Stephen King recently remarked that he doesn’t usually champion films unless they are adaptations of his own stories, but Jordan Downey‘s The Cycle is, in his words, “special”. This reviewer is more than inclined to agree. So much so, I hope King’s endorsement has as much impact on the film’s success as his praise helped propel The Evil Dead towards the recognition it deserved and continues to enjoy to this day.
The less you know going into this film, the better. It’s a movie that continually rewards the viewer with shocking revelations, bringing to mind films such as The Ring and the more recent, brilliant The Autopsy of Jane Doe. All that can be said without spoiling the surprises is that the story revolves around the discovery of a man’s body at the scene of a horrific crime, thirty-six years after he went missing. As his estranged daughter sets out to unravel his dark past, the film moves from the familiar territory of the police procedural into something altogether more inexplicable, making its supernatural horror all the more convincing and, consequently, deeply unsettling.
For fear of spoiling the experience, suffice it to say that Downey takes familiar genre conventions and turns them on their head in ways this reviewer has genuinely never seen before. The horror unfolds through the investigative process itself, allowing each revelation to emerge organically rather than relying on cheap shocks. The result is a film that left me as satisfied as the aforementioned The Autopsy of Jane Doe and The Ring, standing comfortably alongside both in this reviewers eyes.
Much of the film’s success lies in its finely tuned pacing, which makes its near-two-hour running time feel considerably shorter and I could have happily enjoyed a couple of hours more. The fantastic script is buoyed by magnificent performances across the board, particularly from the film’s lead, Deborah Ann Woll, who delivers one of the year’s finest performances, in horror or otherwise. She navigates a remarkable range of emotions with authenticity and precision, moving seamlessly between grief and anger, vulnerability and strength, fragility and resolve. Woll makes a compelling case for the kind of recognition Amy Madigan received for Weapons last year. While her performance is a world away from Madigan’s deliciously creepy, darkly comic turn as Gladys, it leaves an equally indelible impression, bringing a more serious, dramatic intensity to a role that feels every bit as memorable.
The effects are a particular pleasure, seemingly achieved almost entirely through practical prosthetics. Downey doesn’t shy away from bringing his creations into full view, where their startling realism becomes all the more apparent. Again, specifics would risk giving too much away, but audiences are in for a real treat. What can be said is that the effects offer some fascinatingly visceral details concerning decomposition and forensic reconstruction, given the protagonist’s line of work, but things don’t end there, as you will discover on watching.
All told, The Cycle is a cracking reminder of just how much horror can achieve when atmosphere, investigation and imagination collide in just the right measures. Downey takes familiar genre conventions and twists them into something startlingly original, building a mystery whose revelations are as disturbing as they are satisfying. Add Deborah Ann Woll’s outstanding central performance and practical effects that make the horror feel horribly tangible, and you have something rather special. If Stephen King’s endorsement brings more eyes to this one, so much the better. Top marks go to this film that already has this reviewer wishing he could discover it all over again.
VERDICT:
The Cycle releases on Shudder this October 23rd.
