DREAMSCAPE

Alex Gardner is a psychic who has been using his talents solely for personal gain, which mainly consists of gambling and womanizing. When he was 19 years old, Alex had been the prime subject of a scientific research project documenting his psychic ability but, in the midst of the study, he disappeared.

After running afoul of a local gangster and extortionist named Snead, Alex evades two of Snead's thugs by allowing himself to be taken by two men: Finch and Babcock, who identify themselves as representing an academic institution. At the institution, Alex is reunited with his former mentor, Dr. Paul Novotny, who is now involved in government-funded psychic research. Novotny, aided by fellow scientist Dr. Jane DeVries, has developed a technique that allows psychics to voluntarily link with the minds of others by projecting themselves into the subconscious during REM sleep. Novotny equates the original idea for the dreamscape project to the practice of the Senoi natives of Malaysia, who believe the dream world is just as real as reality. The project was intended for clinical use to diagnose and treat sleep disorders, particularly nightmares; but it has been hijacked by Bob Blair, a powerful government agent. Novotny convinces Alex to join the program in order to investigate Blair's intentions. Alex gains experience with the technique by helping a man who is worried about his wife's infidelity and by treating a young boy named Buddy, who is plagued with nightmares so terrible that a previous psychic lost his sanity trying to help him. Buddy's nightmare involves a large sinister "snake-man".

Alex and Jane's growing infatuation culminates with Alex sneaking into Jane's dream to have sex with her, though she protests when she wakes up. He does this without technological aid, which no one else has been able to achieve. With the help of novelist Charlie Prince, who has been covertly investigating the project for a new book, Alex learns that Blair intends to use the dream-linking technique for assassination, as people who die in their dreams also die in the real world.

Blair murders Prince and Novotny to silence them. The president of the United States is admitted as a patient due to recurring nightmares. Blair assigns Tommy Ray Glatman, a mentally unstable psychic who murdered his own father, to enter the president's nightmare and assassinate him. Blair considers the president's nightmares about nuclear holocaust as a sign of political weakness, which he deems a liability in the upcoming negotiations for nuclear disarmament.

Following Alex's escape from a car with Blair and his goons, Alex flees on a motorcycle and ends up at the racetrack where Snead's thugs work. He makes a deal with them to call five winners at the racetrack, in exchange for their distracting Blair's goons as he escapes back to the institution, with Jane letting him sneak in. He discovers Novotny's dead body and forces one of Blair's goons to tell him about the plan to kill the president. Alex projects himself into the president's dream—a nightmare of a post nuclear war wasteland—to try to protect him. After Tommy rips out a police officer's heart, Tommy attempts to incite a mutant-mob against the president, and battles Alex in the form of the snake-man from Buddy's dream. Alex assumes the appearance of Tommy's murdered father in order to distract him, allowing the president to impale him with a spear. The president is grateful to Alex but reluctant to confront Blair, who wields considerable political power. To protect himself and Jane, Alex enters Blair's dream and kills him before Blair can retaliate.

Jane and Alex later board a train to Louisville, Kentucky, intent on making their previous dream encounter a reality. They are surprised to meet the ticket collector from Jane's dream, but they decide to ignore it and keep on.

Alex enters the president's nightmare to confront and stop the psychopathic assassin Tommy Ray Glatman, saving the president and thwarting Blair's conspiracy.

The climax underscores the film's fusion of psychic science fiction and political thriller, showing how the personal traumas and ambitions of its antagonists play out in the subconscious. By rescuing the president within the dreamscape, Alex not only prevents a political assassination but also exposes the dangers of exploiting technology for nefarious ends. The resolution reinforces the film’s central theme: the battle for control—both of the mind and over national destiny.