Nicolas Cage plays Paul Matthews, an unremarkable family man with a tenured professorship, a passion for evolutionary biology and anxiety about his own lack of achievement. One day, he finds himself appearing in other people's dreams. As in life, his presence in these dreams is banal and non-intrusive - he's just there, staring indifferently at strangers' fantasies and nightmares. Despite this, he becomes a celebrity overnight and enjoys the baptism of explosive popularity. However, Paul gradually discovers that this is a Pandora's box, and his dream self begins to become inexplicably violent...