Introduction
Ever watch something and think, That would make a good TV show? Well, that was my reaction to The Cycle. It is a really intriguing movie. It is well shot, has a good story and engaging characters, and even has a little actor name recognition with Deborah Ann Woll and Jeffrey Donovan. More importantly, when it was over, I wanted to see more of these characters. I’m not sure if that is what the director, producers, and Shudder are thinking, but that was my conclusion.
Synopsis
Meg is in charge of a body farm, a facility where forensic scientists study what happens to human bodies after death. The research helps determine how a person may have died, how long they have been dead, and what happens to the body as nature takes its course. Meg was raised by her mother after her father left them years ago under mysterious circumstances. She is suddenly informed that her father’s body has been discovered at the scene of a horrific multiple murder.
The other victims are horribly disfigured, yet her father’s body is simply there. Even stranger, he has been dead considerably longer than the other victims. This piques the interest of the forensic scientist in Meg. She begins looking into the murders and initially believes the victims may have been killed by an animal. Her father, however, appears to have simply died from poor health and old age. So why was his body there?
Meg begins investigating the murders and her father’s death together. She works with the local sheriff, Ian, and they quickly realize that something nefarious has happened. What they don’t know is exactly what happened, why these people were killed, or how Meg’s father fits into any of it.
Meg talks to her mother and uncovers a few clues, but as the investigation progresses, tragedy strikes. Ian is killed, leaving Meg to continue the investigation with Ian’s father, Marks, a deputy played by Jeffrey Donovan. Both want to discover what happened, although neither is particularly prepared for where the evidence is taking them. Meg realizes the wounds don’t really fit a normal animal attack, while Marks increasingly finds himself out of his depth. As they follow the evidence, it becomes apparent that something supernatural may be involved.
Discussion
I really liked the procedural angle of The Cycle. For long stretches, it feels like a television procedural, and I mean that as a compliment. It reminded me of some strange combination of Bones, CSI, and Supernatural. Meg approaches what is happening as a scientist. She studies bodies, wounds, decomposition, and physical evidence, looking for a rational explanation even as the evidence becomes increasingly irrational.
That grounding is important because the movie never immediately throws up its hands and says, “Well, it must be supernatural.” Meg tries to make the evidence fit the world she understands. Even when the supernatural elements begin working their way into the story, some of the explanations remain connected to science and forensic investigation. That gives the movie a different feel from a lot of supernatural horror.
What I also liked is the particular direction the supernatural side of the story eventually takes. I don’t want to say too much because discovering exactly what Meg is dealing with is part of the fun. The film takes something very old and familiar from horror and approaches it through modern forensic science. Instead of simply accepting folklore and legend, Meg looks at wounds, physical changes, decomposition, and other evidence and tries to explain what she is seeing scientifically. It is an interesting way to approach a piece of horror mythology that we have all seen many times before.
There is also something effective about watching a scientist slowly run out of rational explanations. Meg knows what an animal attack looks like. She knows what happens to a human body after death. Those are things she can measure and understand. But what happens when the evidence tells her that the thing she is looking for doesn’t fit comfortably into either category? The Cycle has a lot of fun living in that space between science and folklore.
Further Analysis
The acting is extremely solid. Both Woll and Donovan give credible performances, but I particularly liked Woll’s character. Meg is strong and independent but also feels well-rounded. There are aspects of her that reminded me a little of Woll’s Karen Page from Daredevil. I like Woll as an actress. She brings a lot of passion to her performances, and even when the role doesn’t call for overt emotion, you can still feel it in her delivery.
I also just like Jeffrey Donovan. I loved him on Burn Notice, and I’m not sure I have ever watched him in a role where I didn’t feel like he was giving a very good performance. Here, he has to play a man who is angry and grieving over his son’s death, out of his depth as an investigator, and stubbornly determined to find some kind of resolution. Donovan handles all of it extremely well. He is simply not a difficult actor to watch in a movie.
Conclusion
The more I think about The Cycle, the more it reminds me a little of Darren McGavin’s Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Not necessarily in its style or sense of humor, but in the idea of a character investigating something that begins as a seemingly explainable mystery before gradually moving into the supernatural. Meg approaches these things from a completely different direction than Kolchak did, but the basic idea is there.
That is probably why I keep coming back to the idea that The Cycle would make a great pilot for a television series. I enjoyed it as a movie, but I can easily imagine Meg encountering another strange case and once again trying to use science to explain something that science says shouldn’t exist. You have the forensic scientist, the procedural structure, and an entire world of supernatural mythology left to explore.
I don’t know if that is what Shudder, Downey, or anyone involved has in mind for The Cycle. Maybe this is simply meant to be one story and nothing more. But when the credits rolled, I wasn’t ready to be finished with Meg or this world. I wanted another case. That seems like a pretty good compliment to the movie.
