‘Magazine Dreams’ Review: Jonathan Majors Is Fantastic as a Bodybuilder Grappling with a Self-Destruction Borne of Rage

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Haley Bennett for Variety, photographed by Ryan Pfluger at Sundance. | Variety Studio presented by audible_com

), has started to fall apart — though you could say that he’s been falling apart from almost the first scene.

That this judgment has tormented Killian ever since is a sign of his obsession, and also his massive insecurity. Before turning the gun on his adversary and making him strip, he turns up the stereo; it’s playing Patti Smith’s rapturous version of “Because the Night.” As the song surges, he forces the man, in his underwear, to imitate his own body-building poses, right down to a grin that becomes a grimace of fear.

But there’s another side to him. He has a capacity for violence; he’s been locked up for it and sees a court-ordered counselor. And his ability to connect to others comes and goes. He’ll be polite and communicative one minute, only to lapse back into his monosyllabic scowl. The actor Jonathan Majors became a bodybuilder for the role , and we’re used to seeing a certain blunted inexpressiveness in an actor who’s this bulky and ripped.

“Magazine Dreams” is made in a highly orchestrated style, with each lustrous image flowing into the next. Scenes like the one in the restaurant play out slowly, naturalistically, but are charged with such tension that at moments you may find you’ve stopped breathing. Bynum, as a filmmaker, works with commanding authority, so that each sequence tells it own story. For a while, the film could almost be “The Wrestler” directed by Robert Bresson.

 

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