Magazine Dreams: A Strong Character Thriller (Early Review)

The saga of Magazine Dreams has been an arduous one to say the least. Premiering to wild acclaim back at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, the film was set to be a big awards contender, including star Jonathan Majors. However, Majors proved to be its downfall, at least temporarily. Picked up by a major distributor in Searchlight Pictures and given a prime awards season release date, the film was subsequently dropped as a result of Majors’ well-publicized legal trouble (and the Hollywood strikes later that year). All that being said, the film is now upon us. Judging the film and Major’s performance by their own merits, whether or not it lives up to the hype remains to be seen, but writer-director Elijah Bynum’s sophomore effort should be seen. A departure from his debut, 2017’s Hot Summer Nights, his latest is a character-thriller that is not afraid to go to some dark places as it tracks the downfall of the psyche of a tortured bodybuilder who literally pushed himself to the limit, both physically and psychologically. While that journey was not without flaws, Majors, like him or not, is absolutely captivating as the lead.

Magazine Dreams follows Killian Maddox (Majors), who, on top of being an amateur bodybuilder, takes care of his ailing grandfather, attends court-mandated therapy sessions, and works part time as a grocery store cashier, whenever he wasn’t working out or practicing competition poses. Interacting with others was not his strong suit, as his inability to pick up on social cues and violent temper made it difficult for him to connect with others. To him, everything on the outside didn’t matter as his sole focus was to achieve his dream of becoming a superstar professional bodybuilder and was not going to let anyone or anything get in his way. However, the toll his self-destructive behavior was taking on him and his body was clear, subjecting himself to strenuous workouts and injecting himself with steroids and other volatile drugs, both putting his body at risk but to him, it was all worth it. Built on a foundation of rage, this manifested itself in how he treated his own body which in this case was as much a temple as it was a prison.

Through it all, Killian was also a man simply yearning for human connection. Having a crush on Jessie (Bennett), another cashier who was also the only person at the grocery store who was nice to him, he felt a strong connection with her but the opposite did not appear to be the case following a lacklustre date. In the end, lacking the social skills needed to navigate the real world or to control his rage, life proved to be difficult for him. Struggling to balance his obligations, bodybuilding was his refuge so he doubled down and pushed himself even harder. Becoming further disillusioned with the rest of the world, it was the only things he had left. Inundated by such a toxic atmosphere, Killian’s wires were crossed as he put so much pressure on himself to meet this unrealistic expectation of masculinity, never quite matching up to his own expectations. As he attempted to rise up the bodybuilding ranks, he blamed others for any perceived challenge or sleight as they did not understand his greatness.

As the rest of his life crumbled around him, the more he would find himself getting in trouble but to Killian, none of that mattered. So far gone, his obsession with bodybuilding appeared to be fueled by his role model and inspiration, Brad Vanderhorn (Michael O’Hearn). A superstar bodybuilder, Killian wanted to be just like him and appear in his own magazine cover, he sent Brad a series of letters chronicling his journey in the hopes that he would that he would give him some advice, or just the validation he so desperately craved. All he wanted was to be seen and after all he’s been through, one can’t help but feel lonely. An analog used to address several relevant themes surrounding men and Black men in America, Magazine Dreams perhaps takes on too much as it tries to tie everything together in a cohesive way. While a thrilling dive into who was essentially a ticking time bomb, the film could have dope deeper into Killian’s psyche as it relates to his double-edged nature. A man suffering from serious mental health issues, both consumed by rage and loneliness, its exploration of the latter is flawed as it settles its themes a little too conveniently. However, framing the film from Killian’s warped perspective kind of helps explain it.

Committed physically and psychologically, Majors walks the tightrope that was Killian beautifully. Getting into that headspace must not have been that easy, especially during such a short shoot of only 26 days. A testament to his tremendous range, how he brings his effortless charm while straddling the line between reserved and soft-spoken and downright terrifying as a lost and tortured soul is sensational. Acting as a guide through Killian’s fractured psyche, he takes audiences where they need to go, even if the script may straggle behind at times. What was indisputably Majors’ film, this fact may be challenging for some today knowing what we know now about him, his performance is the best part of Magazine Dreams and is well worth the price of admission.

At the end of the day, Magazine Dreams is a strong character thriller resting firmly off the strength of the impressively chiseled Jonathan Majors.

still courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.