Darren Aronofsky–Produced ‘Pendulum’ Earns R Rating for Bloody Violent Content

We haven’t been given a trailer, a poster, or even a single frame from ‘Pendulum‘, but the film’s newly revealed MPA rating offers our first bloody hint at what’s coming.

The mysterious horror thriller has been slapped with an R rating for “some strong/bloody violent content, sexuality, drug use, nudity, and language,” suggesting that whatever secrets Pendulum is hiding, they won’t be gentle.

Produced by Darren Aronofsky, the film marks the feature directorial debut of Mark Heyman, who previously penned Black Swan. Heyman directs from his own script, raising expectations for a psychologically intense descent into darkness.

The cast includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception), Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton), Jacki Weaver (Bird Box), and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead).

Pendulum follows Patrick (Gordon-Levitt) and Abigail (Dynevor), a young couple reeling from a traumatic event. Desperate to heal, they travel to a remote New Mexico retreat led by the enigmatic and revered spiritual healer Ella-Rose (Weaver). While Abigail begins to embrace the healer’s radical methods, Patrick grows increasingly uneasy.

As Ella-Rose’s practices intensify, paranoia takes hold and reality begins to fracture. Patrick must decide whether the retreat offers genuine healing—or whether something far more sinister lurks beneath its serene, new-age surface, threatening to destroy them both.

Aronofsky produces through Protozoa, alongside Jacob Jaffke (X, Dream Scenario) for Motel Mojave and Dave Caplan (Longlegs, The Monkey) for C2.

With its unsettling premise and R-rated edge, Pendulum is already shaping up to be one to watch—whenever it finally reveals itself.