STRANGE DARLING Starring: Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Ed Begley Jr., and Barbara Hershey Director: JT Mollner NICK If you've read my work before, you'll know I often take issue with non-linear timelines. Well, not only does director JT Mollner use the format successfully, but he does so in a way that enhances the overall film. With the concept of Chapters told out of order, it creates an uncertainty and intrigue that is only enhanced by the dynamic lead performances. Willa Fitzgerald and the criminally underrated Kyle Gallner come to play, and they held my attention from beginning to end of this gripping serial killer picture. Whether it’s the direction, the cast, or the story, Strange Darling is a triumph across the board. QUENTIN If you ever need a prime example of a movie that expertly subverts expectations, look no further than Strange Darling . Playing a bit like Sanctuary but with the throwback horror motifs of Pearl and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre , this is a twisty, tense, and thoroughly engaging thrill-ride. It’s also a great example of how to use non-linear storytelling to maximum effect. You’ve probably read my praise for Kyle Gallner in the past (he does solid work here too, no doubt), but he’s ultimately overshadowed by Willa Fitzgerald, whose performance drives everything happening on screen. Kudos to writer-director JT Mollner for creating something special with this one. PAIGE Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner may have delivered two of the most underrated performances of the year in Strange Darling . This sexy, twisted thriller will have you playing a game of cat-and-mouse with your expectations as it manages to have several diabolical tricks up its sleeve. Plus, director JT Mollner's ingenious non-linear storytelling excels in this beautifully shot 35mm gem. Everything from the flashy neon cinematography to the stellar sound design is intense. Go into this flick as blind as possible, and I promise you will enjoy the ride! KATIE I’m usually not a fan of serial killer films, so I was admittedly apprehensive when Strange Darling opened with the claim that it was based on a prolific murder spree. However, this audacious thriller surprised me, constantly subverting my expectations and using my assumptions against me in the best possible ways. The non-linear narrative is used to enhance the impact of the twisty cat-and-mouse chase, and it kept me engaged and constantly guessing. It’s gorgeously shot on 35mm that recalls the look of 1970s horror films, and is driven by forcefully captivating performances from Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner. This film was reviewed by Quentin and Nick as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of Fantastic Fest 2023.

STAN LEE Starring: Stan Lee Director: David Gelb AMARÚ What better way to tell the life of an all-time storyteller than to use that storyteller’s own voice? The Stan Lee documentary is told through Stan’s words, and not only does it give us an insightful perspective on his life, but it also emphasizes the massive influence Marvel Comics (and conversely all forms of media) have had on the world. Comics are communal. Comics are entertainment. Comics are educational. Comics are political. Replace “comics” with any artistic expression and those statements are still true. Stan Lee reiterates the importance of art in life, and that’s as beautiful as the man himself. QUENTIN Mileage will vary with Stan Lee depending on how much you already know about the creator of Marvel’s most popular characters. For me, this is at least the third documentary I’ve seen on the icon (not to mention countless interviews and magazine articles), so I found it to be unnecessary, boring, and dry. Admittedly, there is some interesting insight to his thinking that art, even comic books, can change the world, but…been there, done that. If you only know Lee as the man who made cameos in almost every Marvel movie, it’s probably worth a watch. However, if you already know his story, this is skippable.

