What if the person promising to heal you is actually leading you somewhere you were never meant to go?
That is the unsettling question hanging over PENDULUM, the upcoming supernatural horror film from Vertical, which has released its first trailer ahead of the movie’s theatrical arrival next year.
The film follows Patrick, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, and his wife Abigail, portrayed by Phoebe Dynevor, as they travel to a secluded spiritual retreat in New Mexico. The couple arrives hoping that renowned healer Ella Rose, played by Jacki Weaver, can help Abigail recover from a traumatic experience.
Patrick is willing to go to extraordinary lengths for his wife, but his confidence in the retreat begins to disappear as Ella Rose’s influence over Abigail grows. What initially appears to be an opportunity for healing slowly takes on a much more disturbing quality, leaving Patrick questioning whether the spiritual practices surrounding his wife are actually helping her or opening the door to something far more dangerous.
And judging from the trailer, things are about to get seriously weird.
The footage offers glimpses of eerie surroundings, disturbing imagery and ghostly figures without giving away exactly what Patrick and Abigail have stumbled into. Several eyeless apparitions appear throughout the trailer, while Patrick increasingly finds himself surrounded by circumstances that seem to defy any rational explanation.
WATCH THE TRAILER FOR “PENDULUM” BELOW
The movie also features Anna Deavere Smith, Jena Malone and Norman Reedus.
PENDULUM marks the feature directorial debut of Mark Heyman, who previously worked as a screenwriter on BLACK SWAN. Heyman also wrote the screenplay, drawing inspiration from stories within his own family history and his childhood in New Mexico.
Darren Aronofsky produces through Protozoa, alongside Jacob Jaffke for Motel Mojave and Dave Caplan for C2.
Vertical has given the film an R rating for strong and bloody violent content, sexuality, drug use, nudity and language.
Heyman says the New Mexico setting played an important role in bringing the story to life, particularly because the filmmaker grew up there and says the real events that inspired the movie took place in the area.
The result looks less like a traditional haunted house movie and more like a supernatural descent into something deeply unsettling, where the search for healing may come with a price.
PENDULUM swings into theaters January 1, 2027.