---
title: "Dream Scenario"
year: 2023
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/dream-scenario"
fi1m_id: "dream-scenario"
imdb_id: "tt21942866"
tmdb_id: 823482
wikidata_id: "Q115804772"
fi1m_score: 70
critics_score: 76
critics_reviews: 23
published: "2026-09-10"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:04.591958+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Dream Scenario (2023)

Directed by Kristoffer Borgli · 1h 42m · MPA R · Comedy, Fantasy

## Identity

Dream Scenario

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/dream-scenario
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** dream-scenario
- **IMDb ID:** tt21942866
- **TMDB ID:** 823482
- **Wikidata ID:** Q115804772
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21942866/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/823482, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q115804772

**Fi1m score: 70** · Critics 76 from 23 reviews

*In a sentence:* Nicolas Cage becomes the most famous man alive by standing in a field with his hands in his pockets

> Kristoffer Borgli hands Nicolas Cage a receding hairline, a parka and the whole world’s dreams, and for an hour the result is a small, sharp, funny film about wanting to be noticed. Then it starts explaining itself, and gets smaller.

## Synopsis

Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) teaches biology at a small university, wears a parka indoors and has spent years not writing his book about the intelligence of ants. He is married to Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and has two daughters, Sophie (Lily Bird) and Hannah (Jessica Clement). One morning Sophie mentions that he was in her dream, standing by and doing nothing while things fell from the sky. Then a stranger says the same. Within weeks, thousands of people are dreaming of Paul, always as a bystander with his hands in his pockets. A marketing firm run by Trent (Michael Cera) sees an opportunity. Paul sees a chance to get his book published at last. Kristoffer Borgli writes, directs and edits.

## Review

Paul Matthews is the kind of man people forget while he is still talking to them. He teaches biology at a small university, he has been meaning to write a book about ants for years, and he keeps a private tally of colleagues who have done better. Then he starts turning up in other people’s dreams, doing nothing at all, and Kristoffer Borgli’s comedy is about what a man like that does with the attention. For its first hour it is sharp, sad and properly funny. For its last half hour it is a lecture, and that is a smaller thing to be.

Nicolas Cage plays him with no vanity and almost no volume. The hairline has been pushed back, Kaysie Bergens puts him in a parka he never seems to take off and glasses he is forever adjusting, and the voice is a pinched, reasonable murmur that turns aggrieved the moment anyone disagrees with him. It is a performance built out of small things: a laugh a beat too late, a hand raised to make a point nobody is waiting for. Cage has spent thirty years being the loudest thing in the frame. Here the joke is that he is the dullest, and he plays it dead straight.

The dreams are the film’s best idea, and the way they are shot is the second best. Benjamin Loeb lights them exactly as he lights the waking scenes: flat, a little drab, the colours of a university corridor in February. Borgli, editing his own picture, cuts straight from a kitchen to a burning field without so much as a fade, so that for a second you are not sure which one you are in, which is how dreams actually work. In each of them Paul stands to one side, hands in his pockets, watching, and we laughed harder each time. A collapsing house, a man on fire, an alligator, and there is Paul, looking mildly interested. Owen Pallett’s score stays low and stringy under all of it, and Zosia Mackenzie’s sets are so ordinary that a lecture hall and a nightmare look like the same place.

Julianne Nicholson does more with less than anyone else in it. Janet is the one person who knew Paul before the world did, and Nicholson lets you watch her decide, scene by scene, how much of this she is prepared to put up with. Michael Cera and Kate Berlant run the agency that wants to sell Paul’s face, and their pitch meeting, in which Cera explains with complete seriousness what a soft drink could do inside a dream, is the best stretch of dialogue in the film. Tim Meadows, as Brett, has the tired face of a man who has sat through a great many complaints.

The trouble begins when the dreams stop being harmless. We will not say how, but the trailer has. For a few scenes Borgli lands the turn. Then the film starts arguing. Paul, who has been a small and rather unpleasant man for an hour, is asked to stand in for something much larger than himself. He is not big enough for the job, the script seems to know it, and it goes on anyway. We stopped laughing and started checking how much was left. A late detour into a piece of technology, with a Noah Centineo cameo attached, belongs to a different and broader satire.

Borgli’s previous film, *Sick of Myself*, was about a woman who made herself ill to be looked at, and it kept its nerve to the last frame. This one has the better premise and the bigger star, and it flinches. Critics have reached for Charlie Kaufman, and the comparison holds for the first hour; Cage’s own *Adaptation* is the obvious cousin. Kaufman would not have let the film explain what it thinks about the internet.

At 102 minutes it does not overstay, and the last scene, which we will not describe, is quieter and kinder than we expected. Watch it for Cage standing quite still while the world burns behind him. It is a joke that does not wear out, and the film knows it.

