Dream Scenario Release Date, Cast, Plot, Trailer, And More Info

What if Nicolas Cage was Freddy Krueger, minus the fondness for murdering people, the burn-induced scarring, and the razor-bladed glove? Cage's character, the unsuspecting middle-aged professor Paul Matthews, even shares Freddy's predilection for cozy knitted sweaters in "Dream Scenario," the latest eccentric exercise in metamodern storytelling from contemporary indie powerhouse A24.

Much like Paul becomes an overnight celebrity when he inexplicably begins popping up in people's dreams around the world, "Dream Scenario" has suddenly found itself in the spotlight following its positive reception on the film festival circuit. With Cage essentially portraying two characters in the film (the real Paul and the one who keeps intruding into people's nighttime fantasies), his performances in "Dream Scenario" are already being compared to his acclaimed work playing radically different twins in director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman's surreal dramedy "Adaptation." In his own review for /Film, Matt Donato declared the film the "rare modern Cage movie that understands there's more to his talents than gifable outbursts," putting "Dream Scenario" in such esteemed company as "Mandy" and "Pig."

With the awards buzz around the film getting louder by the day, here's everything we know about "Dream Scenario" so far.

A24 has scheduled "Dream Scenario" to open in theaters on November 10, 2023. That date will see it go head-to-head with "The Marvels," which is the only other major new release currently slated for that weekend. Once upon a time, the pair would have also had to fend off "Dune: Part Two" during its second weekend. However, since the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers decided to take its sweet-ass time actually working out a fair agreement with the Writers Guild of America, the "Dune" follow-up has since sand-walked its way into 2024, leaving Nicolas Cage to duke it out alone with Brie Larson and her super-powered squad at the box office. We can safely assume Larson's "Captain Marvel" sequel is going to win that bout (though how wild would it be if it didn't?), while still leaving plenty of space for "Dream Scenario" to thrive as blockbuster counter-programming

If you spend enough time online, you're bound to notice that ordinary people who abruptly become internet-famous have a tendency to fall from grace almost as swiftly. The term for such individuals, "Milkshake Duck," refers to the imaginary scenario in which a duck becomes a viral phenomenon due to its love of drinking milkshakes, only to become nefarious just as quickly when it is revealed the duck is racist. In the context of "Dream Scenario," Cage's character Paul Matthews teaches evolutionary biology at Osler University and just wants to be published when he "goes viral" after somehow showing up in the dreams of people around the world.

Strangely enough, the idea of numerous people dreaming about the same exact individual isn't as far removed from reality as you might think. In a real-world hoax dubbed "This Man," the Italian sociologist and marketer Andrea Natella perpetuated the notion that people the world over were seeing the face of a specific man in their dreams, which in turn coerced more people into reporting that they, too, had seen the same man in their own dreams. But while "Dream Scenario" puts a fantastical spin on this scenario, it's ultimately more interested in what happens when things take a turn for the darker and Paul himself is "Milkshake Ducked" as public opinion shifts against him (whether rightly so or not).

Cage, obviously, is the biggest selling point for "Dream Scenario," though he's joined by a pretty impressive roster of names in the film's supporting cast. There's Julianne Nicholson ("The Outsider," "Mare of Easttown") as Paul's wife Janet; Michael Cera ("Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," "Barbie") as Trent, a marketing guru who aims to exploit Paul's viral fame for all that it's worth; and Tim Meadows ("Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping," "The Mandalorian") as Brett, the dean of Osler University. Also onboard is seasoned character actor Dylan Baker ("Thirteen Days," "Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man 3"), Noah Centineo ("To All the Boys I've Loved Before"), and Amber Midthunder ("Prey"), along with Dylan Gelula ("Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"), comedian and actor Kate Berlant ("Don't Worry Darling"), Lily Bird, Jessica Clement, Cara Volchoff, and Cousin Greg from "Succession" (who has also occasionally been referred to as actor Nicholas Braun).

"Dream Scenario" serves as Norwegian writer/director Kristoffer Borgli's follow-up to "Sick of Myself," his critically acclaimed (and rather disturbing) satire about a woman who deliberately disfigures herself in a bid to achieve social media fame. Even on paper, one can spot some clear similarities between the two films and the way they use their twisted horror-comedy setups to examine how people interact with one another in the age of the modern internet (not to mention, the fickleness of viral success and the dangers of using it to feed one's ego). It's no wonder the studio behind films like Daniels' metamodern multiversal adventure "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and Ari Aster's nightmare comedy "Beau is Afraid" is distributing Borgli's latest. Tellingly enough, Aster himself joins Cage as one of the producers on "Dream Scenario," as does Tyler Campellone, Jacob Jaffke, and Aster's longtime producer Lars Knudsen (who's also coming off producing "The Northman").

The trailer for "Dream Scenario," seen above, covers the basic gist of the film's plot while also alluding to the darker twists and turns that unfold during its second half (as the dream version of Cage's character starts behaving in a far more malevolent manner). One can even spot Paul sporting a medieval knight's armored gauntlet with razor blades attached in a clip from a scene where he participates in a Freddy Krueger-themed photo shoot for Rue Morgue magazine — cheekily acknowledging his parallels to Robert Englund's fictional dream invader. The trailer also weaves in pull quotes from early reviews praising Cage for being "at the top of his game," further drumming up awards buzz for his performances. 

Indeed, the way things are going, Cage appears to be on the fast track to his first Oscar nod since he was nominated for "Adaptation" 20 years ago. Clearly, he should have starred in more films about look-alikes between then and now.