Kristoffer Borgli (sick of myself 2022) takes a delightful premise and then drains it of joy and drama.

Nicolas Cage is Paul Mathews, a very ordinary college professor, husband of Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and father to Sophie (Lily Bird) and Hannah (Jessica Clement). He is balding, awkward and equal parts passive and petulant about the world.

Inexplicably, he starts appearing in the dreams of people he knows – Sophie, students, work colleagues – and strangers around the world. In every dream he passively stands by while strange and awful things happen, which ramps up Paul’s petulance as he seeks affirmation that he’s not like that in real life. He of course is but those around him dance around the truth.

He is given the opportunity to capitalise on his fame through media endorsements and an attempt to have him appear in dreams holding a Sprite. The PR company, led by Trent (Michael Cera) clearly epitomises the shallowness of influencing culture and for Paul, provides an irresistible temptation to get the fame he feels he deserves.

This is where it takes a dark turn and the light and awkward comedy of the first act, where Paul is just a harmless doofus, shifts into something uglier. It feels like a metaphor, particularly for the insidiousness of toxic masculinity. Paul is either passive or angry and is always self absorbed. He feels entitled to rewards that he has not laboured for.

Where the story loses its momentum is the lack of depth to any of the characters. We are given stereotypes who only exist in the story as a plot device for Paul, something that would still work if Paul’s character had any substance.  He is relentlessly unlikable and I found it hard to care about his success or demise.

The message perhaps is that we get what we work for, what we deserve, but this doesn’t feel all that insightful. The bolted on third act with the Norio device saps the story of its drama and feels like a technique to give Paul a moment of pathos and make sense of the excellent Talking Heads song over the end credits.