ian schickedanz

A work of true psychological horror. Once again, A24 and Ari Aster, along with writer and director Kristoffer Borgli, have created an intangibly and existentially horrifying film. Nicholas Cage continues his streak of success, nailing the Everyman, essentially boring, Paul Matthews. The human desire for social connection is melded with the reality of our consciousness in Dream Scenario. Satirical, provocative, and psychologically compelling, this movie examines an age old psychological question: what is the significance of our dreams? Are these quintessentially uncontrollable portions of our consciousness indicative of anything real? Or are dreams random firings of synapses, playing out thoughts and desires that cross our minds continuously in our waking lives. Spoiler Warning in the next section: The more controversial side of this movie is its critique of cancel culture and public shaming. Paul, Nicholas Cage’s character starts randomly appearing in millions of people’s dreams. His role is passive, he plays no real role in the dreams. Suddenly, his role is these dreams takes a violent turn, people are having vivid nightmares with Paul as the villain. He helplessly watches as his life falls apart, his closest friends and family can no longer be around him. He becomes a societal villain, asked to leave everywhere he shows his face, everyone in his life is beginning to see him as the monster from their dreams. He has no control of what they dream, or why he appears in dreams, but he is ostracized and criticized nonetheless. I think we have all, at some point in our lives, have dreamt a dream that made us feel differently towards someone we know. Whether it be a sexual rendezvous, a brutal attack, or an argument, our subconscious influences our conscious perception. This movie is a fantasy version of this essential aspect of our lives. This is truly one of the most thought provoking movies I’ve seen in years, and a brilliant performance by Nicholas Cage. I highly recommend giving it a watch.