First Look at Nicolas Cage in A24’s ‘Dream Scenario’ (Exclusive)

The first look at Nicolas Cage in A24‘s ‘Dream Scenario‘ has been exclusively revealed by Vanity Fair. The film follows Paul Matthews (Cage), a schlubby professor who becomes an overnight celebrity by appearing in everyone’s dreams. See the images below.

The film is written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli. The film also stars Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera, Tim Meadows, Dylan Gelula, and Dylan Baker. Produced by Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen under their Square Peg banner, alongside Cage, Jacob Jaffke, and Tyler Campellone.

What is the Plot of ‘Dream Scenario’?

Nicolas Cage stars as Paul Matthews, a listless family man and tenured professor with an affinity for evolutionary biology and anxiety regarding his own anonymity. One day, he discovers he has begun to appear in other people’s dreams at an exponential rate. As in life, his presence in these dreams is banal and non-intrusive — he’s simply there, staring indifferently at the fantasies and nightmares of strangers. Nonetheless, he becomes an overnight celebrity and is soon showered with the attention he has long been denied. But when Paul encounters a dreamer whose visions of him differ substantially from the norm, he finds himself grappling with the Faustian bargain of fame as his dream selves start inexplicably becoming violent within their respective subconsciousnesses.

For the unremarkable Paul in ‘Dream Scenario,’ newfound fame is a big self-esteem boost. Before the dream phenomenon, he was just an average guy with a regular family life. He was an okay professor but not well-known. His life was pretty ordinary, and he craved more attention and recognition. When he suddenly becomes famous, it’s like an adrenaline rush for him, and Nicolas Cage does a great job showing this transformation in his performance.

The director, Borgli, explains that despite Nicolas Cage being known for his expressive and attention-grabbing acting style, in this movie, he plays a regular guy who starts to enjoy the attention he’s getting, revealing a different side of his persona.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Borgli said, “With how expressive and attention-grabbing Nicolas Cage can be, he’s going against that and trying to play this unremarkable person [who’s] quite the opposite.” Borgli added, “And there’s a Nic Cage persona deep down in this person that starts coming out in certain scenes in the movie—when you see how he’s really liking the attention that he’s getting.”

Borgli continued, “It was interesting to use someone, as [Cage] has said it himself, who’s almost impossibly famous, and then make him hide inside of this average, unremarkable person,” Borgli says. “He gave him all these tiny, small nuances in every scene…. He made a boring, suburban dad very exciting to watch.”

‘Dream Scenario’ will premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2023, and will be released by A24 on November 10, 2023.