The Cycle review
A story that transforms before your very eyes.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
The Cycle
Directed by Jordan Downey
Screenplay by Jordan Downey and Kevin Stewart
Starring Deborah Ann Woll
The Cycle Review
Today we’re going to skip past our usual Shudder release opening where we debate the quality of the content the service has been providing and focus on something more fun to talk about. That’s because…The Cycle is a good one. Shudder delivered a spooky season success just in time for the big day. And it’s largely because of the thing we are going to discuss that this (finally) happened. Today…we’re going to talk about movies that seem like one thing…and eventually transform into something else entirely. It’s one of horror’s best tricks. Who knew through the first half of Weapons that the story was going to be about a witch? You probably knew that Sinners was about vampires…but it takes a while for the story to become about vampires. From Dusk Till Dawn pulls the same trick. Gremlins is about small town problems until it isn’t.
The Cycle is a crime investigation. Until it isn’t.
I guess that’s not entirely true. It’s still about the investigation…but what’s being investigated isn’t at all what you probably expected it to be. Project Wolf Hunting was about warring inmates on a ship until a Jason Voorhees like monster was unleashed. The Cycle is a procedural that shatters the procedure in an extremely fun way.
I’m being purposefully coy about what The Cycle ultimately is for a reason. I didn’t know when I started watching it…and it made for an extremely enjoyable viewing experience. It reminded me of when I watched The Descent and didn’t know there were creatures in the cave. I wouldn’t want to rob that experience from anyone with The Cycle. Though…I suppose I just ruined it for anyone who hasn’t seen The Descent. But it’s been two decades. That’s on you at this point.
Deborah Ann Woll stars as Meg…a forensic expert working for the FBI. When the body of her father is found…she’s called into action. He’s been missing for 36 years and has been remarkably preserved. A mother and daughter have been murdered in the small town Meg arrives in…and nothing is adding up.
I’m not sure if The Cycle advertised itself as anything but a procedural investigative horror movie so I feel extra cagey about revealing anything about what’s going on. There is a word I left out of the synopsis that would point you in the right direction. The official plot summary doesn’t explicitly give the game away…but it does frame things in a way that you could figure things out if you knew to look for it. So, I recommend avoiding any information about The Cycle until you are logged into Shudder and watching it for yourself. Because the investigation here leads to something pretty great. It changes the movie completely…it turns it into a different subgenre like all those movies mentioned above.
Which brings me to the thing I actually want to talk about while setting The Cycle and its easy recommendation to watch to the side for a moment. Do we weigh different types of horror differently? Is there a grading curve? I think the answer is unequivocally yes. Slasher movies get rated against slasher movies…which sets the bar a bit lower. Have some fun kills, a strong final girl, a cool killer…you’ve made a good slasher movie. The Cycle isn’t a slasher movie. It doesn’t become one either. But it does become something that I couldn’t help but notice I was more engaged with before it even did anything with it. That’s unearned joy…but it’s joy, nonetheless.
Before the switch…or before The Cycle shows its true hand…whichever you want…the movie is a perfectly enjoyable procedural. It has a mystery that’s interesting. Deborah Ann Woll is really good in it. And it could have stayed the course and been a solid three star affair. But it does change. And what it changes into is more exciting, more thrilling and more entertaining. It becomes a four star movie of a different kind. Perhaps because we, or I in this case, weigh these things differently. I don’t have a larger point with this other than to wonder if changing subgenres mid stroke is some kind of cheat code. All of the movies I listed become better when they play that card. So does The Cycle. It’s worth watching just to see it play that card. And the grade reflects the two halves as best I can without finding myself completely under the spell of the switch that elevates the entire package.
Scare Value
Was all of that vague enough for you? Look, whenever I go over the top with protecting the secrets of a movie…that means you should go watch the movie. If you can hit play while knowing as little as possible about The Cycle, you’re going to have a good time with it. I sure did. Everything here works. The procedural that it begins as is a good one. The movie it turns into is even better. I could tell you why and spend twice as long as this review explaining why it’s such a fun movie. But you should enjoy it for yourself instead.
3.5/5
The Cycle Link
Streaming on Shudder
