Jonathan Majors delivers a raw, unsettling performance in a film that refuses to let anyone off the hook.
By Sarah G. Vincent/Boston Movie News
“Magazine Dreams” follows Killian Maddox (Jonathan Majors), an aspiring bodybuilder, and Mr. Olympia, who is so focused on his misguided fantasy that fame will keep his memory alive after he dies that he fails to live. Because of his punishing dedication, mental health challenges, and strain of familial obligations and history, he does not connect with people in an acceptable manner, which exacerbates the situation. Will he find a way to break this cycle? Who will care about his existence?
“Magazine Dreams” initially dangles the possibility that Killian’s dreams are achievable. It shows him at competition, at his job, going to therapy and asking a girl out. Systemic racism makes people judge him for being a big Black man, and he goes out of his way to assuage people’s fears, whether apologizing to a fellow shopper at the supermarket or acknowledging another’s discomfort when he asks out a coworker, Jessie (Haley Bennett). Director and writer Elijah Bynum starts by showing how the deck is stacked against Killian. He is an awkward guy who does not know how to live, which makes everything harder.
Bynum’s film is not the first to depict male athletes with lofty ambitions as masochists destined to doom. “The Wrestler” (2008), “Foxcatcher” (2014), and “The Iron Claw” (2023) also reflect the disordered eating and vulnerability to exploitation of athletes because of the desperate need for validation and patronage. It is an innately lonely path that destroys men with more of a support system than Killian. The images of other bodybuilders are plastered all over his bedroom walls. Killian makes poor decisions to achieve these unrealistic standards, and Bynum correctly commences “Magazine Dreams” with Killian’s mental image of achievement: victorious but alone. He is obsessed with one champion, Brad Vanderhorn (Michael O’Hearn), whom he imagines as his friend, and when he finally achieves fame on the stage, it is not at all what he imagined. It echoes a scene in “Love Lies Bleeding” (2023), which also involves a bodybuilder. Killian’s image of himself does not match his ideal, leading to a critical turning point. If he gives up, what can he do to be remembered? The only images of Black men that surround Killian are criminals or suspects on television. It is echoes of Brown v Board of Education all over again.
Killian suffered an off-screen trauma, which is not revealed until 40 minutes into “Magazine Dreams,” but explains a lot about the character. He also seems as if he has an undiagnosed developmental disorder, which limits his capacity to function as an adult. Black kids with mental disabilities are not treated; they are pathologized and treated as more mature and culpable than their counterparts. It is easy to imagine Killian as one of those children, but too far gone for redemption. As a result, his decisions are untethered to comprehension of realistic consequences, and he lives in a fantasy world. As the movie unfolds, his reactions escalate into more antisocial behavior, which makes every interaction seem fraught with a possible eruption of violence and not the kind that people will be able to walk away from. Killian is not a safe person to be around. After the first act, Killian’s story is closer to “Joker” (2019) if it was not tethered to a comic book franchise and more rooted in real life without the cinematic satisfaction of vengeance. In the end, he spends more time hurting himself than anyone else.
“Magazine Dreams” walks an uncomfortable line. People are not wrong to shun him, but they do not get off the hook because they could be judging him for the wrong reasons and exploit his mental condition, whatever that may be. Killian is the perfect flawed victim. Similarly, Killian is not wrong to feel rage but does nothing to lubricate his passage through life, and he exacerbates the situation. Then there is the off-screen drama. The film was made and screened before Majors was arrested in March 2023, so now, the unspoken question is how much of it was acting. Either way, the movie is mainly a tragedy with no heroes or villains, just pathos. The outside world is not supposed to change a narrative’s trajectory, but it does.
If “Magazine Dreams” is frustrating, it is because it works when it takes its foot off Killian’s neck, but it is too sudden and feels pat. Is it sustainable or just so audiences do not jump off the closest bridge after finishing the movie? Also, “Joker” never worked because, in the real world, that guy does not exist. In the real world, Killian would be dead. People have been killed for less. Somehow, this film is unrealistic and accurate. It feels impossible to imagine Killian’s life after the credits roll. The financial consequences are referenced but never shown. Is Pop Pop (Harrison Page) paying the bills and balancing the budget?
Bynum’s lighting is perfect in every scene. Think “Moonlight” (2016) meets “All of Us Strangers” (2023). Bedrooms can be a saturated red while the bathroom is blue. The “Joker” green often appears or oversaturated harsh light. It feels like it is set in the ’90s with the corded phones, Killian’s windbreakers, and TV/VCRs. Majors’s best scene takes place in a diner because it is emblematic of the tightrope that the film traverses, disapproval and sympathy. Then, a close second comes to his moment on the dance floor where he can pretend to belong. The subsequent scenes of contemplated violence probably goes too far in terms of being able to walk back.
There are several outstanding supporting performances. Harriet Sansom Harris plays Patricia, the court-mandated therapist or social worker who most sympathizes with and understands Killian’s predicament. Taylour Paige, best known for her titular part in “Zola” (2020), makes a fantastic cameo that reminds the moviegoers that more tragedies are occurring outside of Killian. She is one of the few people who jolts him out of his imaginary world to recognize another person exists. With one glance, O’Hearn conveys everything the audience needs to know about Killian’s idol. Sonny Valicenti steals the spotlight in a scene with so much pent-up volatility that it feels as if he is defusing a bomb with mittens on.
“Magazine Dreams” is an unremitting, depressing movie with value, but will anyone stay long enough to make it to the end? It is a hard story to watch, and Bynum’s most recent writing gig, “The Deliverance” (2024), proves that even if this film does not get the reception he hoped for, he will not let it keep him down. Majors somehow makes an uncomfortable character into someone easy to empathize with while simultaneously fearing, but his performance is insufficient to turn around his fortune. He either needs to pull a Hugh Grant and lean into his villain status or run in the opposite direction by exuding safety and playing roles on the opposite side of the spectrum. Will Smith had a career devoted to box office affability and is on shaky ground for doing less than alleged about Majors. Other actors have done worse and come back even when they deserved the opposite, but the easiest road to redemption needs to start inside. Side note: no animals are in danger, though they are adjacent to it.
‘Magazine Dreams’
Rating: R for violent content, drug use, sexual material/nudity, and language.
Cast: Jonathan Majors, Harrison Page, Harriet Sansom Harris
Director: Elijah Bynum
Running time: 2 hours 4 minutes
Where to watch: In theaters March 21
Grade: B
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