Dream Scenario (2023)

Nicolas Cage, who has navigated a lot of diverse and funny lead character portrayals in middle age, plays a nondescript evolutionary biology professor named Paul Matthews, who suddenly appears in the dreams of his students, daughters, and people he does not know. He doesn't do anything in their recurring dreams. He more or less just strolls through the background in his sweater and glasses, sometimes flashing his dopey, pleasant smile. Paul soon becomes a phenomenon, with people who are strangers stopping him on the street to tell him that he was in their dreams. He initially is puzzled by the attention, and then as people try to commercialize the event (inevitable) he starts to feel like he himself is important because of something that he isn’t doing and cannot control. The dreams are changing over time, which everyone could see coming, and they go from him observing to him interacting, both socially and sexually, and then the dreams turn quite graphically violent. Once you suspend belief, there are a lot of funny moments, some cringe worthy moments, and some opportunities to put yourself in Paul’s shoes and contemplate what you yourselves would do should you find yourself suddenly and for no good reason to be world famous. Do you dream of Tik Tok fame? What would that look like?