*Fi1m score 70, published 10 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Critics agree almost unanimously on one thing: Nicolas Cage. Nearly every review, from the festival raves to the cooler notices, singles out his restrained, vanity-free turn as the drab professor who starts appearing in strangers’ dreams, and several call it among the best work of his career. The premise draws warm words too, with the dream sequences praised for folding horror into comedy without any soft-focus reverie.

The reservations cluster in the second half. A sizeable minority find that once the dreams turn nightmarish the film narrows into a satire of cancel culture they consider shallow or scattershot, and the ending is a common complaint. The Evening Standard goes furthest, judging that the satire runs out of ideas after a lively first hour, and the Los Angeles Times and Vulture make similar points about a bland or narrow-minded turn. The spread is fairly narrow, with no outright negative reviews, and the dissenters admire the same performance everyone else does.

## Straight answers

**Is Dream Scenario worth watching?**

*Dream Scenario* is worth watching for its first hour, which is a sharp, sad and properly funny comedy about wanting to be noticed, and we scored it 70. Nicolas Cage, playing dull and dead straight, is the reason to see it. The last half hour turns into a lecture about the internet, and the film gets smaller for it.

**How long is Dream Scenario, and what is it rated?**

*Dream Scenario* runs 1h 42m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a comedy and fantasy film.

**Where can I watch Dream Scenario in the US?**

*Dream Scenario* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $4.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Dream Scenario, and is it suitable for children?**

*Dream Scenario* carries a UK 15 certificate and is not for children. The dreams are its main source of unease: a collapsing house, a man on fire, an alligator, all watched calmly by Cage with his hands in his pockets, and they stop being harmless partway through. Teenagers used to dark comedy should be fine; the squeamish will find it more sad than frightening.

**How does Dream Scenario compare to Upstairs, Downstairs?**

*Dream Scenario* and [*Upstairs, Downstairs*](https://film.one/tv/upstairs-downstairs) are different kinds of thing altogether: one a modern comic fantasy about a nobody who turns up in strangers' dreams, the other a household drama about servants and the class tensions that keep it from getting too comfortable. The Cage film is the funnier and the one that loses its nerve. The older title is stiffer in its staging but steadier from start to finish.

**What should I watch after Dream Scenario?**

After *Dream Scenario*, try [*Being John Malkovich*](https://film.one/tv/upstairs-downstairs) (1999, Fi1m 83): The other film about a nobody who gets inside strangers’ heads, and it stays funnier. Then [*The King of Comedy*](https://film.one/film/the-king-of-comedy) (1982, Fi1m 88): De Niro wants fame with the same pinched need, and Scorsese lets it curdle; and [*Toni Erdmann*](https://film.one/film/toni-erdmann) (2016, Fi1m 86): A German father embarrasses his daughter for nearly three hours and we would watch three more.

