THE CYCLE (2026)

Studio:   Shudder
Director: Jordan Downey
Writer:   Jordan Downey, Kevin Stewart
Producer: James Harris, Mark Lane, Michael Downey
Stars:    Deborah Ann Woll, Jeffrey Donovan, Will Hochman, Jack Doolan, Carl W. Crudup, Jeb Berrier, Gretchen Corbett, David Myers Gregory

Review Score:

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Summary:

Decades after her father’s disappearance, a forensic anthropologist unravels his disturbing connection to a string of grisly murders.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

On February 15th, 2025, Lester Bay police chief Ian, his father Lieutenant Marks, and fellow officer Lenny investigate a grisly crime scene where Stacy Ashford and her six-year-old daughter Rebecca were found savagely slaughtered as though an animal killed them inside their home. Outside, a man’s decomposing corpse is found a short distance from the house.

27 days later, Ian visits forensic anthropologist Dr. Megan Garland to tell her about the unsolved murders and the discovery of the body now identified as Peter Stump, Meg’s father who left her and her mother in 1991 when Meg was just four years old. Ian asks for Meg’s help on the case, but she declines.

Later that night, Meg is woken by noises in her home. This triggers Meg’s traumatic last memory of Peter, which involved seeing her frantic father placing an urgent 911 call before exiting the house and vanishing. The experience causes Meg to change her mind about aiding Ian’s investigation.

Meg examines her father’s body alongside Ian, Marks, and coroner Joe Ratterman. Ratterman notes that Peter’s body had been decomposing for at least a month before the mother and daughter were attacked. He theorizes a bear was possibly attracted to the corpse and the Ashfords were unfortunately in the vicinity.

Meg’s examination finds evidence that Peter died by hanging himself, although she also finds he had a gunshot wound, broken ribs, and burnt flesh indicating he was possibly tortured. She theorizes someone must have moved his body to be near the crime scene. She additionally discovers a strange tattoo that Ian later suggests could be an old religious symbol.

After granting her request to be officially added to the case, Ian and Meg discuss the troubled histories in their respective families. Meg calls her mother Joni to tell her Peter’s body was found, but Joni refuses to discuss him any further. In her motel room afterward, Meg experiences a haunting vision of her father’s corpse hanging from a noose.

Wanting to speak to the coroner again, Ian returns to the morgue only to be killed by a werewolf. The attack disturbs the cremation machine, causing a fire that damages the building.

19 days later, Ratterman calls Meg to tell her he found bite marks on Ian’s body similar to wounds found on the mother and daughter. Meg subsequently shows a disbelieving Marks that the bite marks appear to have been made by human teeth.

Meg tells Marks she believes her mother knows more than she is willing to tell her about Peter. Thinking she may talk to Marks instead, Meg and the lieutenant visit Joni in her home. Joni reveals she and Peter used to work together on the same oil rig. When Peter disappeared, two cops asked her if Peter might be connected to someone named Lou Bishop, whom Joni did not know. Meg is frustrated to learn her mother kept the truth from her and changed their names in order to bury the past.

Police officer Lenny finds information revealing Lou Bishop was a church groundskeeper who suffered a brutal animal attack that left him paralyzed on the same day Peter disappeared. Marks and Meg visit the address they have for Lou. A man identifying himself as Daniel Webb answers the door. Daniel claims to not know Lou Bishop, even though he is really his son and secretly cares for his bedridden father.

Meg, Marks, Lenny, and Ratterman listen to the 911 call from the night of Lou’s attack. Meg recognizes the voice making the call as her father Peter from the last time she saw him alive.

Police find another mauling victim in a dockside warehouse. Unexpectedly, they also find Peter’s corpse lying nearby. Meg suggests someone moved his body again. Others wonder if something supernatural is involved.

Meg notices a van nearby that she remembers seeing at the previous crime scene. The driver turns out to be Daniel. A deformed Lou Bishop is found bedridden in the back. Marks brings both men to the police station for questioning while Ratterman collects Peter’s corpse.

Daniel eventually reveals to Marks that his father was attacked by a werewolf and ever since, Lou experiences nightmares every full moon that are actually psychic visions of the werewolf’s attacks. Elsewhere in the police station, Peter’s corpse reanimates, transforms into a werewolf, kills Ratterman, and embarks on a rampage throughout the building. After the werewolf escapes, Meg asks Daniel and his father where Peter is going. Using his psychic tether, Lou manages to mutter, “home.”

Inside Peter’s cabin, Meg, Marks, and Lenny find numerous videotapes chronicling Peter’s failed attempts to reverse the werewolf curse. A conclusion is reached that even though the host’s body might be dead, the werewolf can still come back to life during full moons, which explains why the creature reanimates despite Peter committing suicide. A tape addressed to Meg and Joni apologetically details how Peter left his wife and daughter for their safety.

The werewolf suddenly bursts through a window to kill Lenny. Meg and Marks attempt to hide in the basement where they are stalked by the creature. Marks risks his own life to electrocute the werewolf, but it escapes to a nearby beach.

After recovering from their confrontation, Meg follows the beast to the beach. As the sun rises, Meg impales the creature on a boathook. The werewolf reverts back into Peter’s dead body.

One year later, Daniel receives a VHS tape addressed to his father in which Peter explains the events that led to Lou’s paralysis and visions. Meanwhile, Meg and Marks, who survived his electrocution, perform another monthly experiment on Peter’s corpse during a full moon to try permanently killing the wolf.

