Jordan Downey’s The Cycle [100% on Rotten Tomatoes] breaks a cycle. It’s a hard-boiled crime thriller that transforms into another movie entirely and scares up a storm with ghoulishly good practical effects. While there are subtle hints scattered throughout that something else is up, you can’t help but applaud upon the realization that you have been barking up the wrong tree the whole time.
The Cycle introduces Deborah Ann Woll’s forensic specialist Dr. Meg Garland. Meg is one of the best in her field, even training FBI agents on what to look for at crime scenes. Her talents are necessary for a new case in which three bodies have been discovered. One of them is Meg’s father, Peter (David Myers Gregory), who walked out on Meg and her mother 34 years earlier. Meg has questions – both about her father’s death and about who he was before that – but the more she digs into the past and present, the more danger she attracts.
The concept of a daughter finding her missing father dead three decades later grabs your attention. You want to know what happened to Peter and why he left his family all those years ago, just as much as Meg does. This family drama is somewhat mirrored in the relationship between father-and-son cops Ian (Will Hochman) and Marks (Jeffrey Donovan). While Ian and Marks are in a healthier place compared to Meg and Peter, they have their own set of familial issues, and their stories tragically intertwine in the search for answers, or even explanations.
Additionally, it helps that The Cycle‘s mystery absorbs, pulling you in different directions and throwing out a bunch of misleading clues along the way. It’s not too long after the introduction of the Mason Verger-like character Lou Bishop (Carl W. Crudup) that the truth sets you free, revealing the sinister nature of what’s been in front of you the whole time.
Director/co-writer Jordan Downey’s vision and lead Deborah Ann Woll are the key reasons to the success of The Cycle. In the case of Downey, his sleight-of-hand trick reels you in and makes you believe that you’re stuck in a David Fincher thriller before he breaks the shackles, and The Cycle evolves into something more akin to Wes Craven or John Carpenter. None of this would be possible without co-writer/cinematographer Kevin Stewart’s ability to change the visual language without harming the tone.
The Cycle affords Woll the opportunity to show that her acting range extends beyond being the supporting character. She isn’t playing Daredevil‘s Karen Page or True Blood‘s Jessica Hamby here. That’s for sure. No, Meg is at the center of The Cycle. She’s a complicated but cogent character who is excellent at her job and determined to find answers to the questions from her past. Like anyone else in her position, she receives that extra motivation and perseverance because of how close she is to the case, but she also suffers the consequences as a result of it.
Woll remains the central focus and star of the film, though she’s complemented by strong performances from Donovan, Hochman, and Gregory. The latter, in particular, changes the way in which you perceive Peter when more information about his character evolves and impacts how certain scenes are processed – especially the night he leaves his family – as the story progresses.
It’s been mentioned before how 2026 has been a great year for horror, and The Cycle is yet another name to add to the list of the best. While everybody raved about Obsession and Backrooms – and rightfully so – The Cycle deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as those films (even Stephen King has called it “special”). It subverts expectations and knows how to toy with the audience to get the exact reaction it wants. In terms of movies about vicious cycles, this one certainly has more bite to it than most.
The Cycle premieres exclusively on Shudder on October 23, 2026.
The Cycke |
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A daughter unravels her father's dark past after his body, missing for 36 years, is found at a horrific crime scene. |
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| Studio: Shudder |
| Running Time: 1h 51m |
| Release Date: Oct 23, 2026 |
| Cast: Deborah Ann Woll, Jeffrey Donovan, Gretchen Corbett, Jack Doolan, Will Hochman, Keith Opper |
| Director: Jordan Downey |
| Writers: Jordan Downey, Kevin Stewart |
| Genre: Horror, Thriller, Crime |
| Box Office: N/A |
The Review
The Cycle
The Cycle presents itself as a crime thriller initially, but it's much, much more than that.
Review Breakdown
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Verdict