BLUE HERON Starring: Eylul Guven, Iringó Réti, Ádám Tompa, Edik Beddoes, and Amy Zimmer Director: Sophy Romvari QUENTIN I can’t say Blue Heron is a bad movie; I can say, for better or worse, it is extremely reminiscent of Aftersun , a movie whose critical acclaim I never understood. It’s not that I don’t get writer-director Sophy Romvari’s intent as she explores her fractured memory and hinted-at trauma, but the slow pacing and jarring shift to a pseudo-documentary make it all too clinical. I was never invested in Sasha’s experience as an oblivious child (Eylul Guven) or as an answer-seeking adult (Amy Zimmer). I genuinely hope Blue Heron helped Romvari process whatever she needed to process, but this therapy session doesn’t need an audience. ADRIANO Blue Heron is one of those movies where you can’t believe it’s a feature debut. Director Sophy Romvari's deceptive mundanity and directorial swings are bold and, despite its leisurely pace, never boring. Admittedly, its halfway structural shift threw me off guard and worried me initially. But by the end, as I was wiping away tears, I saw the purpose. Memory is a fragile thing, and it’s easy to cling to as fact when the true facts are out of reach. That’s a tricky thing to pull off on film, but Blue Heron does it confidently and excellently. BODE There’s a moment in Blue Heron that involves a child and her father’s camcorder. She captures a moment that I won’t spoil, but it becomes key to understanding what writer-director Sophy Romvari is getting at with her deceptively simple feature debut. Expanding upon the ideas in her previous shorts, the film is, among many things, a multimedia interrogation of the limitations of memory and the difficulty of reconstructing them, even with all the evidence. It packs a real wallop in that exploration, thanks to its quietly daring formalism and naturalistic performances, making it a pretty remarkable effort that leaves me excited to see where Romvari goes next. This film was reviewed by Quentin as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2025 International FilmFestival Mannheim-Heidelberg.

BABYLON Starring: Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Brad Pitt, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, and Li Jun Li Director: Damien Chazelle NICK I've never been on drugs, but I'm fairly certain that the cinematic experience of Babylon is what a heavy trip feels like. This thing is wild. From the opening scene, it kicks into high gear and stays on that track for over three hours. The cast is stacked too, with a few performances worthy of awards consideration (Margot Robbie, in particular, is excellent). Director Damien Chazelle may have made yet another film about dreamers, but this one is easily his most chaotic, which really works in the film’s favour. Babylon fires on all cylinders, and is another dynamite addition to Chazelle's already impressive resume. ADRIANO Babylon is a lot. Writer/director Damien Chazelle attempts to do way too much, which leaves some of the results being underbaked. Even with a 3-hour runtime, interesting key characters and themes don’t feel completely fleshed out, leaving the film feeling bloated. However, on a technical aspect, I have no notes for Chazelle. The atmosphere is debaucherous and energetic, led to perfection by Diego Calva and Margot Robbie, and the absurdity never feels like it’s extreme for the sake of being extreme. Instead, it contributes to the film’s message regarding the beauty and, most importantly, the ugliness of Hollywood. AMARÚ Babylon is three hours of unfiltered, unfettered chaos, but it’s the quiet moments that are the loudest. Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, and Diego Calva all command the screen, but it’s Li Jun Li and Jovan Adepo that command your attention. Director Damien Chazelle crafted a decadent, outrageous, and hilariously exorbitant love letter to the magic and mayhem of Hollywood, but it’s one of the final shots on a singular face that will mean the most to movie lovers. Come for the crazy, stay for the silence, but whatever you connect to, just sit back and let it wash over you. JTE Babylon wants to be a kinetic, drug-fueled ride through Old Hollywood, but, instead, it's a lifeless and empty 3-hour drag. Director Damien Chazelle attempts a film in the vein of Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street or Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights , but the thing that made those films so successful was the characters that inhabited the intoxicating nights and heightened debauchery. However, in Babylon , I didn't care for any of the characters, with each one feeling like a boring stereotype. I could see where their story was going within the first 15 minutes of the film. DARRYL Babylon as a whole feels like an empty affair. Though technically dazzling, director Damien Chazelle’s impressive cinematography and production design aren’t enough to cover what is essentially a run-of-the-mill Old Hollywood story with little new to add. The opening scenes of depravity and debauchery start the film with a jolt of energy before losing momentum in the second act, ending with a heavy-handed montage dedicated to the power of cinema. At three hours, it’s a roller-coaster ride of a movie, and for better or for worse, Babylon feels its length, which will leave some viewers in a state of confusion as the credits roll. JACOB Damien Chazelle’s Babylon may be his most ambitious, daring, and passionate movie to date, and whether it’s stronger or weaker than his other films should be of little consequence to those who manage to make it to the credits. The first half is a cacophonous hurricane of sex, sound, and pure energy, while the second half is about the slow but steady demise of stardom, yet Margot Robbie and Diego Calva carry it all the way to the finish. Linus Sandgren’s cinematography delights in the long shot, and Justin Hurwitz’ mammoth score (specifically “Voodoo Mama”) may be the best piece of music I’ve heard this year.

