SUNDANCE 2023 | Movie Review: "Magazine Dreams"; A Distressing Tale Of A Bodybuilder In Crisis
12/12 ForReel Score | 5/5 Stars
2016 Grand Prix, Dayton, Ohio. This is a bodybuilding competition event that Killian Maddox refers to often throughout Magazine Dreams. Killian, played by Jonathan Majors, specifically and repeatedly references this event as the moment when a judge informed him that his deltoids were too small - a moment that we as the audience can presume motivated the current state of Killian’s dedication to being the best at what he does. But at what cost?
Magazine Dreams is a poignant look at a man on a toxic path towards his goals and dreams, where the only things more extreme than his strict and rigorous bodybuilding regimen are the body image standards he’s holding himself to. He lives with and takes care of his grandfather who he calls paw-paw, but with a socially awkward personality and a short fuse tethered to his temperamental attitude, Killian struggles to make meaningful connections with anyone else.
Killian also has an idol: Brad Vanderhorn, a world-renowned bodybuilder whom Killian writes to on a regular basis, despite never receiving a response. Regardless, the posters of Brad on his walls and the thought of his accomplishments motivate Killian to continue pushing himself to the brink in his feverish efforts to achieve a perfect physique like Brad.
Image courtesy of Sundance Institute
If this sounds like a drama that ho-hums through the trials and tribulations of this film’s lead character, you’d be mistaken, much like I was when I read the synopsis of the film ahead of its Sundance world premiere. Magazine Dreams is, instead, a distressing tale that views a number of personal and social issues through Killian’s life experience. The journey this story takes with Majors in the lead illustrates just a few of many reasons why Magazine Dreams deserves attention and praise.
Writer and director Elijiah Bynum comes to Sundance with a feature very different from his Hot Summer Nights directorial debut; a film with a much more established sense of style and purpose than Hot Summer Nights. Comparatively, Magazine Dreams is a more tender yet vicious endeavor; a film that perfectly hits its emotional beats while playing into and playing with audience expectations. Magazine Dreams establishes early in the film just how delicate and how unhinged Killian can be, placing him in volatile situations, then leading audiences to imagine and anticipate how each scene might devolve. The suspense involved in guessing how Killian might behave or react from scene to scene is what elevates Magazine Dreams beyond being that ho-humming drama it could’ve been to being the tense psychological thriller it is.
Though Killian is not a villain in this story, his character is given the development treatment I wish more villains in cinema would have: someone who exhibits deplorable behavior for understandable–or, at least, conceivable–reasons. We as an audience can cringe and sigh and murmur under our breath at Killian’s actions, but in the back of our heads is the looming understanding of Killian’s good intentions and the effects that poor mental health can have on a person. Do we condone him vandalizing a local paint store for not honoring his request to redo their subpar work on his grandfather’s house? No. But do we see why this action is a consequence of his sickness and a reaction to perceived disrespect? Well, sure.
In this way, it’s easy to draw comparisons between Killian and the titular anti-hero in Joker. There’s an empathy we want to allot to him because of his mental condition; we want Killian to succeed in reaching his goal, but we spend the course of the film wondering if he’ll find that success before the consequences of his actions and decisions catch up with him. Also similarly to what happens in Joker, we see the disassociation between the reality Killian perceives and the reality that is happening around him.
In addition to how Killian is developed in the script, his character is bolstered by an undeniably incredible performance from Jonathan Majors. Only four years after his breakout supporting role in The Last Black Man In San Francisco, Majors makes a spectacular return to Sundance as both lead and executive producer for Magazine Dreams. And while the world awaits more screen time from him in high profile blockbuster roles like Kang The Conqueror in Marvel films and Adonis’s next adversary in Creed III, Magazine Dreams is an extraordinary reminder of just how powerful of an actor he is even in small scale productions. Here in Magazine Dreams, Jonathan Majors delivers the performance of his career thus far.
Killians’ aspirations to be on the cover of magazines informs the source of the film’s title. But, whether intentional or not, there comes a point when the title takes on a whole new meaning, and this double entendre adds an intriguing level of depth to an already spellbinding story. Killian asserts in the film, “the only thing that matters in a man’s life is how he’ll be remembered.” Magazine Dreams is a film that I will remember for a long time. It’s a film that will stick with me - perhaps as strongly as how comments from the 2016 Grand Prix, Dayton, Ohio stuck with Killian, but in the most positive way possible.
Acting/Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 2 | Entertainment Value - 2 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 2 | Reviewer’s Preference - 2 | What does this mean?