Magazine Dreams

Magazine Dreams follows Killian Maddox, an aspiring bodybuilder who works part-time in a grocery store and cares for his ailing grandfather while chasing a dream of fame in the world of professional bodybuilding. He idolizes a fitness magazine star and wants to appear on those same covers himself, but his efforts to connect with other people keep failing, and he pours more and more of himself into a training regimen that is damaging him. Doctors warn him that the pursuit is causing lasting harm, yet he refuses to let go of the goal he has built his life around. The film is a drama exploring celebrity and violence through one man's obsessive drive.

Elijah Bynum wrote and directed the film, his second feature after Hot Summer Nights. Jonathan Majors plays Killian, with Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, Harrison Page, Harriet Sansom Harris and bodybuilder Mike O'Hearn among the cast. Jeffrey Soros, Simon Horsman and Dan Gilroy produced.

Released in March 2025, the film runs 123 minutes. It earned roughly 1 million dollars worldwide, a modest return for a production of this scale. On IMDb it holds 7 out of 10 from about 6,600 votes, and on TMDB 7 out of 10 from 116 votes. A critics' rating stands at 7 out of 10 from 154 reviews, broadly in line with how audiences have rated it.