Dream Scenario

Una sátira notable pero también relativamente simple sobre la fama y sus transformaciones, la fama en las redes sociales, las celebridades de Internet, la hipersensibilidad en el mundo actual y la cultura de la cancelación. En el papel de un profesor ordinario y aburrido que de repente comienza a aparecer inexplicablemente en los sueños de millones de personas, Nicolas Cage sobresale como un meme viviente que puede ser cómico, amenazador, lúgubre e incómodo. También vale la pena mencionar las divertidas secuencias de sueños y la atmósfera surrealista, pero toda la metáfora de alto concepto solo funciona parcialmente, no es demasiado profunda y es demasiado literal. (14.10.2023)

La fantástica comedia satírica Dream Scenario sigue la vida de un profesor universitario tímido y ruidoso que de repente empieza a aparecer en los sueños de cientos de personas. Y aunque al principio disfruta de su extraña fama, la realidad poco a poco comienza a convertirse en una pesadilla para él. La película abre abiertamente el tema de la "cultura de la cancelación" y es una sólida incorporación a películas de calidad como La caza o Tár, aunque aborda el material con ligereza y humor (hay que añadir que es bastante oscuro). Nicolas Cage brilla en uno de sus proyectos más ambiciosos de los últimos años y simplemente te encantará su gruñido neurótico. Al final quisiera añadir una pequeña advertencia. Si ves los avances, estarás expuesto a partes importantes de la película, incluidas algunas de las escenas más divertidas. Así que ten cuidado con la cantidad de información que obtienes sobre esta película antes de verla. [Sitges 2023] (14.10.2023)

“The best film of the year with a perfect and original idea and great acting by Nicolas Cage. The dictionary definition of an A24 film, a well-directed piece with impeccable comedic timing, but one that can also strike a darker chord," that’s what I would have written if they hadn't strangely switched gears in the final fifteen minutes – after the school play scene – and the film hadn't fizzled out. It's a shame and I can't quite explain it, the ending really feels like Borgli ran out of time and didn't manage to write and film the climax the rest of the film deserved. Still, I'll burn a five star rating, I've been rather stingy with them this year and Dream Scenario towers high above the usual surrounding stuff despite the stumble. PS: Kristoffer Borgli is the discovery of the year for me – I recommend his previous film Sick of Myself, which is also about a man who craves attention, and in a bizarre way gets it. (23.12.2023)

Borgli has great ideas, but he’s not able to bring them to fruition. Compared to Sick of Myself, which was irritatingly aggressive and stupid, his new film is slightly more refined. In the first half, which concentratedly works with simplicity, awkwardness and an acting masterclass on the part of Cage, it’s even one of the best black comedies that I’ve seen recently. Unfortunately, when Borgli spreads his wings and starts satirising cancel culture and the influencer vacuum through dreams, the film suddenly comes across as completely clueless and toothless. Fortunately, Cage’s professor is such a fascinating and ambiguous character, whose guilt consists primarily in thinly disguised egoism, that the film never completely falls apart. But where it was supposed to punch you in the mouth, it rather just dissipates and leaves behind the odour of the nervous fart in the film’s unquestionably best scene. (16.01.2024)

For the vast majority of the film's running time I was excitedly thinking that I must be dreaming, it can't be that good. And "I can't believe it" was also what I said during the epilogue, but in a completely different sense. After all, it's not possible that one and the same person is able to write a concept like Kaufman, direct it like Gondry, and then send the whole thing down the drain because he figured he'd get away with it (when he didn't need to) with a final 15-minute epilogue from a different cupboard, one with unused ideas from a dozen Black Mirror episodes, and he just pulled out the worst possible option on a whim. That the same creator thought “yeah, this is a good ending” still boggles my mind. A satirical mirror-setting, a family drama about the breakup of a family, a more-than-successful Freddy origin story, a pint-sized comedy working brilliantly with the awkwardness of the moment, the Jung in us and you. It works on all levels. The plot, however fanciful, unfolds on a believable ground level of "yeah, this is how it could be if it were happening". One of the films of the year diluted (read shattered) by an eye-rolling conclusion. (19.12.2023)