Ever wondered what it would be like if Freddy Krueger was… literally just a normal dude? Either way, you’re about to find out with A24’s new film Dream Scenario, written and directed by Sick of Myself filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli.
The film’s first trailer dropped today after tons of buzz out of this year’s edition of Toronto International Film Festival, which just concluded. The writer-director’s first film made similar noise at Cannes when it premiered there in 2022, so there’s no surprise his new entry is turning heads.
The sneak peek paints the picture of a middle-aged professor who ends up randomly becoming the subject of everyone around him’s dreams — but it should come as no surprise that the novelty of everything that comes with that sours almost as fast as it began, bleeding into something horrific.
The movie stars Nicolas Cage in what seems to be another great weird role for him to sink his teeth into. Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera, Tim Meadows, Dylan Gelula, Kate Berlant, and Dylan Baker round out the film’s supporting cast. With comedians like Cera and Berlant in the mix alongside Cage’s innate comedic timing, it seems like we can count on some really funny moments amid a ton of strangeness.
Borgli’s second mainstream feature was produced by Beau Is Afraid and Hereditary mastermind Ari Aster alongside his frequent collaborator Lars Knudsen — who is also responsible for producing other bangers like Robert Eggers’ The Witch and the Rebecca Hall horror star-vehicle Resurrection. Cage also served as producer on the film, as well as Pearl producer Jacob Jaffke and Tyler Campellone.
According to A24’s website, the movie’s synopsis is thus: “Hapless family man Paul Matthews (Cage) finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. But when his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound stardom.”
Plus, the Dream Scenario trailer gave us some extremely welcomed info as well: the film's release date. This exciting new A24 project will arrive in theaters in the United States on November 10, 2023, and I, for one, will be there on opening night. You know, in my dreams and all.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
