ROUNDING Trailer (2025) Namir Smallwood, Drama

ROUNDING Trailer (2025) Namir Smallwood, Drama

ROUNDING Trailer (2025) Namir Smallwood, Drama
© 2025 - Doppelgänger Releasing

"There's something off... it just doesn't quite add up.." Doppelgänger Releasing has unveiled a new official trailer for an indie horror film called Rounding, which is finally getting a small theatrical + VOD release starting in February 2025. This one first premiered in 2022 at the Tribeca Film Festival and despite a solid festival run, it was never released. In the meantime, director Alex Thompson went on to make Ghostlight which was a big hit from last year's Sundance. After a traumatic incident, a driven young medical resident named Dr. James Hayman transfers to a rural hospital for a fresh start, but the demons of his past start to catch up to him when he becomes consumed by the case of a patient with mysterious symptoms. Described as a "humanist and unconventional genre vision." The film stars Namir Smallwood as Dr. Hayman, with Sidney Flanigan, Michael Potts, Rebecca Spence. This trailer gets really scary in the last few seconds. And the poster for it is gorgeous - mysterious & eerie & eye-catching (see it below). Keep an eye out for this.

Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Alex Thompson's horror film Rounding, direct from YouTube:

Rounding Poster

After a traumatic incident during his residency, young medical student James Hayman (starring Namir Smallwood) transfers to a rural hospital for a fresh start. Observing that James is struggling and having difficulty connecting with patients, Dr. Harrison (veteran stage and screen actor Michael Potts) suggests he take a class focused on bedside manner and facilitating deeper relationships with patients. The demons of James' past begin to catch up with him when he becomes consumed by the case of a young asthma patient (Sidney Flanigan) with mysterious symptoms. His grip on reality starts to slip as his disturbing nightmares, anxiety-fueled speculations, and physical injuries collide with the harsh realities of the world of medicine. Rounding is written and directed by American indie filmmaker Alex Thompson, director of the films Saint Frances and last year's Ghostlight. Produced by James Choi, Pierce Cravens, Leah Gaydos, Julianna Imel, Ian Keiser, Edwin Linker, Alex Thompson, Alex Wilson, and Keaton Wooden. This initially premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival a few years ago. Doppelgänger Releasing will debut Rounding in select US theaters + on VOD starting February 14th, 2025 coming soon this winter. Who's intrigued?
“Ghostlight” and “Saint Frances” writer/director Alex Thompson is back onscreen with another festival hit: “Rounding.”

Thompson’s latest psychological thriller stars “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” breakout Sidney Flanigan as an asthma patient who starts to experience mysterious symptoms. Her stay at the hospital intersects with the arrival of young medical student James Hayman (Namir Smallwood), who previously endured a traumatic incident during his residency before transferring to a rural hospital for a fresh start.

Per the official synopsis, “the demons of James’ past begin to catch up with him when he becomes consumed by the case, and his grip on reality starts to slip as his disturbing nightmares, anxiety-fueled speculations, and physical injuries collide with the harsh realities of the world of medicine.”

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Michael Potts and Rebecca Spence also star.

“Rounding” premiered at Tribeca 2022, and went on to screen at Rooftop and the Chicago International Film Festival. The film is a precursor to Thompson’s 2024 feature “Ghostlight,” which was co-directed by Thompson’s writing partner Kelly O’Sullivan. The film debuted at Sundance before being acquired by IFC Films.

“We didn’t know that it was going to work, [especially because of] the way our budgets are only possible through generosity,” Thompson told IndieWire of making the acclaimed indie. “On ‘Ghostlight,’ our costume budget was zero, essentially, and so everybody had to bring their own stuff. And then, all those costumes [for the play] were donated from theaters, so many of the props are from theaters. It felt like a great, big hug. It felt like being in a community theater show. It really feels like when you’re a kid and you’re waiting for the summer so you can go play with your friends, and [you’re thinking,] what’s the movie going to be this summer? What story is someone going to think up?”

Director Thompson and writer O’Sullivan’s 2019 SXSW winner “Saint Frances” was also previously nominated for three Gotham Awards and the Indie Spirits’ John Cassavetes Award. Oscilloscope distributed the feature amid the pandemic.

Thompson solo wrote and directed “Rounding.” He will next direct “Mouse,” which was written by O’Sullivan.

“We had set up to do ‘Mouse’ in a very traditional Hollywood way with packaging and development and all this stuff, and then we got inspired by the ‘Ghostlight’ of it all,” Thompson told IndieWire. “Essentially, we’re doing the ‘Ghostlight’ model; we’re just feeding it steroids and corn and seeing how big it can get.”

“Rounding” premieres February 14 in theaters from Doppelgänger Releasing, the genre banner at Music Box Films.
Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s deeply moving drama Ghostlight made a splash last year following its Sundance Film Festival premiere and subsequent summer release. Now, one of Thompson’s prior features, the psychological thriller Rounding, which premiered back at Tribeca Festival in 2022, is now finally getting a release next month. Led by Namir Smallwood, Michael Potts, and Never Rarely Sometimes Always star Sidney Flanigan, the new trailer has now arrived ahead of a February 14 theatrical and digital release.

