Dream Scenario is A24’s most recent film, it follows Paul, a humdrum professor who suddenly starts appearing in people’s dreams worldwide. While he quickly rises to fame things take a turn for the worse when the at first tame dreams become horribly nightmarish. (Trailer).
This was one of the most off-putting and uncomfortable movies I’ve ever seen. The many awkward moments, coupled with weird silences, and a very unpredictable plot made this movie unsettling. While the movie was hard to watch it was successful in making the viewer feel the uncomfortable and weird moments in a way that no other movie I’ve seen before has. To best summarize my feelings, I would never watch this movie again but I’m glad I watched it once.
Dream Scenario is labeled as a comedy horror, but, while these might be the closest genres, it is nothing you would expect from either one of them. First, there was not one point in the movie where I laughed at something a character said that was supposed to be funny. The only comedy I could find throughout this movie was satirical or uncomfortable laughter following another painfully awkward scene. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing but it’s not what I expected. Moving on, the movie plot-wise was not scary, unsettling, and creepy yes, scary no. There were really no jump scares and having a movie where the scariest thing is people getting nightmares, something everyone gets, does not make for a truly horrifying movie that the genre would imply.
Onto more of the technicalities of the film the cinematography in this movie was one of the most impressive I’ve seen in making the viewer feel something almost as much as the plot and actors do. The odd camera angles and the unusual color filters are another driving factor in this movie’s uncomfortableness allowing the viewer to not just watch the movie but to feel immersed in it. Nicolas Cage who plays Paul the main character did a great job playing a man who isn’t likable but you can still sympathize with. He also was able to capture Paul’s rise and fall in the movie and the emotional toll it had on him in a very realistic way.
The only real issue I have with this movie is the ending. To me, it felt like they very successfully built up a really good plot and then couldn’t figure out how to tie it up. So as a solution, they did the most unpredictable thing they could think of. Personally, the ending didn’t work for me but I could see other people getting more out of it than I did.
Overall, while this movie made me very uncomfortable I am glad that I watched it. The very original idea combined with for the most part well done execution made for a movie unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. There is a unique demographic I would recommend this movie for but overall if you’re a fan of other A24 movies or if you think the concept is interesting it’s worth giving a watch.
