Horror Movie News Report
Vertical has released the first teaser for Pendulum, a supernatural horror film arriving in theaters nationwide on January 1, 2027. The movie marks the feature directorial debut of Mark Heyman, who wrote Black Swan and also wrote Pendulum.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Phoebe Dynevor play Patrick and Abigail, a married couple who travel to a New Mexico new-age retreat after experiencing a traumatic event. They are drawn to the possibility of healing through the retreat’s spiritual practices and its leader, Ella-Rose, played by Jacki Weaver.
As Abigail becomes increasingly influenced by Ella-Rose, Patrick grows suspicious of the retreat and its methods. The film’s central conflict asks whether the group’s practices provide genuine healing or conceal a supernatural truth capable of consuming the couple.
The teaser offers only limited context for that threat. It includes a candlelit gathering around an altar, a sermon built around the declaration that “there is no such thing as death,” and imagery suggesting that the retreat’s rituals may have consequences beyond the ordinary. The footage also features Gordon-Levitt’s character lying on a couch as though displayed at a viewing, along with a scene in which a red drop falls from a dropper into a woman’s mouth. One report also describes eyeless ghosts appearing in the trailer.
Anna Deavere Smith, Jena Malone and Norman Reedus round out the cast. Darren Aronofsky is producing alongside Ari Handel and Jacob Jaffke, while the reports identify the project as a collaboration involving Aronofsky and Heyman following their work on Black Swan.
Heyman has described the film as deeply personal and inspired by his family lore. New Mexico, where he grew up and where the events that inspired the story took place, was also the film’s setting.
Pendulum is rated R for strong and bloody violent content, sexuality, drug use, nudity and language, and has a reported runtime of 109 minutes. The film is scheduled for a nationwide theatrical release on January 1, 2027.