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Review:

While promoting his 2026 “Resident Evil” film, director Zach Cregger quipped in an interview, “I start every Shudder movie. I don’t finish 75% of them.” He merely meant it as a wry remark, not a dismissive condemnation, as he went on to add, “God bless ‘em. I will never end my subscription.”

It’s not like the streamer’s supporters don’t understand where Cregger is coming from regarding Shudder’s often inconsistent quality. I generally like more of their original content than I dislike, yet I still snickered in solidarity with the sentiment.

But even if you’re only investing in a portion of a movie before turning it off, those minutes really add up when you’re doing that three out of every four times. With so many options, it can be difficult to know what’s worth trying on Shudder in the first place, and no one wants to spend half an evening repeatedly starting films they don’t feel compelled to complete.

“The Cycle” attracted more attention than most Shudder offerings in part due to Stephen King. On his X account, King posted, “I don’t usually pump up horror movies (unless they are mine, haha), but (THE CYCLE) is special. Put it on your calendar.” When the master of horror makes a recommendation, it’s usually wise to listen, so pressing Play on “The Cycle” was an easy decision in this instance.

SLIGHT SPOILER

I can certainly see how someone might not make it all the way through this movie’s 112 minutes though. That’s a long time for a film to follow the familiar pattern of a police procedural, and the pace feels the drag because the first two acts primarily consist of conversations accented with moody music. “The Cycle” essentially operates a little like a horror “Law & Order” without courtroom scenes, and if the predator Olivia Benson investigated this week turned out to be a werewolf. Although “The Cycle” treats the werewolf angle like a surprise reveal, I don’t see how anyone would expect anything other than what’s obvious from the title as well as the full moon on the thumbnail. It’s also evident from how many segues come with text that says, “27 days later,” “19 days later,” or dialogue noting a conspicuous passage of time.

END SPOILER

Deborah Ann Woll stars as Meg, a forensic anthropologist specializing in cold cases. Her father Peter left her and her mother without explanation over 30 years ago. Unexpectedly, Peter’s corpse just turned up outside a house where a mother and daughter were violently slaughtered in an apparent animal attack. What’s weirder is Peter appears to have been dead for at least a month, making his possible link to the murders all the more curious.

“The Cycle” clearly wanted to start with Meg’s introduction, but her first scene feels forced into an obligatory position. The story truly begins when the bodies are discovered after title credits. In the meantime, the film spends its opening on Meg making a folksy connection with the server at a late-night diner, where she pores over files on a peculiar death that doesn’t directly connect to what comes next. Flickering lights and the signature on a suicide note carry foreshadowing clues, but this isn’t the place to lay down information that could have been repackaged for a down-the-line delivery.

Woll is fine in the role. I wouldn’t say she’s wooden. I would, however, say she comes across as a moderately invested performer reciting scripted lines. Woll occasionally seems detached from her character, not like a real person whose words organically exit her mouth.

When the investigation gets underway, Meg partners with police chief Ian. It takes some convincing, and triggered trauma, for Meg to agree to get involved. Once that happens, Meg and Ian briefly bond through more diner discourse during which they discuss the troubled histories of their respective families. It’s a moment intended to expand Ian’s presence, except it’s such a small morsel that it ends up having little impact on what happens afterward. Had the movie started with him examining the first crime scene instead, there would have been an automatic anchor creating an emotional attachment to Ian by default of him being the first doorway into the story. This wedged-in chinwag doesn’t compensate for the lack of a true connection.

Structuring itself with odd scene choices is the stone “The Cycle” can’t stop stubbing its toe on. As another example, when Meg confronts her mother Joni for the truth about her father, Joni makes an important revelation that alters what Meg had been led to believe for decades. Yet instead of resolving this new conflict, Meg reacts angrily for a few seconds before storming offscreen. This is a prime opportunity for a charged interaction these two actors can really chew on, yet “The Cycle” lets it slip by in favor of cutting to Meg and another police officer chatting up more exposition in a car. It doesn’t serve the drama for Meg and Joni to not even attempt closure, but Joni is only even seen again from her end of a fast phone call.

From when the final attack initially occurs to when it reaches its definitive resolution, about 17 minutes pass. Once again, that’s entirely too long to sit on what is functionally a single beat. There’s an epilogue tacked on top of that, too.

Two saving graces keep “The Cycle” from dying in the subdued flames of its very slow burn. With typical tricks up its sleeve like sneaking in haunting visions for a quick scare, there’s enough intrigue in the unfolding mystery to snatch back lapsed attention spans when minds start to wander. The “secret,” such as it is, isn’t a jaw-dropper, though incentive lingers to see how the case shakes out once everything is out in the open.

The second boon in “The Cycle’s” corner comes from outstanding practical effects work. There’s a heavy reliance on reusing Peter’s corpse again and again, but a fantastic transformation sequence finally fulfills the promise such sights seem to be making. Enthusiastic applause goes to artist Patrick Magee for delivering the gruesome goods, with just enough roughness around the edges to put the film in line with B-movie horror’s VHS heyday.

Nipping secondary characters like Meg’s pregnant assistant (you forgot all about her until right now, didn’t you?) and tucking redundant scenes inside others would have earned “The Cycle” a higher score. As is, “The Cycle” averages out to be a pretty typical Shudder thriller, which I don’t intend to sound negative. “Standard Shudder fare” is whatever that means to you. To me, it means something better fit for a streaming service than a theater, something worth a one-time watch but not repeated viewings, and something whose small size is more likely to make minor waves rather than a big splash. I’d say that’s plenty to warrant sticking it out to the end, while those whose tastes aren’t tuned to terror-tinged melodrama might be more eager to follow Zach Cregger’s example.

Review Score: 65

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