Film Review: MAGAZINE DREAMS: Intense Performance Enhances Labor of Love with Striking Visuals [Sundance 2023]

Magazine Dreams Review

Magazine Dreams (2023) Film Review from the 45th Annual Sundance Film Festival, a movie directed by Elijah Bynum, starring Jonathan Majors, Harrison Page, Harriet Sansom Harris, Haley Bennett, Michael O’Hearn, Bradley Stryker, Sonny Valicenti, and Justin Cuomo.

Elijah Bynum focuses on an amateur’s obsession with bodybuilding culture and hero worship in Magazine Dreams.

To those in the audience who are less familiar with the dedication required for bodybuilding, writer/director Elijah Bynum’s second narrative feature offers a particular insider’s view. Not so much as a man finding his place in the world of physical culture, however. The real insight is the study of Killian Maddox, the protagonist, at the mercy of his obsession and all he sacrifices for it.

A parallel theme in Magazine Dreams involves a special labor of love. Killian’s hero worship goes in a very unexpected direction — in fact, twice. All in all, though, the plot gets driven in a consistent, linear direction — violence, whether random or as a result of payback. And Majors drives Maddox straight through the film with pedal to the metal. The beatings visited on Maddox are so savage and frequent, with one exception in the third act, the periods of recovery seem virtually overnight. (It should be noted, however, that Maddox gives as good as he gets.)

As disadvantaged and vulnerable as Killian Maddox may seem as a character, Majors dominates the screen. This film is all about his performance. A large part of the conflict lies in a paradox. This guy is no palooka. In his more introspective scenes Maddox is an intelligent, open minded man with much to offer, but whose miscues, both perceived and presented, prevent a healthy segue into society. The overriding commitment to his goal causes a sort of tunnel vision. This tends to edge out the performances of the supporting cast, by and large.

Peppered throughout the overwhelming carnality of the plot, there are unexpected moments of tenderness. It takes about as much effort as one of his workouts for Maddox to work up the courage to ask a grocery cashier, Jessie (Haley Bennett), for a date. We can easily identify with his awkwardness; his unexpected, stammering vulnerability pulls at our heartstrings.

But despite our high hopes that Jessie can impart some well deserved tenderness for Killian, the date goes terribly awry in a very strange way. They meet for dinner at a fine-dining joint, and one of the few humorous moments follows when he orders half a dozen entrees with all the trimmings soon fizzles. (Of note, a competitive bodybuilder’s diet of 6000 calories per day while training is not unusual.) Jessie’s order gets driven from his mind when he waxes philosophical about his dreams of getting his likeness on a magazine cover — just like his hero, bodybuilding icon Brad Vanderhorn (Michael O’Hearn).

Killian’s relationship with Vanderhorn is the most intriguing. Brad’s presence throughout the film has its own arc that gives special insight into Killian’s character. Killian’s fan letters in voiceover cover the first half, always hopeful that Brad will jot down a few lines of encouragement or training advice relating to the photos he includes. Out of the blue, Brad calls: he’s in town for some PR. He’s impressed with Killian’s photos. He’s doing a photo op not far away, and he’s eager to discuss some training tips. Why doesn’t Killian join him there?

And join him, he does. At the end of the photo session Brad beckons the painfully awestruck Killian, inviting him to check out the famous six-pack first hand. O’Hearn’s appearance in three brief scenes is plenty enough to see the adoration by millions garnered by this gorgeous paragon is very well deserved. Bynum’s choice to jump directly to the ‘morning after’ is a curious one. These two grappling might have been a thing of beauty, but more importantly is Killian’s reaction to his first (presumably) bisexual experience — not at all put off, but puzzled and pensive. His adoration never wavers; he resumes his letters and voicemails, though their tenor is urgent.

The final act is all twists and turns, implying that Maddox — already deep in anger management therapy — has become unravelled, planning revenge and stalking those whom he believes hampered his ambitions. But the violent end we expect veers off into an unexpected but oddly uplifting (though unexplained) direction.

There is no question that the camera loves Jonathan Majors. He radiates prowess from the screen, and cinematographer Adam Arkapaw takes full advantage of it. These stunning visuals help to bolster the tragic drive of the story; that is, the single-minded labor of love that only Killian Maddox can appreciate.

Rating: 8.5/10

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