There’s rage simmering inside Killian Maddox, the amateur bodybuilder portrayed by Jonathan Majors at the heart of the dark, stylized film “Magazine Dreams.”

It’s a kind of “Taxi Driver” for the incel age, a harrowing portrait of untreated mental illness, violence, false idols, steroids and male loneliness. There was, from the beginning, lots to discuss and debate in the fabric of “Magazine Dreams.” But in the two years since it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, it was also eclipsed by the real-life travails of its star, who was convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend.

In January 2023, “Magazine Dreams” had an exciting future with Oscar hopes for Majors. Searchlight Pictures won the distribution rights, reportedly over the likes of Neon and Sony Pictures Classics. And Majors was skyrocketing to the top, with big roles in “Creed III” and as Marvel’s new main villain, Kang. But two months later, he was arrested. By that December, Majors was found guilty of one misdemeanor assault charge and one harassment violation and fired by Marvel. A month later, “Magazine Dreams” was without distribution. Majors has maintained his innocence.

The film was eventually picked up by Briarcliff Entertainment, the same distributor who jumped in to release the younger Donald Trump movie “The Apprentice” after the rest of the entertainment business shied away from it.

But there’s a different kind of stigma around “Magazine Dreams.” It’s a film about a man teetering on the edge of violence, about the relentless pursuit of greatness — and it is deeply uncomfortable watching his descent.

His simplistic devotion to one wild goal may be his undoing in a world that just doesn’t care about him. It’s impossible to deny the monumental ferocity of Majors’ performance, from his full transformation to his unsettling ability to show the pain behind the psychotic actions.

Killian works in a grocery store and cares for his aging grandfather at home. But he has an intense need to be seen and remembered. And the only way he has figured out how to achieve that is through physical perfection. Success is a magazine cover, which he naively conflates with immortality.

When co-worker Jessie (Haley Bennett) agrees to go out on a date with him, he is shocked that she isn’t familiar with his bodybuilding idol, saying something to the effect of “you need to get out more.”

Writer-director Elijah Bynum effectively imbues his film with stylized intensity. You feel uneasy and captivated from the start, though you try to give Killian the benefit of the doubt — to look for his goodness, to root for his success. Though we’re told early that he has had violent episodes, the glass isn’t fully shattered until Jessie starts to process that Killian is someone she needs to get away from, fast.

While “Magazine Dreams” is an interesting character study, it also seems crafted entirely to provoke and shock. After two viewings — one of which I had to take a break from during one of his violent outbursts — I’m not actually sure what it’s trying to say about men, about trauma, about ’roid rage. Killian seems less like an authentic person and more a simplistic stand-in for the forgotten person, the quiet weirdo who ends up a mass killer.

And yet as movies are being accused of being too straightforward, too simple, perhaps some ambiguity, some discomfort, some unresolved unpleasantness is overdue.

MPA rating: R (for violent content, drug use, sexual material, nudity and language)

Running time: 1:44

How to watch: In theaters