MAGAZINE DREAMS (2023)

All I knew about this film going in was that it focussed on a bodybuilder, specifically the competition-going/fitness magazine model type. I expected a film about the ins and outs of this lifestyle, as it is an offbeat choice for a lot of men and women, demanding discipline and pain. And while the film does reveal some tidbits about this interesting subculture, it is merely the tether for a troubled and complicated protagonist. Director Elijah Bynum – Hot Summer Night (2017) – voyeurizes loner Killian Maddox (Jonathon Majors), as he trains and eats and competes and shops and struggles with his anxiety and social ineptitude. And as we sensed with Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), something is coming. Magazine Dreams compounds this dreadful foreboding with references to another Scorsese’s film The King of Comedy (1982), with Maddox mirroring the character study of Rupert Pupkin, another unhinged soul with an unhealthy obsession with a famous figure. All we can do is watch Maddox’s fall, reflected, interestingly by way of his diet, to the point where we know his scarfing down of drive-through burgers and fries in a parked car is but another warning. Bynum’s brilliant choice was to simply point the camera at Majors. His entire body struggles to show nothing while showing everything as braces for impact with every attempt to matter and be seen. It’s not for everyone, and it’s certainly not just about bodybuilding; still Major’s transformation is a sensitive and affecting sight to behold.

WATCH OR NOT: WATCH

Additional musings:   Nice touch to include Killian watching the 1993 Mr. Olympia when Dorian Yates bested Flex Wheeler to retain the crown.