NAPOLEON Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Youssef Kerkour, Matthew Needham, Ben Miles, Anna Mawn, and Mark Bonnar Director: Ridley Scott AMARÚ There are a laughable amount of times throughout Napoleon when the titular figure (Joaquin Phoenix) waves his hands, covers his ears, and fires upon unsuspecting enemies. That’s what I imagine director Ridley Scott did when he shot one uninteresting political spat after arbitrary military battle after childish lovers’ quarrel. Maybe the point was to utilize the movie’s throughline, namely the French General’s longtime love of Josephine (a forceful Vanessa Kirby), to highlight his petulance and carelessness, but it also made the film tedious and facetious. If I wanted to watch a frivolous retelling of history, I would’ve watched an episode of Drunk History. PRESTON “A watched pot never boils” - Taunting Grandma. I guess it was my fault for wearing my watch to Napoleon , but the film was simply a slog. Its faults don’t lie in the amazing performances or the stunning battle scenes, but in the surprising lack of character development. Yes, Napoleon’s (Joaquin Phoenix) history is ubiquitously known, but with such an intense focus on his love interest Josephine (Vanessa Kirby), it might have been nice to get to know her better. Instead, we jump from one historical moment to the next with little depth in storytelling. ADRIANO Director Ridley Scott has always been an inconsistent filmmaker, but even with that knowledge, Napoleon is a painful movie to sit through. While some of the battle sequences are cool, this film is so unfocused that it feels like it was chopped into pieces and Frankenstein'd into an ugly, disengaging monstrosity. The only person more bored than I was watching this movie was Joaquin Phoenix while filming it. It’s truly the product of a filmmaker whose head is so far up his own ass that he acts on his first impulses, even when they're awful. One of Scott's absolute worst. CALEB Director Ridley Scott’s Napoleon feels unfocused, tackling far too much subject matter for one narrative. A movie solely dedicated to the relationship between Napoleon (Joaquin Phoenix) and Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) could be fascinating, but Napoleon never fully commits to this one topic. The film simultaneously attempts to cover Napoleon’s love life, his extensive military history, and his political career, sprinting through his life at a break-neck pace. I can admire the jaw-dropping battle sequences, but these moments lack the context needed to truly feel epic. Despite the lengthy runtime, Napoleon ultimately feels too short for its own good (no pun intended). QUENTIN Napoleon is both an overlong slog and a Cliffs Notes-level telling of the titular figure’s life. Despite some decent battle sequences, it feels like director Ridley Scott lost interest about halfway through production because there are moments that are laughably bad and incredibly lazy (don’t get me started on the accents). Granted, there are rumors of a four-hour Director’s Cut, so maybe this is Apple’s fault, but the theatrical version is a messy disaster that crams too much story into its 157-minute runtime. None of the blame falls at the feet of Joaquin Phoenix or Vanessa Kirby, though (Kirby is flat-out wasted), so there’s that.

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, and James Hong Directors: Daniels NICK The buzz for Everything Everywhere All at Once is sure to focus on its insanity and the wild effects, but at its core, it’s a wonderful story of family. Both Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan are tasked with performing in a variety of genre styles throughout, and they navigate each of them impeccably. However, it’s the directing duo of Daniels that elevates the story and its visuals to rare heights, as the film is a feast for the eyes. There are notes of The Matrix and Into the Spider-Verse , but the duo has created something that genuinely stands on its own. A true masterpiece. ADRIANO Everything Everywhere All at Once absolutely assaulted every one of my senses, and I could not get enough of it. Writing/directing duo Daniels’ multiversal film takes place mainly in an IRS building, yet it feels like we travel the entire planet. While absurdly funny and cool, it’s also a total rollercoaster of emotions. It’s the type of movie that had me audibly laughing at buttplug-related combat to being on the verge of an emotional breakdown in the very next scene. It is one of the best and most unique film experiences I have had in a very long time.

