There is angry anger within Killian Maddox, the amateur bodybuilder portrayed by Jonathan Majors In the heart of the dark and stylized movie “Dreams of magazines.”
It is a kind of “taxi driver” for uncertainty, a heartbreaking portrait of unrelated mental illnesses, violence, false idols, steroids and male loneliness. There were, from the beginning, much to discuss and discuss the “magazine dreams”. But in the two years since he debuted in the Sunday Film FestivalHe was also eclipsed by the tribulations of his star’s real life, who was convicted of assaulting his ex -girlfriend.
In January 2023, “Magazine Dreams” had an exciting future with Oscar’s hopes for specialties. Searchlight Pictures won the distribution rights, according to reports, about the classics of Neon and Sony Pictures. And the elders were Tightening to the topWith great roles in “Creed III” And as Marvel’s new main villain, Kang. But two months later, he was arrested. For that December, Majors was declared guilty of a position of aggression for minor crime and a violation of harassment and fired by Marvel. A month later, “Magazine Dreams” was without distribution. Majors, throughout all, has maintained his innocence.
The film was finally collected by Briarcliff EntertainmentThe same distributor who jumped to release Donald Trump’s movie “The Apprentice” after the rest of the entertainment business moved away from her. “The apprentice” went on to obtain Oscar nominations for its two stars.
But there is a different type of stigma around the “dreams of the magazine”, so this review has also been a bit eclipsed by what happened in Majors’s life. It is a film about a staggering man on the edge of violence, about the relentless search for greatness, and it is deeply uncomfortable to see his descent.
His simplistic devotion to a wild objective can be his ruin in a world that he simply doesn’t care. This is not the film that any public relations professional would choose as a “return role.” However, it is impossible to deny the monumental ferocity of Majors’s performance, from its complete transformation to its disturbing ability to show pain behind (most) psychotic actions.
Killian’s life is nothing glamorous: he works in a grocery store and at home he worries about his aging grandfather. But it has an intense and manic that must be seen and remembered. And the only way in which he has discovered how to achieve it is through physical perfection, or at least his very narrow idea. Success is a cover of the magazine, which naively combines with immortality.
When Jessie’s work partner (Haley Bennett, who does a long time with a small and something ungrateful role) agrees to go to an appointment with him, is really surprised that she is not familiar with her bodybuilding idol, saying something to “need to leave more.”
The writer and director Elijah Bynum effectively imbuies his film with stylized intensity. You feel restless and captivated from the beginning, although you try to give Killian the benefit of the doubt: seek his goodness, to support his success, even if only for the hope that he can keep him docile for a little more. Although they tell us early that he has had violent episodes, through his therapist ordered by the Court, the glass is not completely shattered until Jessie begins to process that Killian is someone who needs to get away, quickly. This is markedly after he orders $ 500 in protein on the date, only for himself. Unfortunately, we cannot see the bill.
While “Magazine Dreams” is an interesting characters, one many actors would love to play for all their dramatic opportunities, it also seems completely designed to provoke and shock, especially in the final hour almost unbearably bleak. After two visualizations, one of which I had to take a break during one of his violent outbursts, I am not sure of what he is trying to say about men, about trauma, about Roid’s rage. Killian seems less an authentic person and more a simplistic substitute for the forgotten person, the rare silent who ends with a mass murderer.
And yet, as movies are accused of being too direct, too moralistic, too simple, perhaps some ambiguity, some discomfort, something unresolved unpleasant is late. Majors is a force, and Bynum is certainly a director to see. The question with “Magazine Dreams”, which was the same in January 2023 as in March 2025 is: Anyone?
“Magazine Dreams”, a launch of Briarcliff Entertainment in theaters on Friday, is qualified by the Motion Film Association for “Violent Content, Drug Use, Sexual Material, Nudity and Language”. Execution time: 104 minutes. Two and a half stars of four.
