Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Bird, Jessica Clement, Michael Cera, Tim Meadows, Dylan Baker
Distributor: VVS Films
Runtime: 100 mins. Reviewed in Jan 2024
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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A hapless family man finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams.
Dream scenario yes, but also social media, celebrity, fame never asked for, trauma, paranoia, conspiracy theory, reputation, persecution, Faustian pact, collective unconscious, mediocrity, inception, capitalistic and notoriety scenarios.
All these scenarios are dramatised strikingly by Swedish writer-director, Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself). This film is clever, initially humorous, deadly serious (often literally), satirical, moralising, and an allegory of how we live in the social media age of the 21st-century, and where it might lead us.
Praise to Nicholas Cage for his different performance. For 40 years he has shown a great talent in a variety of roles, even if in more recent times he has opted for action shows. Here he is Paul Matthews, a quiet professor at a small university, teaching evolutionary biology, with two teenage daughters who each have their problems, and a taken-for-granted wife, Janet (Nicholson).
Promotion of the film means that most of us know that he starts appearing in other people’s dreams, much to his surprise. At first he’s uncomfortable, then some enjoyment in being something of a celebrity. But, this is the social media age – an era of paranoia and conspiracy theories – and the quiet professor becomes a nightmare aggressor, real-life target and victim.
The narrative is not entirely predictable. Rather, it dramatises all the scenarios mentioned above. The professor’s life changes and his dream of a book on biology transformed into a sensationalised pop-seller on the celebrity of notoriety.
Dreams and nightmares – think Freddy Krueger – have always been popular staples of cinema. As for inception in this movie? There are layers of dreams, with people entering the different layers, dreams shaping the characters – and, while it is treated as something of a hoot, part of the climax is an enterprising youngster creating a means for anyone to attach a product to their wrists and wish themselves into other people’s dreams.
A lot to interest, a lot to entertain, a lot to question – in the hope that the film has a dream run!
12 Random Films…
