The Cycle

Sometimes, the best surprises come from something you thought you had figured out. That’s especially true with movies. It’s easy to understand why filmmakers follow familiar troupes when telling certain kinds of stories. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? When I first heard about Jordan Downey’s The Cycle, I thought I had a sense of what I was getting into. After watching it, I realized it was telling a story I never knew I needed.

Following a horrific crime, the local police call in criminologist, Dr. Meg Garland (Deborah Ann Woll) to help make sense of a seemingly impossible crime scene. A mother and child have been murdered, but it’s another body, found at the edge of the property, that has everyone puzzled. That body turns out to be Garland’s estranged father. Naturally, the discovery raises plenty of questions, sending her—and the audience—down a path that’s too good to spoil.

What you do need to know is that The Cycle is a police procedural that starts on familiar ground before heading somewhere that makes it feel like its own thing. Written by Kevin Stewart and Downey, who also directs, the film goes beyond piecing together a crime and asks us to consider possibilities outside our usual understanding. Downey drops references to both Frankenstein and Dracula, offering little hints about where things might be headed. Once he gets there, he leans on good old-fashioned practical effects. Having something physically present in the scene makes those moments all the more captivating. Sure, a little shaky camerawork helps disguise some of the seams, but when the camera settles, there are images that could follow you straight into your nightmares.

The Cycle takes the familiar framework of a forensic investigation and turns it into a story about grief, fractured families, and the limits of what we can understand. It takes its time, especially with character development, and I appreciate how much it values getting to know these people. The cast gives that approach plenty of support, led by Woll and Jeffrey Donovan, who plays a cop helping with the investigation. Woll sets the tone with a subtle, restrained performance that draws us into her characters experience without overplaying it.

The moody visual palette and score help pull everything together, creating the atmosphere Downey is aiming for. For the most part, it works. Still, as strong as the first half is, the film loses a little of its footing once it reveals more of what’s going on. The second half leans harder into suspense and piles on perhaps one too many climactic moments.

However, even with those bumps, The Cycle is kind of a surprise for this type of film. Its ideas pulled me in, and its payoff made the journey worthwhile.

Brian Taylor

Member of the North Texas Film Critics Association, and lover of all things Cinema