Dream Scenario

Play trailer

2:24

Dream Scenario

R

2023

1h 42m

Fantasy

Horror

Comedy

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

241 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

100+ Verified Ratings

Hapless family man Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) 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 his newfound stardom, in this wickedly entertaining comedy from writer-director Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself) and producer Ari Aster.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Come to Dream Scenario for career-highlight work from Nicolas Cage -- and leave mulling over everything it has to say about pop culture's fickle whims.

Read Critics Reviews

Audience Says

Nicolas Cage is great and Dream Scenario starts out strong, although the ending may frustrate about as often as it entertains.

Read Audience Reviews

Wenlei Ma

PerthNow

01/15/2024

3/5

Dream Scenario is a peculiar and provocative film with more ideas than it knows what to do with.

Go to Full Review

Jake Wilson

The Age (Australia)

01/11/2024

3/5

The spectacle of Cage revelling in being boring is perversely entertaining in itself.

Go to Full Review

Stephen Romei

The Australian

01/05/2024

This film is a thoughtful, funny and timely satirical dissection of the cancel culture age in which we live, lifted throughout by Cage’s performance. That he can act is something not even the US Internal Revenue Service can argue with.

Go to Full Review

Keva York

ABC News (Australia)

Sep 10

Cage gives a performance that is by turns subtle, funny, and excruciating, but his character is ultimately less than compelling.

Go to Full Review

Stephen Garrett

Book & Film Globe

Aug 21

4/5

Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, clearly indebted to absurdist visionaries like Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry, makes hilarious hay with the what-if notion of an ordinary person mishandling an extraordinary situation.

Go to Full Review

Marta Medina

mundoCine

Aug 9

3/5

[Dream Scenario] is a kind of A Nightmare on Elm Street for a generation raised on screens, and a sharp dissection of sudden fame and cancel culture, though it promises more than it ultimately delivers. [Full Review in Spanish]

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Alfred

10/23/2024

Loved it, the last quarter of the movie wasn’t as strong as the rest but still enjoyed it. Some scenes absolutely killed me. Plus it has Nicolas Cage, so I already had a reason to see it.

See more

TCelts

12/16/2023

quirky story hilarious at times! Good Cage performance.

See more

B

12/15/2023

Nicolas Cage and A24 was not the Dream I thought it would be

See more

SMITH

12/14/2023

It's a good take on not only the real life lore behind a man who was frequently popping up in dreams, but also how some of us feel so unseen and unheard in life and how that desire can go awry. The main character is pretty passive and bland, so when he finds out he's the exact way in dreams, it's deeply upsetting to him. He longs to be exciting, memorable, an active member of these dreams... then he meets the one exception to this, which is where the film takes a darker turn. There are many different meanings to this film (as with all art) and I find myself engaging with all of my thoughts of it. Recommended watch.

See more

Thomas D

12/13/2023

Very A24. Not super dark. If you’re a Nick Cage fan and an A24 fan I’ll really like this one.

See more

ken h

12/13/2023

Still deeply thinking about it

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Kristoffer Borgli

Director

Nicolas Cage

Paul Matthews

Lily Bird

Sophie Matthews

Julianne Nicholson

Janet Matthews

Jessica Clement

Hannah Matthews

Star Slade

Greta

Dream Scenario: Exclusive Movie Clip - Student Dreams

2:01

View more videos

A Different Man

93%

89%

A Different Man

Watchlist

TRAILER

for A Different Man

Medusa Deluxe

72%

52%

Medusa Deluxe

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Medusa Deluxe

The Death of Dick Long

75%

86%

The Death of Dick Long

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Death of Dick Long

Death of a Telemarketer

27%

39%

Death of a Telemarketer

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Death of a Telemarketer

Beau Is Afraid

67%

71%

Beau Is Afraid

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Beau Is Afraid

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Dream Scenario: Featurette - Behind the Scenes

1:00

Dream Scenario: Trailer 1

2:24

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

Hapless family man Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) 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 his newfound stardom, in this wickedly entertaining comedy from writer-director Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself) and producer Ari Aster.

Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Producer: Ari Aster, Tyler Campellone, Jacob Jaffke, Lars Knudsen, Nicolas Cage
Screenwriter: Kristoffer Borgli
Distributor: A24
Production Co: Quebec Film and Television Tax Credit, Square Peg, A24
Rating: R (Some Sexual Content|Language|Violence)
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 22, 2023, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 22, 2023
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.9M
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Most Popular at Home Now