Magazine Dreams

I had been wanting to see Magazine Dreams for a very long time, ever since hearing it described by my favorite movie podcasters who caught it on the festival circuit a couple years ago. I had no idea it had been picked up for theatrical distribution, so its seemingly sudden appearance completely took me by surprise.

Jonathan Majors's performance as Killian Maddox, an aspiring yet struggling bodybuilder, is truly next level here. Killian is a fractured man, at moments childlike and charming, at others he's like a pot of water boiling over. This can make him unpredictable scene to scene. Easily the most effective scene was his dinner date with the girl from the supermarket. Talk about a cringe moment!

My feelings are most mixed about the script, with my main complaint being it that it doesn't seem to know when to quit. There are multiple moments where I was certain the story was close to conclusion, that it was building to a moment, yet only to further continue in layering misery on thick. I found this exhausting. When the movie finally does conclude I don't know if I find the resolution entirely believable for Killian's character.

I like the movie enough to recommend, but keep in mind this can be a dark, dark film.

Jonathan Majors is incredible in this. His performance is so powerful, it pulls you in and makes you really feel what his character is going through. There are a bunch of scenes that hit hard emotionally, and it's all because of how committed he is.

The movie dives into some really heavy and complex themes, and when it works, it really works. But the last act gets a bit messy. It tries to cover too much at once, especially when it comes to unpacking such a complicated and violent character. It feels like the movie loses focus a bit near the end.

Still, it's absolutely worth watching for Majors alone and the bold ideas it tries to explore.

Initially, Magazine Dreams (2023) drew my attention as a bodybuilding film. Little did I realize that bodybuilding is not what this movie is about. Instead, it is a grim narrative on the dangers of loneliness. Killian Maddox (Jonathan Majors) is a bodybuilder with intense aspirations of becoming a revered "Mr. Olympia", willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve this goal. Unfortunately, his troubled youth and his declining mental state hinder his progress and send him on a path to utter madness. Maddox only has one person in his life that he truly loves: his grandfather. Other than that, he has no friends, and no (successful) love interests either. Due to his growing loneliness, he tries to write to his hero, Brad Vanderhorn, but is ignored by him too. This film begs a necessary question: How much can a person truly tolerate being alone before they get consumed by their obsessions and thoughts? The answer that the film provides is quite dark, but also representative of what it means to be human.

Magazine Dreams centers on a body builder gripped by ambition, toxic masculinity, and violence. Jonathan Majors shines in Magazine Dreams for nearly every frame of this film, well-suited by bringing his even-more-buff body builder physique with the talent to bring the complex vulnerability and intensity to the Killian Maddox character. Because of the directions of this film, it's a difficult watch. As mentioned in the Sundance Q&A by writer:director Elijah Bynum, the movie rides the edge in keeping the audience's empathy for the character. Undoubtedly it may be a push too far for some viewers. There are a lot of ideas in this film, some of which feel tonally off or extraneous to the core, but it's impossible to look away from this movie.

This is one of those films one should be prepped for an intense experience and I'd compare it to Tom Hardy in Bronson or Deniro in Taxi Driver.

The main reason to see this film is the star Jonathan Majors that carries this film beyond the obvious Art imitates Life which is sad because the guy can act.

The subject and plot is all over the place on this twisted journey but it's worth it.

The director Elijah Bynum is definitely talented even if the plot meanders it still keeps one bolted to your chair witnessing vast layers of body obsession, mental illness, child abuse and steroids abuse but much like downward spiral films like Bad Lieutenant there is a point to this mad journey.

The dream hallucinations mixed with violent reality creates a bizarre scenery that might feel scattered to some yet this director has talent. And Jonathan Majors carries this film along with deep emotional expressions with eye and vocal detail that makes one either believe this is his true self or one heck of an acting job.

Hopefully this actor gets his personal issues in check and balances his anger as he might be the next Tom Hardy / Denzel Washington.

Go into the film with some expectations of a wild emotional rollercoaster ride as it's definitely not light weight film.

Very curious to see what this director does next as he seems to have a talent for attracting great actors esp his last film Hot Summer nights with Timothee Chalamet and Maika Monroe was also well done.

7 stars for star actor.