‘Pendulum’ Teaser Sends Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Phoebe Dynevor Into a New Mexico Nightmare
- Horror Movies Uncut
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
A search for healing appears ready to become something far more sinister in Pendulum, the feature directorial debut of Black Swan co-writer Mark Heyman.
The new teaser offers the first unsettling glimpse at the psychological horror film, which brings together Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Phoebe Dynevor alongside Anna Deavere Smith, Jena Malone, Norman Reedus and Jacki Weaver for a trip into the New Mexico desert where spirituality and paranoia begin bleeding into one another.
Written and directed by Heyman, Pendulum follows married couple Patrick (Gordon-Levitt) and Abigail (Dynevor), who travel to a new-age retreat in New Mexico following a traumatic event. Both arrive looking for a path toward healing, but their experiences at the retreat quickly begin moving in very different directions.
Patrick is willing to do whatever it takes to help his wife, but his suspicions grow around the group’s enigmatic leader, played by Weaver. Abigail, meanwhile, becomes increasingly drawn into the leader’s orbit and the spiritual practices surrounding the retreat.
That divide becomes the foundation for something considerably darker.
As Patrick’s paranoia escalates and Abigail falls further under the group’s influence, the couple is forced to question whether they have discovered an unconventional path toward recovery or something deliberately hiding behind the language and rituals of spiritual healing.
The teaser doesn’t appear interested in giving away that answer.
Instead, Pendulum is selling atmosphere, disorientation and the growing feeling that Patrick and Abigail may have entered an environment where understanding what is real could become increasingly difficult. With the isolated New Mexico landscape surrounding them, the retreat provides an ideal setting for the kind of psychological head trip Heyman appears to be constructing.
The location also carries a deeply personal connection for the filmmaker.
“This movie is deeply personal and inspired by my family lore,” Heyman said. “Shooting it in New Mexico, where I grew up and the real events took place, elevated every scene and made it all the more surreal.”
He added that the combination of that history and the film’s ensemble resulted in “a horror movie I’m immensely proud of and excited to unleash on audiences come the new year,” describing Pendulum as a “freaky head trip.”
Heyman makes his feature directing debut after building an extensive career as a screenwriter and producer. Darren Aronofsky, Jacob Jaffke, Élan Klein Jaffke, Heyman, Dave Caplan, Ari Handel, Elizabeth Gesas and Will Greenfield serve as producers.
The cast alone makes this one worth watching. Gordon-Levitt and Dynevor anchor the central relationship, while Weaver stepping into the role of a mysterious spiritual leader feels particularly suited to a movie built around the uncomfortable space between trust, manipulation and belief. Add Malone, Reedus and Deavere Smith to that equation, and Pendulum has assembled one of the more intriguing horror ensembles heading into 2027.
For now, the teaser is keeping the larger mystery close to the chest — and that’s probably the right move. The less we know about exactly what Patrick and Abigail have walked into, the more interesting this particular retreat becomes.
Check out the new teaser for Pendulum and let us know what you think. Does Mark Heyman’s New Mexico-set psychological nightmare have your attention heading into 2027?
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