There are some things I’ll check out just because of the cast. Having Deborah Ann Woll in your film is enough for me to give it a chance. There are some things I’ll check out because the trailer teases just enough without fully giving everything away. The trailer for The Cycle was just vague enough that I thought I knew what was going on, but wasn’t sure.
Now that I’ve seen it, I can safely say I was half right about what I thought it was… but it managed to be more and subvert a lot of expectation when it comes to what I thought it was.
Mostly, this is a murder mystery thriller, starting out with a vicious double-homicide and a “bonus” third body that seems really out of place. Things get even stranger when that body turns out to be that of Woll’s character’s father, who’s been missing for 30 years or so… and the body seems to have been dead for a while.
Since Woll’s character, Meg, happens to be a forensic scientist, that kind of mystery really gets under her skin.
From that point forward, there’s some good detective work, science talk, and emotional beats until more death and mayhem spike up. Along for the adventure is senior cop, Marks (played by Jeffrey Donovan) and a bunch of other cops and scientists. No one gets out of this unscathed, but some are at least still in one piece by the end.
The tension in this builds nicely. This isn’t an in-your-face, always-on-the-run adrenaline fest of creature feature. It gets to that point in the climax (as it should), but for most of its runtime, it’s closer to a police procedural as the characters try to piece together how any of this makes sense.
And they do a pretty good job, narratively, of making it all make sense. I think that there were only one or two moments where I actually thought “No, that wouldn’t at all be how that works” (even in a horror film… which is a very low bar, yes, but something I’ve found myself questioning in films with larger budgets and more famous casts and crews). The necessary escalation and catharsis are there… and the mystery does get solved.
That solution, though? That’s kind of the most lasting terrifying thing about the whole plot. It’s a solid divergence from the way stories like this usually go and, in this case, that’s definitely for the best. It makes it unique and definitely something I think people should check out, just for the overall story aspect.
This is far from a perfect film… I do have some questions about some of the cinematography. There are moments when it lingers on things that I thought would eventually be important (because of the linger) but, no, that’s just kind of where the camera trailed off to or stayed focuse on as the main subject of the scene left the frame, on their way somewhere else. That didn’t just happen once or twice… it happened a lot. Now, if you’re watching this while also checking your phone, then you won’t notice stuff like that (and you’ll probably also miss a bunch of good stuff in the film, too)… but for those of us who actually focus in a movie they’re watching, it nocks the quality down a notch.
But the physical effects of our main monster (and the bodies/injuries in the film) makes up for a lot of the weaker points that there are. It’s always good to see well-crafted creatures and special effects… and the stuff in this film is definitely well-crafted. The creature design (especially when we get it in its full glory) is just divergent enough from similar creature types to be its own things, while still close enough that you can easily say “Yeah, that’s what that is,” even if they didn’t explicitly name it in the film.
Thankfully, the acting is there to support the story beats and effects. Both Woll and Donovan are no strangers to making things that could come across as silly and unbelievable fell much more real, even during some bits of clunky dialog or awkward staging.
If horror was still getting big screen time like it was back in the 90s or 2000s, this is the kind of film that likely would have made it to bigger screens than ones people have at home. As it is, it’s definitely worth checking out on streaming.
- The Cycle (2026) – October 23, 2026
- Clayface – October 22, 2026
- Infirmary – October 19, 2026
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