Here’s the synopsis: “After a traumatic incident during his residency, young medical student James Hayman (Namir Smallwood) transfers to a rural hospital for a fresh start. Observing that James is struggling and having difficulty connecting with patients, Dr. Harrison (veteran stage and screen actor Michael Potts) suggests he take a class focused on bedside manner and facilitating deeper relationships with patients. The demons of James’s past begin to catch up with him when he becomes consumed by the case of a young asthma patient (Sidney Flanigan, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS) with mysterious symptoms. His grip on reality starts to slip as his disturbing nightmares, anxiety-fueled speculations, and physical injuries collide with the harsh realities of the world of medicine. Director Alex Thompson assembles a strong ensemble of veteran character actors in his follow-up to SAINT FRANCES – and precursor to GHOSTLIGHT – in this humanist and unconventional genre vision.”

See the trailer below.
Doppelgänger Releasing has released the Rounding trailer for its upcoming psychological thriller, which hails from Ghostlight director Alex Thompson. The film is scheduled to make its debut on February 14 in theaters and on VOD.

Check out the Rounding trailer below (watch more trailers):

What happens in the Rounding trailer?
The video features American Rust star Namir Smallwood as a young medical resident, who continues to get haunted by his past as he gets too invested with one of his new patients’ mysterious condition. The cast also includes Smallwood as Dr. James Hayman, Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) as Helen Adso, Michael Potts (Ma Rainey: Mother of the Blues) as Dr. Emil Harrison, Rebecca Spence (Contagion) as Karen Adson, Charin Alvarez (Teacher), and more.

Rounding is directed by Alex Thompson from a screenplay he co-wrote with Christopher Thompson. The film is executive produced by Gianna Capra, Neil Elman, Mark Glassgow, Liv Krusinski, David Brown Massey, Hannah Pillemer, Ted Reilly, Fernando Szew, Tony Vassiliadis, Kelly Waller, and Roger Welp. The creative team also includes cinematographer Nate Hurtsellers, editor Michael S. Smith, and composers Macie Stewart and Quinn Tsan.

“After a traumatic incident during his residency, young medical student James Hayman transfers to a rural hospital for a fresh start. Observing that James is struggling and having difficulty connecting with patients, Dr. Harrison suggests he take a class focused on bedside manner and facilitating deeper relationships with patients. The demons of James’s past begin to catch up with him when he becomes consumed by the case of a young asthma patient with mysterious symptoms. His grip on reality starts to slip as his disturbing nightmares, anxiety-fueled speculations, and physical injuries collide with the harsh realities of the world of medicine.
Namir Smallwood and Sidney Flanigan will star in “Rounding,” a new dramatic thriller from “Saint Frances” director Alex Thompson. “Rounding” follows a driven young medical resident (Smallwood) who transfers to a rural hospital for a fresh start. There, the demons of his past start to catch up to him when he becomes consumed by the case of a young asthma patient (Flanigan). The film was shot in secret in Chicago and just wrapped production.

Smallwood is an ensemble member at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He has also appeared in the television shows “Rust” and “Chicago Fire.” This is his feature film debut. Flanigan had critics raving with her work in “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” a drama about a young woman’s efforts to obtain an abortion. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit nomination for best female lead and won prizes from the Boston Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle.

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The film comes on the heels of Thompson’s John Cassavetes award nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards for “Saint Frances.” It was written with his brother, Christopher Thompson, who will be a medical resident starting this summer.

Popular on Variety
The film also reunites Thompson with cinematographer Nate Hursellers, who shot “Saint Frances.” Michael Potts (“The Wire,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Rebecca Spence (“Candyman,” “Utopia”) will co-star. The rest of the cast includes Cheryl Lynn Bruce, David Cromer, Max Lipchitz, Kelly O’Sullivan, Bradley Grant Smith and Charin Alvarez.

Thompson produced the project with Leah Gaydos, Keaton Wooden, Julianna Imel, and “Saint Frances” mainstays James Choi, Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Eddie Linker and Alex Wilson, as well as executive producers Neil Elman, Hannah Pillemer, Tony Vassiliadis and Fernando Szew at MarVista Entertainment, who is also handling global sales and co-representing the film with Endeavor Content. Redacted Entertainment also produced the film.

Flanigan is repped by Gersh and Fusion; Smallwood by Stewart and Fusion; Potts by Artists & Representatives Agency and Blue Ridge Entertainment; Thompson by WME, Fusion and attorney Lev Ginsberg.

Read More About:
Alex Thompson, Sidney Flanigan
When medical resident James (Namir Smallwood) is assigned an acting class to improve his bedside manner, he bristles at the idea, describing it as “dishonest.” The teacher (David Cromer) gently pushes back. “Don’t your patients lie sometimes?” he asks. “They might,” James replies. “Their bodies usually don’t.”