### Reviews we read (32)

- **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich (A-): The critic calls it Borgli's funniest and most complete film yet, a hilariously surreal comedy about internet fame with a committed Cage performance. The high-concept premise and surreal comedy are singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage-1234904231/)
- **Slant Magazine** (3.5/4): The critic praises the absurdist setup allowing Cage to flex his acting muscles in hilarious directions and the emotional core he provides. The meta satire on meme status, cancel culture, and fame is engaging though unfocused at times. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage-kristoffer-borgli/)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge (Critics Pick): The critic hails it as ranking among Cage's best in a career of over 100 credits, with the actor making the most of a memorable role in this brilliant look at viral celebrity. Borgli approaches the surrealist premise in a singular mix of comedic and sinister tones. [Read](https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/dream-scenario-nicolas-cage-1235719078/)
- **Empire**, John Nugent (80/100, inferred): The review calls the film an enjoyably absurd comedy with Nicolas Cage brilliantly playing a mediocre man thrust into fame via collective dreams. It praises the surreal dream sequences, satirical targets, and Cage's peak performance in a psycho-comic-drama that turns existential. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/dream-scenario/)
- **Little White Lies**, Mark Asch (3/4/3): The review calls it a bitterly funny, Kaufman-esque satire of meme culture and the desire for recognition, praising its sharp take on branding and public projection. It notes the film is easy to enjoy but harder to remember long-term. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/dream-scenario)
- **The New Yorker** (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the film as one of Cage's most fulfilling ventures, allowing him to trade richly in the unforeseen as a lecturer who appears in strangers' dreams. It is welcomed for its matter-of-fact approach to switching between reality and reverie without dreamy visuals. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/13/priscilla-movie-review-dream-scenario)
- **Time Out**, Whelan Barzey (4/5): The critic praises the dark, doolally satire as a giddy showcase for a bang-on-form Nicolas Cage, highlighting its needle-sharp observations on fame and cancel culture in the social media age. It notes some loss of rhythm from a tacked-on sci-fi subplot but overall calls it the best kind of cheese dream. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/dream-scenario-2023)
- **Total Film**, James Mottram (80/100, inferred): The critic highlights Nicolas Cage's restrained, vanity-free performance as the unremarkable professor who becomes a dream phenomenon, leading to a wickedly funny satire on social media and fame. The film is praised for replicating surreal dream sequences and shifting to a darker third act with Kaufman-esque elements. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/dream-scenario-review/)
- **The Independent** (3/4): The critic praises Nicolas Cage's shift to a drab, schlubby professor whose sudden fame in others' dreams turns sour, highlighting the film's exploration of fame's dark side. The review notes the premise starts strong but leads to a funny, sad, and scary conclusion about obscurity being underrated. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-nicolas-cage-cage-fame-dad-b2444161.html)
- **Vulture**, Alison Willmore (70/100, inferred): The critic says the film starts as a funny, thoughtful look at living in public but falters by turning into narrow-minded cancel-culture satire. Cage's performance as the dignity-demolished academic is singled out as the saving grace. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/movie-review-nicolas-cage-in-new-comedy-dream-scenario.html)
- **The AV Club**, Luke Y. Thompson (65/100, inferred): The critic finds it an entertaining high-concept trip thanks to a committed Cage performance but notes it squanders potential to be more, remaining surface-level with predictable satire. The thin story and arbitrary fame metaphor are the main complaints. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/dream-scenario-film-review-a24-nicolas-cage-1850975045)
- **Film Comment**, Saffron Maeve (60/100, inferred): Borgli's satire on celebrity, cancel culture and public perception starts strongly with its absurd premise and Cage's performance but grows uneven and tonally dissonant in the second half, with less focused mockery than his prior work. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/review-dream-scenario-kristoffer-borgli-nicholas-cage/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (60/100, inferred): The critic calls Cage pure nightmare fuel in a grabber premise reimagining A Nightmare on Elm Street by way of Charlie Kaufman, with rich metaphysical implication and memorable staging of the dreams. It notes the film morphs into a bland satire of cancel culture to its detriment. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-11-09/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage-a24)
- **Evening Standard**, Sophie Monks Kaufman (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the first half entertaining thanks to Cage's absurd performance but deems the satire shallow overall, criticizing its scattershot approach to ideas like cancel culture. Nicolas Cage is singled out as the film's main strength, buying it goodwill despite running out of ideas. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/dream-scenario-nicolas-cage-review-b1119038.html)
- **Screen Daily**: The review calls the pitch-black satirical horror-comedy an ambitious interrogation of masculinity, cancel culture, social media and celebrity, tailored for an A24 audience. It highlights Borgli's interest in neurotic protagonists and Cage's fitting approach to the oddball role. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/dream-scenario-toronto-review/5185768.article)
- **Sight and Sound**: The critic describes a surreal satire in which an unremarkable professor becomes an involuntary viral sensation by appearing in strangers' dreams, then faces backlash when the dreams turn nightmarish. It singles out Nicolas Cage's casting and performance for effectively conveying the gap between public image and private self. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/dream-scenario-nic-cage-man-everyones-dreams-this-surreal-satire-online-exposure)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw: Cage gives a deliciously peevish performance as a graceless professor who gains viral fame by appearing in strangers' dreams. The film is a savagely funny showcase for Cage at his best but sours in the third act when it targets cancel culture. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/nov/11/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage-is-at-his-very-best-in-savagely-funny-comedy-kristoffer-borgli)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Michael Rechtshaffen: The critic hails Cage's performance as comedy gold in a gleefully dark social satire skewering the click-driven world of insta-celebrities and cancel culture. The standout element is Cage's master class in reactive comic acting as the whiny victim protagonist. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage-1235586583/)
- **The New York Times**, Jeannette Catsoulis (Critic's Pick): The critic finds the film a wonderfully weird dark comedy in which Nicolas Cage plays a mild-mannered professor who inexplicably appears in others' dreams. Borgli infuses the screenplay with sadness that highlights the character's need for recognition, as the story turns darker when the dreams become nightmares. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/movies/dream-scenario-review.html)
- **The Telegraph**: Cage delivers his best performance in years as a nightmarishly ordinary professor who appears in people's dreams. The clever black comedy scores highly on Cage deployment but is not fully satisfying overall. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage/)
- **The Times**: Cage charms in a surreal satire about a university professor who becomes an overnight online celebrity. The comedy tackles cancel culture and victimhood but the actor’s portrayal brings light relief. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/dream-scenario-film-review-nicolas-cage-nkzkvd2mx)
- **HeyUGuys**, Lisa Giles-Keddie (5/5): The critic calls it a darkly comedic delight and a career highlight for Cage, praising its absurdly funny take on the subconscious, fame, social media, and cancel culture. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/dream-scenario-review/)
- **Den of Geek**, David Crow (85/100, inferred): Cage delivers one of his strangest and best performances as an unremarkable man thrust into viral fame and then infamy through others' dreams, in a cruelly funny fable about cancel culture and public projections. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/dream-scenario-nicolas-cage-strangest-and-best-performances/)
- **Digital Spy**, Ian Sandwell (4/5): Cage gives a restrained, awards-worthy turn as the ordinary professor at the center of a viral phenomenon in this hilarious satire of social media and cancel culture that occasionally loses focus in the final act. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a45731413/dream-scenario-review/)
- **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (B): The film is a dark comedy exploring fame and how celebrity alters people, anchored by one of Nicolas Cage's funniest performances. Borgli's intriguing concept allows creative exploration but falters with larger statements and ends on a confusing note. [Read](https://collider.com/dream-scenario-review/)
- **/Film**, Matt Donato (7.5/10): The critic finds it a provocative hallucinogenic experiment on viral infamy and cancel culture that showcases Borgli's originality, but notes it loses some storytelling control as seriousness overtakes the premise. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1403591/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage/)
- **Paste**, Katarina Docalovich (7.5/10): Borgli expands into surrealist horror-comedy with a hilariously scary ride about viral fame and cancel culture. The film loses some singular vision in the final stretch by derailing into less original influencer satire and weakening the ending. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/nicolas-cage/dream-scenario-review)
- **Consequence** (B-): Cage entertains the cerebral and silly in equal measure as a nobody professor thrust into viral fame through dreams. The deviously absurd fable about fleeting fame has a shaky focus that doesn't fully damper its charms. [Read](https://consequence.net/2023/11/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage/)
- **Eye for Film**, Andrew Robertson (70/100, inferred): The critic views it as classic small-scale science fiction with strong performances, especially Cage's restrained turn, and clever nods to cultural zeitgeist, while noting it could be more focused and its social commentary perspective debatable. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/dream-scenario-2023-film-review-by-andrew-robertson)
- **Polygon**, Rafael Motamayor (70/100, inferred): The film offers a meta, poignant exploration of Cage's meme status through a goofy Nightmare on Elm Street prequel premise about unintended viral fame and its costs. The hilarious and poignant two-thirds are let down by an ending that doesn't fully land amid third-act issues. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23868824/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage-meta-movie/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond: The critic hails the film as a flat-out hilarious comedy with an ingenious premise that stretches a one-joke idea into a satisfying feature. Cage delivers a pitch-perfect everyman performance that carries the laughs, while Borgli is praised as an exciting new comedy talent. [Read](https://deadline.com/2023/09/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage-comedy-hysterical-role-toronto-film-festival-1235542583/)
- **The Wrap**, Martin Tsai: The critic calls the film immensely entertaining with original and funny dream sequences that effectively mix horror tropes into comedy, and praises Cage's dialed-down performance. It singles out some muddled internal logic and a strawman argument against cancel culture as drawbacks. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/dream-scenario-review-nicolas-cage-kristoffer-borgli/)

