Nic Cage plays a straightforward biology professor named Paul Matthews, who merely wants to lead a life with a typical family and simple goals. He may genuinely be incredibly unhappy and engage in strange, one-sided rivalry with his colleagues in his industry, but aside from that, he seems like a typical man!
In Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario, Paul is followed as everyone in his immediate vicinity begins to dream about him. It’s his daughter at first, but soon he starts observing odd behavior in his classmates. It eventually spreads throughout the world, and with it, Paul’s uncertainty.
Paul initially finds it enjoyable to be the center of attention for everyone. That is until their fantasies about him start to fade. Dreams of Paul being harmful start to circulate. Many people start to fear Paul in real life because they feel so genuine in the nightmares, informing others that they feel scared in his presence.
He gets turned away from plays directed by his daughter, he gets turned away from restaurants, and his teaching session gets rescheduled. Even though Paul did nothing to earn this animosity, his unexpected outburst of rage drives him to act out in anger, injuring a school instructor unintentionally, which only serves to increase the hostility directed towards him.
Ending Explained
While some thought the dream phenomena defined communal consciousness, others referred to it as the Mandela effect. Paul’s only thought was how he could take advantage of the unexpected attention. Janet encouraged him to consider all the possible consequences of his decision to go on television.
Paul was very sure he wanted to participate in the conversation, and he became even more well-known after appearing on television. As more people became interested in the unknown man they were seeing in their dreams, things began to get out of hand.
Paul’s home was broken into by a mentally disturbed man who threatened to kill him. Fortunately, there was no carnage in the end, but Paul could already see the drawbacks of becoming viral. After living a life in the background, it was clear that Paul appreciated the attention he was getting.
Using cutting-edge technology, he protected his home and carried on with his regular operations. As his daughters grew to respect Dad, they desired to be pictured with him in front of their peers. More students showed up for his classes, and they talked about how Paul had been in their vivid dreams.
Paul’s only grievance was with his lack of action in the dreams; maybe he thought that he could have taken a more active part in developing his persona. Paul finally gave thought to meeting with a talent agency that assured him of greater utilization of his ideal presence.
Paul had always stated that he wanted to be recognized as a professor who made a substantial contribution to his field of expertise and that his objective had always been to publish his book. Paul did not want to be involved in the consumerist rat race and lose his academic credentials, even though the folks at the agency wanted to utilize him for advertising.
He had no control over perception, and many recalled him solely as the weird guy from their dreams, which was the only reason he agreed to appear on television: he was hoping to find a publisher for his book.
The moment Paul entered into negotiations with the agency, things began to go wrong. In the hopes of publishing his study and being able to go to an Obama party, he was prepared to think about advertising. Following the meeting, Paul made plans to meet Molly. She had the craziest fantasies about Paul in her work dreams at the agency.
The age gap caught Paul off guard, but there was sexual tension between them. Paul arrived at Molly’s flat after she asked him to fulfill her wish. However, the real world was not what she had imagined. Paul seemed awkward and nervous, not the self-assured man Molly had imagined him to be. Paul was too stressed and self-conscious for her attempts to work.
After leaving the room, he hated himself and wished that things had gone differently for the rest of the night. After that evening, Paul’s demeanor changed in his nightmares. He was now the one doing the crime, not the spectator. He was a murderer, a rapist, a torturer, and everything else Paul could have never imagined being charged with.
Paul wanted his former life back badly since he was suddenly the target of an intense reaction. His agreement to participate in consumerist culture may have caused the abrupt change in his personality, or it may have been the result of real-life anger that somehow influenced his subconscious image.
Now that he was, at last, a pivotal figure in other people’s dreams, something he had always desired, he detested every second of it. After experiencing intense, frightening dreams, some students declined to attend Paul’s seminars. The dean thought about abandoning his course for the semester since he was unsure of how to respond to the circumstances.
Paul found it difficult to understand the cancel culture he had suddenly been exposed to. Why the students who had once gathered to speak with him would not even look him in the eyes was beyond him. He remained the same person who could not control his actions when they were in other people’s dreams. He wasn’t prepared to provide a public apology, even if it was expected of him.
He also endured abuse and humiliation from his wife and daughters. Because of Sheila’s achievement, he found it even more difficult to accept reality and felt that his ambition of getting his book published was now unachievable. Paul was seen sobbing and blaming everyone for his suffering in the video that he released.
Though nobody seemed to genuinely care to comprehend what he was going through, he thought he was the victim. He was told to remain home and take a break from his work, he was instructed not to attend school functions, and he was refused access to restaurants.
Paul’s family was disappointed in him for not being able to handle the predicament he had put them in, and he found his entire life collapsing. Paul attempts to forcibly enter the auditorium to see his daughter’s performance during the conclusion of Dream Scenario.
He unintentionally injured a faculty member after a heated conversation. The woman, who may have also experienced nightmares about Paul, cries out for aid in a panic, accusing Paul of harming her. Paul made an effort to show his innocence, but his justification was ignored by everyone there.
The whole thing embodies cancel culture, in which the victim is denied the opportunity to present their arguments. It quickly devolves into a hurried social media trial where someone’s reputation is damaged in seconds, and no one is interested in learning the facts.
In a number of these situations, the victim contacts a lawyer, and by the time the court rules in their favor, the public has already painted them as the guilty party. People have forgotten about Paul in the years that have passed since the incident.
The Dream Scenario does not provide a satisfactory explanation for the start of the dreams or their termination. Paul decided to live in hiding from the spotlight, but his life had changed. After their breakup, he intended to move into an apartment.
He lost his family, which was the most significant thing in his life, in the pursuit of fame. Although Paul was never able to publish his research, he continued to influence the European fringe cult movement and wrote a book detailing his incredible adventure.
The book ended up being titled “I Am Your Nightmare,” even though he had intended for it to be called “Dream Scenario.” According to his agency, it would be preferable if he capitalized on the terrifying persona he had created.
A business called Norio invented a tool that made dream travel simpler after the whole Paul incident. It was primarily utilized for advertising, with dream influencers disrupting dreams to promote goods. Brian Berg, the company’s CEO, claimed that Paul invented the gadget; yet, we subsequently learned that Paul makes use of it.
Paul could have done anything he wanted with the device, but he chose to spend time with Janet. Their dreams provided him with solace from the agony of being apart. Away from the stresses of daily life, somewhere, he could still hold her in his arms and dance with her in silence. It was already too late when he came to understand how much his family meant to him.
