Kid Cudi has wrapped his first leading film role. The musician-turned-actor, born Scott Mescudi, leads the indie supernatural thriller Pathetic Fallacy opposite Jessica Rothe, Travis Fimmel and Natasha Lyonne, according to Deadline.

Adam Egypt Mortimer, whose previous film Daniel Isn't Real drew attention on the festival circuit, directs. The screenplay comes from Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, the writing duo behind Transformers One and Ant-Man and the Wasp. The production shot on 35mm film — a format increasingly rare in an industry dominated by digital capture, chosen here for its grain and texture.

The story follows a young widower who travels to a new-age mountain town looking for cosmic answers and healing. Instead he finds an outlandish murderer and a forest of demonic spirits offering a horrific bargain to cheat death — at a nightmarish cost. Mortimer confirmed to Deadline that the film marks Mescudi's first time carrying a picture as its lead.

Mescudi's screen career has been building steadily. Recent credits include Happy Gilmore 2, M. Night Shyamalan's Trap, the Paramount+ series Knuckles and John Woo's Silent Night. He is also set to star opposite Willow Smith in the animated feature Slime from director Jeron Braxton.

His co-stars bring their own genre pedigree. Jessica Rothe led the Happy Death Day horror franchise, appeared in La La Land and most recently starred in the Netflix medical drama Pulse. Travis Fimmel, known to audiences as Ragnar Lothbrok in History Channel's Vikings, was recently seen in HBO Max's Dune: Prophecy and the Australian crime drama Black Snow on Stan. Natasha Lyonne, an Emmy and Golden Globe nominee, starred in and executive produced Rian Johnson's Peacock series Poker Face. Lyonne will next appear opposite Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams in Taika Waititi's Klara and the Sun, Sony's adaptation of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel, due in cinemas on 23 October.

Behind the camera, the producers are Steven Schneider through Room 101 — the production banner behind Paranormal Activity and Split — K. Asher Levin and Ronnie Exley through Rabbits Black, Karina Manashil through Mad Solar, Chris Wilkinson from Hadron, and Aria Moffly and Ashleigh Snead. Mescudi also serves as an executive producer, alongside Hayk Sarkissian, Michael Porter and Luke Parsons for Still Point Productions, Barrer and Ferrari through Lovesick Pictures, and Jeremy Ross, Ryan Marchant and Eloise Cameron-Smith. Chuka Ejorh and Keji Ajayi are co-producers; George Bennett is co-executive producer.

The film also carries a notable music package: an original score by Johnny Jewel, best known for his work with Chromatics and his contributions to the Drive soundtrack, and original songs written by Kid Cudi himself. No release date or distributor has been announced. The film will likely seek a sales agent and buyers on the festival circuit, where finished indie titles typically secure distribution.