invades the collective dreams of people across the world; fantastic. It ends up falling apart when the movie tries to put a story together beyond that premise. It almost feels like this would have made a more compelling short film.
There are intriguing moments, and the concept alone was enough to carry the movie to its conclusion, but by the end, I was left wanting something different. There’s a complete lack of resolution. Maybe that’s meant to be deep, and maybe the ambiguity is meant to represent something, but whatever it was, I didn’t pick up on it. Taking the film at face value, there’s no real character development or message to be put across. Instead, we watch an older man thrust into a strange, never-fully-explained nightmare. Consequences are hinted at but never explored in any meaningful way. Pieces of the story feel as though they have something important to say but never do. The whole thing feels like a dream, a snippet of a story that makes sense in the moment but falters under further scrutiny.
If you’re looking for a halfway decent Cage film, you could do worse. I’d recommend watching Pig or The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent instead, but at least pieces of Dream Scenario are entertaining. The acting is fine across the board, with no standouts of either great or bad, but that doesn’t make a movie on its own. Unfortunately, the film comes together and ends as a rare miss for A24’s catalog. If nothing else, it’s an original plot and occasionally enjoyable, if not memorable.
2.5/5 – There are certainly worse Nicolas Cage films to watch, but this isn’t going to go down as a classic
I was able to stream Dream Scenario on HBO Max. More info on how I rate content here.
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Ashton Macaulay 