THE OUTFIT Starring: Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Johnny Flynn, Dylan O’Brien, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Simon Russell Beale Director: Graham Moore ADRIANO The Outfit is a gloriously unpredictable thriller. The film’s single setting location never once made it feel like a filmed stage play thanks to director Graham Moore’s visual eye, as the tailor shop where the entire film takes place feels both claustrophobic and large. On top of that, the film hooked me pretty quickly, and I thought I had it all figured out. I could not have been more wrong. It constantly pulled the rug out from underneath me, which I absolutely loved. Mark Rylance giving another stunning performance definitely helped too. Overall, it’s a worthwhile experience that is gripping and fun as hell. QUENTIN If you can imagine Reservoir Dogs in the style of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , then you’ve imagined The Outfit . Buoyed by an old school score and production design, it relies on a subtle tension that quietly simmers without ever causing anxiety in the viewer. However, while I wouldn’t call it predictable, the revelations never hit as hard as writers Johnathan McClain and Graham Moore (who also directed) probably want them to. It’s almost anti-climactic because they seem to think it’s cleverer than it actually is, so they backed off some. Still, Mark Rylance gives such an engaging performance that it’s easy to overlook that flaw.

DEATH ON THE NILE Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, and Letitia Wright Director: Kenneth Branagh AMARÚ I love a good murder mystery. The intrigue, the twists, the style… and Death on the Nile has it all in spades. It’s salaciously decadent and melodramatic, living up to the spectacle of author Agatha Christie’s words. Kenneth Branagh is more subdued than his previous stint as Hercule Poirot and further cements his absolute control of the character and the direction. Taking longer to get into the mystery than most whodunits, Nile ’s second half is made more suspenseful because we live longer with the ensemble’s deliciously indulgent performances (Russell Brand is a standout). An early surprise of the year candidate. QUENTIN Death on the Nile is fine, but it isn’t anything special. In fact, it’s pretty much the same movie as Murder on the Orient Express : an old-fashioned murder mystery built on a capable (if unremarkable) cast and exceptional production design. However, it’s held back by a sluggish start (the eponymous death doesn’t happen until an hour into the movie), lazily done exposition, and a general lack of forward momentum. It just kind of moseys along like an old man walking laps at the mall. That said, if you enjoyed Orient Express , you’ll likely enjoy this too.

INSIDE OUT 2 Starring: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Kensington Tallman, Paul Walter Hauser, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Kensington Tallman, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, and Lilimar Director: Kelsey Mann NICK To use a baseball analogy, Pixar has been hitting a lot of singles and doubles this decade. Hits, sure, yet nothing exceptional… until now. Inside Out 2 is a home run. The new emotions enhance the film’s relatability while a smart tonal shift accurately reflects the feelings of maturing. Life is messy sometimes, with unclear pathways, and this sequel reflects that. There are fewer laughs, yes, but it’s by design thanks to the mature look it takes at our thoughts, emotions, and the mental strain they can all take on us. It’s a superb film and should be required viewing for anyone growing up. AMARÚ Inside Out 2 i s an excellent follow-up to one of Pixar’s best. It naturally builds out the world of Riley’s (Kensington Tallman) mind to explore simultaneously complex and familiar themes. With its emphasis on a subject as heavy as Anxiety (voiced brilliantly by Maya Hawke), the script is surprisingly hilarious, and it balances the ensemble’s strengths even better than its predecessor. The story could’ve benefitted from an extra 10-15 minutes to further flesh out poignant ideas that sometimes are told instead of shown, but even that excess exposition is so heartfelt that it will resonate with kids, teens, and adults alike. ADRIANO Following Inside Out is a near impossible feat, but Inside Out 2 does an admirable job. I don't think it gets anywhere close to the impact of the first film, but it comes close with its new approach and world expansion. There's sincere fun here, and some moments got me, even if it wasn't quite the gut punch that I was hoping for. The additions to the cast are very welcome, namely Maya Hawke, although Tony Hale didn’t impress me at all. Overall, it was another great Pixar outing, but nothing outstanding. PRESTON Insightful, truthful, emotionally engaging, funny, and endlessly clever; Inside Out 2 delivers as a sequel, easily matching its predecessor’s charm. We can picture these emotions in our own heads, and nostalgically look back on our most awkward and vulnerable moments that allow us to personally connect to these characters at every level. I have my own proclivities toward a slightly pessimistic and anxiety-ridden inner narrative, and even as I digress, Inside Out 2 wraps me in its loving embrace of acceptance. It can be warmly regarded as entertainment and as reassuring therapy concurrently. A must watch for all ages. SHADAN Recent disappointments have made me weary of Pixar sequels and off-shoots, but Inside Out 2 delivers the creativity, humor, and heart that I used to expect from the animation powerhouse. Of the new emotions introduced, Anxiety (Maya Hawke) steals the show, as it does with most teenagers, an authentic and well-executed addition. Much like the original, Inside Out 2 drags in the middle when the characters venture off into the recesses of Riley's (Kensington Tallman) mind, and there's a missed opportunity to fully flesh out new characters. Still, the clever banter, spirited voice-acting, and stunning animation more than make up for any faults.