The irony is that James will spend the bulk of Rounding obsessed with the idea that one specific body might be, if not lying, at least telling less than a complete truth — all while his own body betrays the fictions he tells himself, namely that he’s totally fine and in control. Those tensions make for a tense, occasionally terrifying thriller that’s hard to look away from, though what it’s ultimately trying to accomplish with all that energy isn’t always so clear.

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Rounding
The Bottom Line
A tense, occasionally terrifying portrait of trauma and stress.
Venue: Tribeca Film Festival (Online Premieres)
Cast: Namir Smallwood, Sidney Flanigan, Michael Potts, Kelly O'Sullivan, Max Lipchitz, David Cromer, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Rebecca Spence, Bradley Grant Smith
Director: Alex Thompson
Screenwriter: Alex Thompson, Christopher Thompson

1 hour 30 minutes
Rounding opens with what will turn out to be one of the most traumatic moments of James’ life, as he grants a favorite patient (Cheryl Lynn Bruce) the assisted suicide she insists she wants — only for her to change her mind seconds too late, crashing from a heart attack as James collapses under the emotional weight of what he’s done. Months later, still unable to move on, James secures a transfer to a small rural hospital in hopes of finally getting his fresh start.

At first, it looks like just the change he needed: He’s exercising again, and seemingly relishing the crisp, snowy air. He’s impressing his new boss (a very grounded Michael Potts) with his ambition and expertise, and he’s getting along with his new coworkers (including Saint Frances‘ Max Lipchitz and Kelly O’Sullivan).

But when 19-year-old Helen (Never Rarely Sometimes Always‘ Sidney Flanigan) is admitted with a severe asthma attack, James notices her symptoms don’t add up. His confusion gives way to uneasiness and eventually full-blown obsession, especially once Helen’s mother (Rebecca Spence) starts pushing back on his fixation.

Director Alex Thompson (Saint Frances), who also wrote the script with Christopher Thompson, uses his eye for detail to bring the viewer into James’ rapidly deteriorating mental space. It’s acknowledged that residency is a challenging time for any doctor, and all around James we see others also guzzling coffee or fretting over heart-rending cases.

But montages of James’ already stressful workday are made even more hectic with a ragged, relentless pacing that refuses to let him, or us, catch a breath. Violent dreams (or perhaps hallucinations) begin chasing him down dim hallways and snowy roads. Painful memories intrude in flashes, until so many of them pile up at once that the present becomes difficult to see. In its creepiest moments, the film recalls the sick desperation of 2021’s Saint Maud.

James spends his lunch breaks frowning over charts instead of eating, and seems to sleep only when he dozes off by accident, coming to hours or maybe days later in a disoriented state. When James injures his foot, he keeps walking on it anyway, trying to ignore pain that grows so intolerable, he can’t put on socks without gasping. What appeared at first like an admirable dedication to his job reveals itself as more akin to self-flagellation or self-punishment. The people around him pick up on his intensity, and ask in increasingly urgent tones if he’s okay. He always insists he is, and he’s less convincing each time. Smallwood’s performance alternates between white-knuckle jitters and dead-eyed exhaustion, giving the impression of a man stretched so tight, a wrong breath might snap him for good.

No matter how much he struggles, James is unable to let go of the nagging feeling that something simply isn’t right about Helen’s story. In its structure, James’ arc isn’t so different from that of the over-invested homicide detective who sacrifices everything he has and crosses every boundary to pursue a case, and who discovers that in trying to catch a monster he’s become a bit of one himself. Rounding does by the end offer him, and us, the satisfaction of resolving the narrative’s core questions — of what’s really happening to Helen, and of what happened to James in the past to leave him so profoundly shaken.

But if Rounding is crystal-clear in its details, its larger picture remains murkier than it should. After all the answers, it’s still difficult to tell what we’re meant to make of them: that medicine is a harrowing field? That unbearable stress will make a person do bizarre things? That humans are more complicated than their charts could possibly hope to show? It’s the one mystery not even James seems determined enough to solve. As an experience of one man becoming completely unglued under pressure, though, Rounding makes for a wild, unsettlingly convincing ride.

Full credits
Venue: Tribeca Film Festival (Online Premieres)
Production companies: MarVista Entertainment
Cast: Namir Smallwood, Sidney Flanigan, Michael Potts, Kelly O'Sullivan, Max Lipchitz, David Cromer, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Rebecca Spence, Bradley Grant Smith
Director: Alex Thompson
Screenwriters: Alex Thompson, Christopher Thompson
Producers: Julianna Imel, Leah Gaydos, James Choi, Edwin Linker, Pierce Cravens, Alex Thompson
Executive producers: Neil Elman, Hannah Pillemer, Tony Vassiliadis, Fernando Szew, Markie Glasgow, Ted Reilly, Kelly Waller, Gianna Capra, Ian Keiser, Liv Krusinski, Alex Wilson
Director of photography: Nate Hurtsellers
Production designer: Rachel Cole, Matt Hyland
Editor: Michael S. Smith
Music: Quinn Tsan, Macie Stewart
Casting director: AJ Links, Mickie Paskal, Jennifer Rudnicke
Sales: WME

1 hour 30 minutes
Read More About:
Tribeca 2022
Tribeca Film Festival