History Film / DreamScenario

* TheToothHurts: Another student tells Paul of having seen him while having a dream of tearing out one of his own teeth.

* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: A student tells Paul that she saw him appear during her nightmare of staying on top of a table to keep herself safe from two crocodiles on the floor.

* SurrealHorror: Some of the dreams, [[spoiler:even before the ones that vilify Paul]], are quite disturbing in unique ways. Like the DreamIntro helplessly starting to float up into the sky while her dad [[DissonantSerenity keeps raking fallen leaves]]. Or Andy's dream of being chased by a HumanoidAbomination in a SceneryDissonance location in which he and other men were wearing smokings for some reason.

* ShoutOut: Sophie tells Paul that her classmates have been referring to him as [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet "Freddy Krueger"]], and Paul later poses for a photoshoot with a bladed glove similar to Freddy's.

''Dream Scenario'' is a 2023 American BlackComedy fantasy film created by Creator/{{A24}} and stars Creator/NicolasCage, portraying biology professor Paul Matthews who inexplicably finds himself appearing in the dreams of people all over the world. This discovery makes him famous worldwide, but soon has a negative impact on himself and his family.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Molly has been dreaming of Paul as being a very dominant and sexually aggressive man, a far cry from his real personality. When she tries to have sex with him in real life, she notes that he's not nearly as forward, and him being an older man causes him to fart out of nervousness, ejaculate before his pants are even unbuckled, and leave in embarrassment.

* BittersweetEnding: With an emphasis on the "bitter"... Paul [[spoiler:stops appearing in people's dreams after injuring a teacher by accident, but his reputation is destroyed as a result and Janet divorces him. A company develops dream-travelling technology, which is primarily used for advertising, based on what happened to Paul -- so capitalism and propaganda will now be able to get at us while we sleep, while it is implied that everyone believes Paul ''chose'' to terrorise people in their dreams. Paul writes a book on his experience that doesn't sell well and it's made very clear that he's only going to be remembered for being a source of nightmares. However, he does use the dream-travelling technology to visit Janet, with it being implied she still has feeling for him, and while some still seem wary around him, it's implied that the public at large no longer hate him]].

* BittersweetEnding: With an emphasis on the "bitter"... Paul [[spoiler:stops appearing in people's dreams after injuring a teacher by accident, but his reputation is destroyed as a result and Janet divorces him. A company develops dream-travelling technology, which is primarily used for advertising, based on what happened to Paul -- so capitalism and propaganda will now be able to get at us while we sleep, while it is implied that everyone believes Paul ''chose'' to terrorise people in their dreams. Paul writes a book on his experience that doesn't sell well and it's made very clear that he's only going to be remembered for being a source of nightmares. However, he does use the dream-travelling technology to visit Janet, with it being implied she still has feeling for him, and it's also implied that as he no longer appears in their dreams people don't hate him anymore]].

* FrenchJerk: After he becomes a nightmare figure, Paul remains popular in France, in a joke about the [[invoked]] "GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff" effect and a bit of a dig at perceived French intellectual perversity. However, when he visits France on a book signing tour, it turns out that the publishers have changed his title without his permission, a magazine that interviews him just wants to depict him as a hammy monster, and a bookshop consigns his signing session to their basement.

* {{Satire}}: The film is a satire on the nature of fame, especially in the age of the Internet. Paul achieves the fame he wants by a weird accident, becoming in effect a meme and FamousForBeingFamous, but it doesn't bring him happiness. Then, through no real fault of his own, he becomes hated and feared, leading to him being cancelled (despite people trying to avoid the word); he's become a [[invoked]] MemeticPsychopath and will NeverLiveItDown. The image management company Paul talks to are a clear satire of jargon-spouting modern {{hipster}}s. Like many long lasting memes, Paul's infamy is coopted by the corporate world, which is able to make money off the situation, while Paul sees a decrease in popularity.

* YouTuberApologyParody: In keeping with Paul's dilemma serving as a metaphor for unwitting viral fame, he eventually feels forced to make an apology video when his dream selves start to attack people in their nightmares. He initially resists making any apology at all, rightfully pointing out that he has never controlled the dreams and they haven't caused anyone any "real" harm. However, once his life has been entirely ruined by strangers hating him and he suffers a nightmare himself, he posts an "apology" without any editing or assistance from his family or PR firm... and makes things ''far'' worse, as his focus on how the nightmares have affected ''him'' plus his over-the-top hysterics makes him come across as insincere, likely convincing even more people that he ''is'' in control of his dream selves' behavior. His more Internet-savvy daughters are instantly mortified, and [[spoiler:it proves the final straw for his marriage]].

* YouTuberApologyParody: In keeping with Paul's dilemma serving as a metaphor for unwitting viral fame, he eventually feels forced to make an apology video when his dream selves start to attack people in their nightmares. He initially resists Making any apology at all, rightfully pointing out that he has never controlled the dreams and they haven't caused anyone any "real" harm. However, once his life has been entirely ruined by strangers hating him and he suffers a nightmare himself, he posts an "apology" without any editing or assistance from his family or PR firm... and makes things ''far'' worse, as his focus on how the nightmares have affected ''him'' plus his over-the-top hysterics makes him come across as insincere, likely convincing even more people that he ''is'' in control of his dream selves' behavior. His more Internet-savvy daughters are instantly mortified, and [[spoiler:it proves the final straw for his marriage]].

* YouTuberApologyParody: In fitting with Paul's dilemma serving as a metaphor for unwitting viral fame, he eventually has to make one when his dream selves start to attack people in their nightmares. Paul initially resists posting any apology at all, rightfully pointing out that he has never controlled the dreams and they haven't caused anyone any "real" harm. However, once his life has been entirely ruined by strangers hating him and he suffers a nightmare himself, he posts an "apology" without any editing or assistance from his family or PR firm... and makes things ''far'' worse, as his focus on how the nightmares have affected ''him'' plus his over-the-top hysterics makes him come across as insincere, likely convincing even more people that he ''is'' in control of his dream selves' behavior. His more Internet-savvy daughters are instantly mortified, and [[spoiler:it proves the final straw for his marriage]].

* YouTuberApologyParody: When Paul's dream selves start to attack people in their nightmares, he initially resists posting any apology at all, rightfully pointing out that he has never been in control of the dreams and that they haven't caused anyone any "real" harm. However, once his life has been entirely ruined by strangers hating him and he suffers a nightmare himself, he posts an "apology" without any editing or assistance from his family or PR firm... and makes things far, ''far'' worse, as his over-the-top hysterics and focus on how the nightmares have affected ''him'' makes him come across as insincere, likely convincing even more people that he ''is'' in control of his dream selves' behavior. His more Internet-savvy daughters are instantly mortified, and [[spoiler:it proves the final straw for his marriage]].