THE MONKEY Starring: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy Director: Osgood Perkins ADRIANO After the excellent Longlegs , writer/director Osgood Perkins' follow-up, The Monkey , not only fails to meet that high bar, it doesn't even come close. At first, the film's unhinged comedy-horror tone worked, and I was even laughing at some of the vicious kills. However, after a time jump, I was less forgiving of the obviously bad writing and uninteresting familial storyline. Even worse, the kills became less fun, it was rather tensionless, and in the end, the film wound up being very cynical about death's inevitability without any real reason beyond cynicism. QUENTIN Most horror comedies go wrong by trying to insert jokes into situations meant to be tense, causing neither the humor nor the dread to fully land. Director Osgood Perkins must share this view because The Monkey is a hilarious addition to the genre that does well to mesh playfulness with mayhem by relying on over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek, self-aware campiness to bring the laughs instead of being “jokey.” The ridiculous death scenes conjure memories of Final Destination (but far gorier), and although the family storyline slows the gruesomely fun momentum at times, I was kept in eager anticipation for the next grindhouse-style kill. I had a blast. ROBERT As a society, we are aware that creepy toys are always the embodiments of evil, but The Monkey sees director Osgood Perkins raising the stakes on that truth, tenfold. Throughout the film, we are treated to a plethora of accidental deaths trumped up to drive home their hilarity, and the snickers and giggles never wane. While the underlying drama is unengaging, the set pieces and staged kill scenes never disappoint. Perkins understands how best to curate shots for timing and tension in this type of environment, and kudos to the cast for knowing the assignment and running with it full sprint. PAIGE The Monkey is a complete departure from director Osgood Perkins' previous film, Longlegs , because the director was clearly more inclined to focus on the zany and absurd aspects of the story rather than its dreadful and moody tone. While the movie excels with its inventive kills and sheer body count, it fails miserably when trying to capitalize on the humor of it all. The dialogue throughout this horror comedy is embarrassingly cringeworthy, too. I would have had a somewhat better time had the movie maintained the intensity it displayed during its first half, but, overall, I did not go bananas for The Monkey . NICK Coming off last year's horror hit Longlegs , director Osgood Perkins had firmly stamped himself as “one to watch.” Not even a year later, we get his follow-up, The Monkey , and it’s as if it was directed by an entirely different person. Despite its clever marketing, this film is neither scary nor funny (although it thinks it’s the latter), instead falling somewhere between annoying and disjointed. Nothing stands out positively, including the kills, which are somehow the highlight yet still play like a Final Destination rip-off. Last year was a really good year for monkey films, but that streak has come to a screeching halt. BODE If there’s one thing about Longlegs that caught me off guard, it was the sly sense of humour effectively sprinkled throughout all the dread. So, knowing that director Osgood Perkins would lean more into comedy with his follow-up, The Monkey , was fairly exciting. Unfortunately, he’s not totally successful with his pivot. There is fun to be had initially, especially with some of the kills, but as the unengaging familial drama gets more of a focus later on, the film loses plenty of steam and never fully recovers. The flat jokes and smug attitude it adopts don’t help either. Overall, The Monkey is a disappointment. KATIE The Monkey is not a particularly high-quality film, but it's a good time at the cinema. I find that the majority of horror comedies don’t do either element well, mixing them rather than giving the right amount of attention to either one, but I enjoyed the way The Monkey alternates between a creepy atmosphere, grisly kills, and cheesy humour. Theo James is funny in the dual role of Hal and Bill, but the familial drama is weak, adding to a recent stint of horror films that rely on a damaged father-son relationship for emotional engagement. However, they all fail since they feel perfunctory and ultimately empty. BRYAN With it being Osgood Perkins’ follow-up to the excellent Longlegs , there was a lot riding on The Monkey . Unfortunately, the execution fails to match what was promised in the marketing, reminding us that not all short stories can successfully transition into feature-length territory. Theo James is doing his best with the material given, and some of the scares are cleverly staged, but the blending of humor and horror is where the film hits a lot of bumps as the repetitiveness wears thin quickly. Plus, talk about major tonal inconsistency. I didn’t walk out of this feeling angry, but more so disappointed.

