Pendulum: Joseph Gordon-Levitt to star in Darren Aronofsky-produced horror film

Darren Aronofsky and Mark Heyman have worked together several times over the years. Heyman was Aronofsky’s assistant when he made The Fountain, then he was the co-producer on The Wrestler, a writer on Black Swan, and an executive producer on Mother! So now that Heyman is set to make his feature directorial debut with the horror film Pendulum, it’s good to see that Aronofsky is there to back him up, producing the film through his company Protozoa. A press release sent out today has also revealed that Joseph Gordon-Levitt of The Dark Knight Rises and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F has signed on to star in the film, which is set to start filming in New Mexico next March.

Pendulum will tell the following story: Young couple Patrick (Gordon-Levitt) and Abigail journey to a new-age retreat in New Mexico, drawn by the possibility of healing after a traumatic event. Patrick is willing to do anything to help his wife, but becomes distrustful of the retreat’s enigmatic leader even as Abigail falls under her spell. As paranoia builds, the couple must determine if the group’s unconventional spiritual practices offer genuine healing – or mask a terrifying truth that threatens to consume them both. It will be interesting to see who ends up signing on to play Abigail and the retreat’s enigmatic leader opposite Gordon-Levitt’s Patrick.

In addition to Aronofsky, the film is being produced by Jacob Jaffke of Motel Mojave and Dave Caplan of C2, who will also fully finance.

Since co-writing the BAFTA-nominated screenplay for Black Swan, Heyman has also co-written the comedy drama The Skeleton Twins (with director Craig Johnson) and director Rob Savage’s Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman (where the other writers included A Quiet Place screenwriters Scott Beck and Bryan Woods). Heyman also created the Paramount+ series Strange Angel, which was about “a rocket scientist in 1940s Los Angeles who was secretly the disciple of occultist Aleister Crowley.”

Does Pendulum sound interesting to you? What do you think of Joseph Gordon-Levitt signing on to star in the film? Share your thoughts on the latest Mark Heyman / Darren Aronofsky collaboration by leaving a comment below.