In the trailer for horror-thriller film Synchronic, New Orleans paramedics Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan) head to several calls, which appear on the surface as accidents, though clues — such as “Time is a lie” written on a wall and opened packages of a party drug dubbed “Synchronic” — point to something more sinister.
In the midst of the mysterious accidents, Steve is told he has an inoperable tumor and begins experimenting with Synchronic. “I want to know there’s meaning in the things I do,” he says. He soon finds himself having psychedelic experiences that also suggest the trippy situations he’s finding himself in might actually be occurring. “If you’re watching this, I’m probably trying to convince you of something pretty unbelievable,” he says as he tries to capture his experiences on video. “Or, I’m dead.”
Meanwhile, Dennis’ oldest daughter disappears and “Steve stumbles upon a terrifying truth about the supposed psychedelic that will challenge everything he knows about reality — and the flow of time itself,” per the film’s description. “The clock keeps ticking down,” he says in the trailer. “The time is an illusion.”
The movie follows Resolution and Spring filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead‘s science fiction horror film, 2017’s The Endless. Synchronic hits theaters and drive-ins on October 23rd.
