Elijah Bynum’s Magazine Dreams is a psychological illustration of ambition turned obsession. Going into this film thinking it was nothing more than a new GymBro classic, I was both shockingly and pleasantly surprised by just how different the movie was from my initial prediction. The film tackles themes such as rage, identity, and loneliness through the embodiment of a spirited lead performance by Johnathan Majors.

One of my favorite aspects of the film was the cinematography and overall aesthetic. The visuals of the film were stunning and interesting; it evoked a Mid90s vibe through the use of harsh lighting, sterile set designs, and tight framing. Not only did these elements create a unique sense of original aesthetic, but they also serve as a mirror to the protagonist, Killian, and the weight of expectation he has placed upon himself. The camera never really lets go and doesn’t give the audience a feeling of relief; instead, it lingers longer than it should during some scenes and invades others, making an overall uncomfortable but interesting shot design. As I will get into later, the performance by Johnathan Majors was incredible, but I do believe that it wasn’t only his performance that allowed Killian to be so expressive and unique, but also the specific camera work/style mentioned earlier.

Another standout feature of the film was the sound design - or the deliberate lack of it during some portions of the film. The sound and score wonderfully matched with the shots themselves, offering some haunting, bone-chilling, and even emotionless sounds that helped portray Killian as the emotionally disoriented individual he is. One thing I found interesting was the intrusive, in-your-face sound design throughout the film. In scenes such as Killian working out, the sound design offers high intensity of the weight slamming, heavy breathing, and under-the-breath motivating that Killian provided himself with. The high intensity sound is so overwhelming and intrusive that it matches Killian's headspace - cluttered and obsessive. This is just another example of how director Elijah Bynum was able to utilize elements beyond Johnathan Majors' acting to show the audience who Killian is, and it was beautifully done.

Despite the impressive visuals and sound design implemented throughout the film, it was Johnathan Majors' performance that made Magazine Dreams a great watch. Before continuing, it’s important to mention that I am well aware of the controversies and allegations against Johnathan Majors, and I do not condone any behaviors that he allegedly has done; however, this review is only about the movie and not the aspects of an actor's off-screen life so anything I say is about his performance and not who he is as a person. Going back to the film, Major’s performance was nothing shy of incredible. The emotional tension and disorientation he brought to the character were nearly flawless; he offered the audience both a feeling of sympathy and hatred towards the character. I think something very interesting was how the disoriented character of Killian Maddox was somewhat put onto the audience, as I slowly became disoriented myself, attempting to decide if Killian means well and is just lost, or if there’s something deeper. Every stare into the camera, every pause in the shot, every aggressive act in the movie captures the fragility beneath Killian. The juxtaposition of the massive physical frame of Killian and the “small”, delicate internal insides of Killian was also wonderful.

It isn’t the dialogue Majors utters that makes his performance so amazing, but his microexpressions and small gestures. The articulation of his internal state through expressions rather than dialogue makes it feel more raw, authentic, and unsettling. Majors also does a wonderful job making sure Killian isn’t a caricature, it doesn’t seem over the top or exaggerated, but genuine. This is done primarily through the sliver of hope Killian has in humanity throughout the film. For example, believing that Brad Vanderhorn would respond to his letters. Overall, his performance was amazing: his use of physical and emotional expressions rather than dialogue was the best part of the acting, as it made it feel more authentic and honest.

Even with the amazing performance by Majors, the unique visuals, and a sound design that nearly flawlessly mirrored Killian, there were still a fair amount of unsatisfactory elements of the film that separated it from being great to amazing. Especially the second half of the film.

What felt raw and honest in the first half became surreal and unrealistic in the second. While Killian stayed genuine throughout the film, it was more the plot and execution that added to the unrealism. Another reason the second half began to fall short, comparatively, was due to the repetitiveness and predictability. While the directing did a wonderful job going into the character and subtext of Killian throughout the film, there was nothing really separating how they did that between the first and second half, causing some redundancies that seemed unnecessary. The predictability also began to increase, causing an underwhelming watch during the second half, despite still having some unique, erratic things. While the final outcome itself was predictable in my eyes, the overall sequence was less foreseeable and delivered some amazing last performances by Majors.

I previously mentioned that the camera work and aesthetic of the film were one of the best elements of Magazine Dreams; however, there was still a major flaw in my opinion. Up until Killian ranted to Jessie about Brad Vanderhorn and how he was Mr. Olympia winner in 2015, I thought this film took place way before it actually did. While the aesthetic played well into the overall theme and mood of the film, as well as the portrayal of Killian's internal feelings, it was super unrealistic for the time it was set in. The film was supposed to take place in 2018, but everything from the clothes on Killian's back, the cars, and the visuals all seemed late 90s, early 2000s.  This disparity made me somewhat irritated throughout the film because it took away from the authenticity that Johnathan Majors did so well building through Killian, and just made the film altogether more confusing. I think a simple fix for this was just changing the time it took place, because the aesthetics themselves were beautiful and most definitely should be kept.

One major problem people have with this movie is the Taxi Driver-esque nature of it, and for me, I couldn’t disagree more. I don’t like it when people bash heavily on traumatic or character-driven psychological dramas by saying it’s just a copy of Taxi Driver, because personally, I find that super unfair and honestly untrue most of the time. While Magazine Dreams did in fact have a Taxi Driver or Joker style, it was its own independent film that depicted something different than previous psychological dramas. At the end of the day, it’s all about showcasing a story that the audience hasn’t seen and wants to view, and I think that Magazine Dreams accomplished that on its own and shouldn’t be ridiculed for the previous films it possibly took inspiration from. Overall, Magazine Dreams has some apparent flaws that were not far from going unnoticed, but still a great watch that evoked a lot of emotions and showcased an amazing performance.