The other night L. and I watched this movie she found called Dream Scenario. I had not heard of this movie at all but am glad I watched it. Her, not so much. She got legit mad at the stuff that was happening to the main character in this. I should explain what the movie is about. This guy named Paul who is a biology professor is in the backyard with his daughter when things start raining from the sky. He has no reaction to it. Suddenly she starts floating into the sky while he just watches. It turns out to be a dream. Students at school start looking at him weird and he and his wife bump into one of his old girlfriends. She says that she had a dream about Paul as well and they decide to meet up later. Paul is a very bland kind of guy who plans to write a book about ants while an old colleague is already in the process of doing the same in a magazine. This man never stands up for himself.
After this article written by his ex is published, hundreds of people start coming out the woodwork saying they have also had these dreams about Paul. None are the same. They are in some crazy situation like alligators about to attack, mushrooms and a bloody killer. In each dream Paul does nothing to help or harm the person. He starts to get annoyed that everyone sees him as this passive guy who doesn't help. His wife is playfully jealous that she has not had a dream about him. While the family (Paul, his wife, and two daughters) sleep a man breaks into the house and takes a knife from the kitchen saying he has to kill Paul to stop his dreams. Paul doesn't really do anything to stop the guy but the police come and pretty much say “Get some security.” Paul is starting to enjoy this weird bit of fame that he has but his wife does not think he is taking threats seriously.
Paul meets with this PR place and they start throwing ideas at him about sponsor deals. On the elevator up he talks with this girl named Molly who had a dream about him but doesn't say what. The meeting does not make Paul happy but he tells his wife it went great. That is a thing they both do. They have these weird little lies back and forth for praise and attention. Paul and Molly end up at a bar and I knew this was not gonna end well. She tells him her dream. She is at home and spots him standing in the shadows and gets frightened. He comes out, licks her ear, touches her crotchal region, and they bone down. They decide to reenact this for reals. He doesn't do it just like the dream because when she touches his crotch he cums and farts within moments. He leaves embarrassed. I laughed far too hard at this scene.
Paul learns about his former colleague and her published article covering what he planned to write about (ants) and is pissed. Now people are still dreaming about him but they are crazy, violent dreams where he is actively hunting and killing them. People see him now and look nervous. Almost his entire class decides not to show up because they are afraid if him. He goes to have breakfast and a waitress asks him to leave because he is making people feel uncomfortable. He takes a stand which ends with his food being spit in and a trip to the hospital. His wife tries to explain to him that he needs to apologize and he is like “Its a dream! I've done nothing!” True. But...assault. One night he has a dream where he is jogging and someone is shooting him with arrows. It turns out that he is being hunted by himself.
Paul meets with his class who has had the dreams about him with a CBT counselor. He inches closer to the class with permission until he opens his mouth and they all bolt. They then paint “loser” on his car. He tries to attend his daughters play but he is not allowed in. He accidentally hurts a staff member and it is very dramatic. It ends with him being tackled to the ground. He records a video saying he is sorry and also a victim which his wife hates and his daughter says she will have to kill herself over. Next thing you know an ad is being played for an app that allows you to enter the dreams of others. There are ads and everything and I groaned knowing this will one day be a thing. His wife throws him out of the house. He finally publishes his book and it is smaller than he expected. I know the feeling. He buys the dream app and uses it to visit his wife giving her the fantasy she dreamed of having with him and then he floats away.
I really liked this strange ass movie. I had no idea where it was going or how it would end. They do not explain how he was able to appear in the dreams of others and I am fine with that. L. did not like that he was being told to apologize for people having crazy dreams. I didn't either but I looked at it like, this dude has a whole ass family and career to take care of. Make a fake apology. Yeah, he did but he made it too fake the way people apologize now. They are not sorry for what they did but say they are sorry you feel a certain way about things. I loved the way this was filmed and the look of things. It felt like it was just slightly out of reality in the real world so that when a dream was happening I wasn't 100% certain that it was one. Check this out if you get the chance.
Nicolas Cage as Paul Matthews
Julianne Nicholson as Janet Matthews
Michael Cera as Trent
Tim Meadows as Brett
Dylan Gelula as Molly
Dylan Baker as Richard
Kate Berlant as Mary
Lily Bird as Sophie Matthews
Jessica Clement as Hannah Matthews
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