Paroxysm (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

Paroxysm is a 37-minute thriller-drama mystery about Celia, whose life veers into a surreal odyssey after a drug deal goes wrong. As temptation, desire and paranoia take hold, her understanding of reality begins to fracture in this dreamlike 2026 film from Tyler Peterfi.

Paroxysm is a 2026 thriller, drama and mystery centered on Celia, a woman caught in the aftermath of a disastrous drug deal. What follows is less a straightforward escape than a disorienting passage through a world where reality and fantasy increasingly overlap.

Written and directed by Tyler Peterfi, the 37-minute film uses surreal and dreamlike elements to place its protagonist inside an unstable psychological landscape. Violet Young leads the cast as Celia, with an ensemble of additional performers supporting the short film.

Paroxysm movie details

Story without spoilers

The story begins when a drug deal goes badly for Celia, drawing her into an unusual and increasingly distorted experience. As she moves through this unfamiliar world, she encounters temptation, desire and paranoia, while her sense of identity starts to come apart.

Paroxysm’s premise leaves room for mystery rather than explaining every element directly. Its supplied themes include dreams, psychedelic drugs, the seven deadly sins and visions connected to life and death, all suggesting a narrative shaped by symbolic and surreal ideas. The central question is how Celia can understand what is happening when the boundary between the real and the imagined no longer feels secure.

What to expect

At 37 minutes, Paroxysm is a compact film built around atmosphere, uncertainty and psychological disorientation. Its thriller, drama and mystery classification points to a story driven by danger and unanswered questions, while the surreal and dreamlike descriptors indicate that events may be presented through a deliberately distorted perspective.

Viewers can expect a premise involving paranoia, temptation and a fractured sense of self rather than a conventional crime story. The film’s listed keywords also reference dream-within-a-dream imagery, psychedelic experiences and quirky, thought-provoking visions of life and death. These details suggest an interpretive short film, though the available information does not establish how its ideas are resolved.

Cast and creative team

Violet Young plays Celia, the film’s central character. The supporting cast includes Mitchell Wray, Ruby Dowd, Jhayferson Jimenez, Tyler Peterfi, Darcy Schilling, Ruby Casey, Max Freijah, Cooper Dalrymple and Nicholas Taylor.

Tyler Peterfi wrote and directed Paroxysm. The film is associated with Pandemonium Productions and TnT Pictures and Productions.

• Violet Young as Celia
• Mitchell Wray
• Ruby Dowd
• Jhayferson Jimenez
• Tyler Peterfi
• Darcy Schilling
• Ruby Casey
• Max Freijah
• Cooper Dalrymple
• Nicholas Taylor

Release and production context

Paroxysm is listed as a 2026 release with a release date of August 27, 2026. Its status is marked as Released, and it has a runtime of 37 minutes. The film is in English. No country is specified in the supplied information, while the listed production companies are Pandemonium Productions and TnT Pictures and Productions.

Production companies: Pandemonium Productions, TnT Pictures and Productions

Movies Dock view

With its short runtime and surreal premise, Paroxysm presents a focused story about identity, perception and the psychological fallout of a drug deal gone wrong. Its appeal will likely depend on how viewers respond to ambiguity and dreamlike storytelling, but the available details clearly position it as a compact mystery-thriller with dramatic and psychedelic elements.

Film data:
TMDB