‘Dream Scenario’ and ‘May December’ offer movies within movies

Dream Scenario (in theaters) 

It almost never works out when a movie tries to be two different things at once. The competing plot lines and themes fight it out for every second of screen time, yanking the movie back and forth between them and making it so neither concept gets the chance to develop into what it was supposed to be. 

That’s the case with “Dream Scenario,” which could have found success either as a surreal, melancholic fantasy about being happy about what you have or a profoundly chilling horror film about being hunted by forces beyond your control. There are moments during the film where it does find success as one or the other, flashes of a bleakly funny sex scene or a chilling sequence that leaves you feeling claustrophobic in a huge movie theater. There are even two endings, a nauseatingly-timed black screen for the horror film and a bittersweet, dream-like sequence for the melancholic fantasy. 

The problem is the two movies never fit together. Every tonal shift feels more like a fight than an intentional choice, stealing whatever momentum the other version of the movie had been building. Either version of the movie could have been interesting on their own – the horror version of the movie under Ari Aster’s hand would have given me nightmares – neither gets to fully exist. All we’re left with is sketched-out concepts and Nicholas Cage doing his absolute best to come up with a performance that bridges the gap. 

He doesn’t quite make it, but it’s not his fault. The only way either of these movies could have worked is for them to have their own screen. Since they didn’t get it, all we’re left with is a dream of what might have been. 

Grade: One and a half stars

May December (Netflix) 

And then there are those rare, wonderful occasions when two movies fit together almost perfectly. 

That’s the case with “May December,” which on one level really is the blackly funny domestic comedy it presents itself has. It’s also a cover for the movie hidden just underneath the surface, an absolutely chilling horror movie about exploitation and the absolutely shattering long-term impact it can have. The second movie keeps peering up through the first, making the audience constantly question its own reactions and giving the whole thing an unsettling twist. Though it loses some courage in the final moments, the bulk of the movie lingers like a bruise. 

The movie starts with an actress going to stay with the couple who inspired the movie she’s preparing for. The two had a “controversial” romance several years ago, but it’s not long that what they actually mean is that a fully grown married woman had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy. Based on the real story of teacher Mary Kay Letourneau and her then 12-year-old student Vili Fualaau, director Todd Haynes examines both their descent into normalcy and the rot at the heart of it. 

The key to all this is Charles Melton, who plays the victimized young man now in his adulthood. Melton’s performance as Joe is absolutely haunting, an empty nester who never really got the chance to grow up. He plays at adulthood without ever really being able to be sure any of the decisions he’s made were really his, and it’s by far the most powerful thing in the movie. 

Grade: Three and a half stars