Movie Review - Dream Scenario

 

A lot of you will remember, back before the new millennium, a horror franchise known as A Nightmare on Elm Street. A series of films all about a guy who was killed only to be resurrected into people's dreams, leading into their eventual demise... well for the most part anyway. It's been a long time since we have had that kind of film and the most the franchise has done recently, is make appearances in various video games. Today we have a film that follows a similar, but very different and not as violent, scenario which stars the beloved Nicolas Cage who, a friend of mine would say, is the best part of any film he is in. No matter how bad the film may be, and I agree. So let's see what awaits us in the latest A24 film, which continues to bring out new original content compared to most major studios:

The film is about biology professor Paul Matthews (played by Cage) who suddenly appears in people's dreams, apparently doing nothing but observing... at least at first. The sudden attention he gets for appearing in dreams, he revels in, despite being disappointed that he isn't doing much in them. As he starts to meet people from his past and finds a chance to hopefully get a deal for a book he's writing thanks to the dreams, things start to take a turn for the worst for them, and he must find a way out of this real life nightmare he finds himself in.

Of all of A24 films which are mostly unconventional, this one is certainly another attempt to defy what others studios not dare try to do. Most likely because they like playing it safe. I quite enjoyed this one. It's very funny in places and gets a little over-the-top as it goes on, despite looking like a miniseries if nothing else. The idea of suddenly appearing in people's dreams may not be all too original, as mentioned earlier, but it's used well here and builds up to what it eventually shows us. 8/10