Magazine Dreams

Magazine Dreams centers on a body builder gripped by ambition, toxic masculinity, and violence. Jonathan Majors shines in Magazine Dreams for nearly every frame of this film, well-suited by bringing his even-more-buff body builder physique with the talent to bring the complex vulnerability and intensity to the Killian Maddox character. Because of the directions of this film, it's a difficult watch. As mentioned in the Sundance Q&A by writer:director Elijah Bynum, the movie rides the edge in keeping the audience's empathy for the character. Undoubtedly it may be a push too far for some viewers. There are a lot of ideas in this film, some of which feel tonally off or extraneous to the core, but it's impossible to look away from this movie.