A24’s dream scenario is a shape-shifting parable about our obsession with viral fame -Gudstory

There are so many different factors at play when it comes to viral sensations going viral that it can be hard to figure out what exactly made the people behind them interesting in the first place. but in dream scenarioIn A24’s new dark comedy from writer/director Christopher Borgli, there’s no question why everyone is so obsessed with the most famous person on the planet, and that clarity reveals some deeply troubling truths about the antisocial nature of our current era. exposes.

Set in a mundane world where teachers have to beg students to pay attention and fleets of PR professionals work hard to get people to think of them as nothing more than brand names, dream scenario Tells the story of Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage), an evolutionary biology professor who – like many ordinary middle-aged men – feels that he has been treated badly in life. Paul’s wife Janet (Julian Nicholson) and their young daughters Sophie (Lily Bird) and Hannah (Jessica Clement) all love him and study the behavior of the ants with varying interest.

Although he is not as publicized as Paul himself, his family is proud of him for writing the book based on his research. But when Paul’s book begins with zero fanfare, he can’t help but wonder if he’s wasting his life — the way many people in Paul’s orbit, like co-worker Brett (Tim Meadows ) and Richard (Dylan Baker), reinforce this fear. He is seen as a forgettable NPC rather than a person with his own thoughts and feelings.

No matter how hard Paul tries, he can’t seem to inspire his teammates to see him as anything more than a background player in their ongoing stories. But when people all over the world who have never met, seen, or even heard of Paul start having inexplicably shocking vivid dreams, he becomes a global phenomenon and that kind of celebrity. About whom the public thinks they want to know everything about.

dream scenario opens and repeatedly presents itself as an absurdist comedy that is deliberately exploiting Cage’s real-world status as an eccentric cinematic folk hero. Paul suffers from strange fits of inappropriate laughter in everyone’s waking life, but not enough to write home about in the first place. Even once he begins appearing in the dreams of strangers, Paul rarely does anything notable other than just stay there, detached and unaware of what is going on around him. Things are so curious.

As Paul’s nocturnal cameos in dreams become increasingly widespread, more and more people feel as if they have seen him somewhere In Some, Because they have. And that’s more than enough for brands to knock on Paul’s door and give him a taste of the recognition he so desperately desires.

dream scenario The shape changes wildly with each of his fantastical dream sequences in which Paul watches while people deal with all kinds of mental burdens. Some people’s recurring dreams resemble scenes from natural disaster movies, while others find them more like science-fantasy or erotic thrillers. The only common thread between them all is Dream Paul, who is always watching but rarely does anything noteworthy – a detail that deeply troubles the real Paul. But as many questions as the collective dream event should raise, very few people are interested in asking them because they are too busy with the excitement of the big moment.

In Paul – a simple, well-intentioned man who achieves fame through nothing but grace – you can see glimpses of the full-tilt hamminess that Cage is capable of. And it highlights the film’s dark, fascinating turn that comes when the dreams of the people playing the professor begin to become violent nightmares.

The film’s most interesting expressions of the dangers posed by viral fame don’t come in the form of an embarrassed Paul’s fiery speeches or the concerns expressed by his loved ones. instead, dream scenario This idea is highlighted by depicting a society that is so engaged in parasocial interactions that no one stops to think about what they are actually gaining from them.

Even if it is stretching its absurdity, dream scenarioWild Twist always feels like a pretty reasonable guess about how the world might react if some rando started disturbing our collective unconscious. It’s as disturbing as it is disturbing – doubly so because it’s still a comedy at its core – and this heady mix will likely leave you wanting to do nothing but talk about it after watching the movie.

dream scenario It also stars Michael Cera, Dylan Gelula, David Klein, Kara Wolchoff, Noah Centineo and Amber Midthunder. The film is in theaters now.