## Details

- **Director:** Kristoffer Borgli
- **Director:** Kristoffer Borgli
- **Writer:** Kristoffer Borgli
- **Cinematography:** Benjamin Loeb
- **Editor:** Kristoffer Borgli
- **Music:** Owen Pallett
- **Production design:** Zosia Mackenzie
- **Costume design:** Kaysie Bergens
- **Producer:** Lars Knudsen, Tyler Campellone, Jacob Jaffke
- **Cast:** Nicolas Cage as Paul Matthews; Julianne Nicholson as Janet Matthews; Michael Cera as Trent; Tim Meadows as Brett; Dylan Gelula as Molly; Lily Bird as Sophie Matthews; Jessica Clement as Hannah Matthews; Dylan Baker as Richard
- **Runtime:** 1h 42m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 1 December 2023
- **Genres:** Comedy, Fantasy
- **Budget:** $10 million
- **Box office:** $14 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3x9iUL-74w

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: rent $4.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, IT, JP, KR, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PL, PT, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Being John Malkovich* (1999), Fi1m 83: The other film about a nobody who gets inside strangers’ heads, and it stays funnier. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/upstairs-downstairs.md)
- *Sick of Myself* (2022): Borgli’s previous film, about a woman who poisons herself to be noticed; it does not flinch.
- *The King of Comedy* (1982), Fi1m 88: De Niro wants fame with the same pinched need, and Scorsese lets it curdle. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-king-of-comedy.md)
- *Toni Erdmann* (2016), Fi1m 86: A German father embarrasses his daughter for nearly three hours and we would watch three more. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/toni-erdmann.md)
- *Pig* (2021), Fi1m 82: Cage quiet again, as a truffle hunter in Portland; proof the stillness is a choice. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/pig.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/dream-scenario