HELL HOLE Starring: John Adams, Marko Filipovic, Bruno Veljanovski, Anders Hove, Maximum Portman, and Toby Poser Directors: John Adams and Toby Poser This film has been reviewed by Nick and Quentin as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival. QUENTIN Hell Hole has a certain can-do charm that makes you want to root for it despite its flaws. The premise is legitimately brilliant, using the basic story construct of The Thing to explore ideas around abortion through gore, heavy metal, and a very dry sense of humor, but the movie is undermined by its low-budget trappings. The effects and performances are in line with what you’d expect from a movie of this caliber, which can be distracting. Admittedly, it’s genuinely admirable what filmmaking clan The Adams Family managed to wrangle out of seemingly very little, but it’s just not enough to make Hell Hole recommendable. NICK On one hand, Hell Hole did enough to maintain my attention throughout. In particular, the way the directors (John Adams and Toby Poser of The Adams Family) use the template of John Carpenter's The Thing to explore different themes is admirable. On the other hand, a smaller budget leads to a cast unable to give this story the performances it deserves, and for a film so focused on its gory moments, the effects are sorely lacking. I'd love to see a re-exploration on a larger budget, but as things stand, I commend The Adams Family for what they are able to do with limited resources.

MAGAZINE DREAMS Starring: Jonathan Majors, Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, Michael O’Hearn, Harrison Page, Harriet Sansom Harris Director: Elijah Bynum ADRIANO Magazine Dreams accomplishes its goal of telling the story of a man pushing himself to the edge of his sanity, yet I’m still mixed on the end result. It’s worth watching for Jonathan Majors’ performance alone because he is impossible to look away from as he gets closer to the edge. Plus, it’s shot well and the tone is both entertaining and uncomfortable. But a lot of the choices, particularly towards the end, don’t feel earned. I don’t think Majors’ character is fleshed out enough to justify many of his actions, and I just wound up being confused. AMARÚ There are movies that put a heartbreakingly pensive mirror up to obsession, mental illness, and the pursuit of perfection; then there is Magazine Dreams . Elijah Bynum’s direction is intense and greatly focused, but the story he wrote comes off as plain mean. Jonathan Majors’ portrayal of bodybuilder Killian borders on outright cruelty with how deeply he dives into the traumatized physical and mental psyche of his broken character. Throughout the film, he hate-watches videos and hate-reads comments about himself, which seems to be the point of Dreams . Instead of a cautionary tale, it’s a practice in self-mutilation, and for me, it’s too much. PAIGE Time to separate the art from the artist. I’d be lying if I didn’t say Jonathan Majors delivers a powerhouse performance in director Elijah Bynum's second feature; a beautifully shot, dark, and unsettling character study. Magazine Dreams provides a horrifying glimpse at toxic masculinity in the world of bodybuilding, and the negative effects that striving for perfection can have on one's mental health. Having said that, it’s a hard watch from start to finish, not because of its subject matter, but due to its uneven script. The film's inconsistent narrative caused it to drag, and by the end it became too tense for its own good. BRYAN Jonathan Majors disappears, emotionally and physically, as a troubled wannabe bodybuilder in Magazine Dreams , showcasing his best performance yet. Without him, the film would have just been a run-of-the-mill psychological character study, akin to Taxi Driver or Joker . Despite the similarities to those films, this manages to still be a fascinating watch, however. The terror and uncomfortableness are present from start to finish, containing a heartbreaking dive into trauma and mental illness. With all the promise in the first two acts, it does dwindle massively in the third act, which kept it from fully sticking the landing. This film was reviewed by Adriano as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.