What happens if the past comes back to haunt you? For Deborah Ann Woll’s Meg in The Cycle, her father comes back into her life. However, he comes to her as a corpse. Now with the help of officer Marks, played by Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice), they must stop a supernatural threat before it consumes them.

Director Jordan Downey embraces practical effects, and audiences can see a lot of it with the creatures featured in The Cycle.

“There’s been a shift, rightfully, to CG and VFX for certain things,” Downey told Nerd Reactor. “That has a place, and there are certain things you just can’t do without it. I always wondered, and I don’t know if other audiences do, ‘Well, how did we lose sight of practical effects because they don’t look good on modern cameras anymore?’

“That’s not true. I even had some doubts coming into The Cycle of whether or not 4K cameras in 2025, with modern lenses and color correction and editing and all of the modern tech wizardry that we have, is that going to make this stuff look fake. And it makes it look better, I think. So it’s really cool to honor the craft and the old traditions, but with modern technology and contemporary trickery.”

One of the themes in The Cycle is redemption. This is true for Meg’s relationship with her father.

“I think for me, it’s never too late,” Woll said. “You can open your heart to people, ideas, stories at any point and learn from them. I do think for Meg, if [her father] had come to her alive, if he’d come to her any earlier, she might not have been at a place where she could handle it or wanted to. Whereas coming to her dead at this point in her life was kind of the only way they were going to have a relationship after what happened. Even after death, it is not too late to reconnect with your family.”

Donovan said that his character, Marks, is someone who recognizes Meg’s expertise, and it shows his willingness to be a team player.

“When Meg first comes in, with all of his experience, he can immediately ascertain that she is the smartest person in the room, and I should just shut up,” Donovan said. “That’s where we started. But then as the movie unfolds, especially in the rainy parking lot scene in the cruiser where they bond, they really are going through a similar emotional landscape of ‘How am I dealing with this grief?’ Hers is old, but that’s been brought to the surface fresh, and his is brand new.”

About The Cycle

Synopsis: When the body of a man missing for thirty-six years is discovered at the scene of a horrific crime, it’s up to his estranged daughter to unravel his dark past.

Director: Jordan Downey

Written By: Jordan Downey, Kevin Stewart

Cast: Deborah Ann Woll, Jeffrey Donovan, Will Hochman, Jack Doolan, Carl W. Crudup, Jeb Berrier, Gretchen Corbett, David Myers Gregory

The Cycle was released on Shudder on October 23, 2026.