Magazine Dreams is a 2023 American psychological drama[3] film written and directed by Elijah Bynum. The plot features social outcast bodybuilder Killian Maddox, whose dream of becoming a bodybuilder consumes his entire life; his depression and aggressive tendencies consume him, and his obsession with becoming a Mr. Olympia champion brings him to a complete mental breakdown. The film stars Jonathan Majors, Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, Harrison Page, Harriet Sansom Harris, and Mike O'Hearn.
Killian Maddox is a mentally ill grocery store worker obsessed with bodybuilding. He lives with his grandfather ("Paw-Paw") as a result of his father committing murder–suicide of himself and Killian’s mother. His dream to be the best in bodybuilding aids in creating negative behaviors, with the steroids he takes to support his physique leading to physical ailments. Killian has frequent, recurring, emotional outbursts and appears unable to express his true emotions. His frustration sexually manifests through watching pornographic videos, but not masturbating.
As he prepares for a show, he attempts to ask out his love interest, Jessie, at the grocery store where he works. He asks her out while he's shopping, only to walk out awkwardly. He is also obsessed with fitness champion Brad, who does not reply to Killian's written letters. Killian talks about his bodybuilding goals and admiration for Brad in his written letters. Killian also includes his phone number, hoping Brad would call. Killian threatens a local painter's shop as the owner refuses to repaint his grandfather's house due to his 'Paw-Paw's' claims of thin paint needing another coat; eventually destroying the shop's windows and inventory.
Killian takes Jessie out to dinner, where he 'dumps' about the deaths of his parents before devolving into an intense monologue expressing his bodybuilding dreams. Jessie leaves him at the restaurant. He's distraught as he focuses on his next fitness show. Immediately before the next show, the local painter owner's nephew and friends assault him. Despite the beating, he drives to the show. He steps on stage and begins to pose, only to pass out. He wakes up in a bathtub, icing his body.
Following the disaster of a show, Killian hides his true dark and violent feelings and real-life happenings from his counselor, eventually picking up Pink Coat with the intent to have sex, only to be unable to continue after she demands no kissing. Killian's spiral continues: he is fired from his job, he encounters the owner's nephew again, with his family, in a diner, causing a threatening scene, and he begins purchasing and assembling guns.
One day, Brad responds to Killian's messages and invites him to his next photo shoot. Upon their first interaction, Brad obliges Killian to feel his abs, and the pair spends the night together in a sequence marked with ambiguity regarding consent. Brad ignores Killian for a call from his wife, and Killian leaves wordlessly.
Killian, in the wake of this, continues fantasizing about murder. He breaks into the home of a judge who provided a criticism that he returns to several times over at earlier points in the film, forcing him (at gunpoint) to strip and pose.
Killian then attends Brad's posing show armed with a gun and has a vivid fantasy about shooting and killing Brad on stage during a disorienting montage sequence featuring previous moments from Killian's life, including interactions with his parents as a child; though Killian ultimately leaves without shooting. Upon returning home, he breaks down in his Paw-Paw's arms, disassembles his gun, throws it away near a set of train tracks, dumps his steroids into a toilet, and commences flexing, yet again, in his garage, reiterating his still-existing bodybuilding dreams in voiceover narration.
Cast
Jonathan Majors as Killian Maddox, an aspiring bodybuilder who struggles to find human connection
Haley Bennett as Jessie, a grocery store worker and Killian's love-interest
To prepare for his role, Majors ate 6,100 calories a day for four months and trained for six hours every day to obtain and maintain the extreme muscular physique of his role.[6]
Release
Magazine Dreams had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2023.[7] For the premiere, the production team declined to provide an open captioned print of the film, and the alternate seat-side captioning device provided to juror Marlee Matlin malfunctioned, thus the jurors collectively walked out of the initial screening in support of Matlin's inability to watch it. According to a statement from Sundance, the device was repaired and the jurors were able to screen the film later, as a group.[8] The following month, Searchlight Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film, beating out bidders including Neon, Sony Pictures Classics and HBO.[9]
The film was originally scheduled to be released theatrically on December 8, 2023,[10] but in October 2023, Searchlight's parent, Walt Disney Studios, removed the film from its release schedule in response to both the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike and assault allegations against Majors.[11][12] Following Majors' conviction for assault and harassment in December of that year, The Hollywood Reporter said it was "unlikely" that Searchlight would still release the film, either theatrically or direct-to-streaming.[13]
In January 2024, it was reported that Searchlight had quietly returned the film rights to the filmmakers, so they could shop it to other distributors.[14] In October 2024, Briarcliff Entertainment acquired domestic distribution rights to the film.[15] The film was released in the United States on March 21, 2025.[16]
Reception
Box office
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $701,365 at the box office.[17] This was considered to be a disappointment, as the film's distributor had hoped that it would gross at least $1 million during its opening weekend.[18]
As of May 20, 2025, Magazine Dreams has grossed $1,173,594.[2]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 142 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10.The website's consensus reads: "Its dramatic form may get a little wobbly during certain reps, but Jonathan Majors' incredibly committed performance makes Magazine Dreams well worth a watch."[19]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[20]
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