Dreamscape

Alex Gardner has used his psychic gifts for personal gain, gambling and seducing others. At age 19 he was the prime subject of a government-backed research project; during the study, he disappears, leaving his future unknown.

After clashing with local gangster Snead, Alex is captured by Finch and Babcock who pose as researchers from an academic institution. They expose him to the scientists' world and usher him toward the dream-link program. The escape from Snead's men sets the stage for the new path.

In the institution's lab, Alex is reunited with his former mentor Dr. Paul Novotny. Novotny and Dr. Jane DeVries explain a technique that lets psychics project into others' subconscious via REM sleep. They frame the dreamscape as a real, dream-world parallel with potential clinical uses.

Novotny reveals Blair, a powerful government agent, hijacked the dream-link project for assassination. He explains the goal is to link minds to manipulate outcomes. Alex is pulled into the project to uncover Blair's true intentions.

After weighing risks, Alex agrees to participate, hoping to uncover Blair's scheme. He begins training in the dream-link technique and learns the rules of the dreamscape. The stakes are higher as the government shows its reach.

Alex gains experience by helping a man troubled by his wife's infidelity. The dream-link sessions reveal the psyche's hidden insecurities. The process demonstrates both potential and danger of the dreamscape.

Alex treats Buddy, a boy tormented by nightmares so severe that a previous psychic couldn't help him. Buddy's nightmare features a large sinister 'snake-man' that hints at the dangers inside dreams. The session foreshadows the darker powers at play.

Alex and Jane DeVries grow closer, culminating when he sneaks into Jane's dream to have sex with her. He does this outside the standard tech, a breach that unsettles Jane and others. The violation underscores the personal risks of power in the dreamscape.

With novelist Charlie Prince covertly investigating, Alex learns Blair intends to use the dream-link to assassinate people. Prince's book becomes a key to exposing the conspiracy. The plan adds urgency to uncover the true threat.

Blair silences the whistleblowers by killing Prince and Novotny. The double murder removes the most credible threat to his scheme. The act cements Blair's dangerous control over the project.

The President is admitted as a patient because of recurring nightmares. Blair assigns Tommy Ray Glatman, a disturbed psychic, to enter the President's dream and assassinate him. Nuclear-weapons politics heighten the stakes.

Alex escapes Blair's goons and heads to a racetrack to negotiate a distraction. He makes a deal with Snead's thugs to call five winners, drawing Blair's men away while he returns to the institution. Jane helps him slip back inside.

Alex arrives to discover Novotny's dead body and learns of the plan to kill the President. The information sharpens the resolve to intervene in the President's psyche. The countdown to the dream intervention begins.

Alex projects into the President's nightmare, a post-nuclear wasteland, to protect him. In the dream, Tommy as the snake-man battles Alex while memories of Tommy's past loom. The President ultimately helps by impaling Tommy, saving the President.

To secure safety, Alex enters Blair's dream and kills him before Blair can retaliate. The threat to the President ends, and Jane and Alex plan to move on with their lives. They board a train toward Louisville, encountering the dream-ticket collector but choosing to ignore it.