New key art for Conditioned, writer-director Courtney Glaudé’s first film under Tyler Perry Studios’ new specialty label Maxscene, confirms Cory Hardrict has joined the cast alongside lead Crystal Renee Hayslett. The announcement came via the official Courtney Glaudé, Maxscene, and Tyler Perry Studios accounts, with Hardrict credited and tagged directly on the artwork.
As previously reported, Conditioned follows Nyla Belle, whose marriage appears flawless to the outside world until the quiet, invisible patterns of control around her tighten into a Stockholm-like bond that builds toward a breaking point she never saw coming. Glaudé, who debuted the film’s details at a Maxscene-focused panel at CultureCon alongside Hayslett and Maxscene’s Antoinetta Stallings, said he cast Hayslett after watching a single scene of hers that struck him as “really, really powerful in a short amount of time,” adding that he already had the story in mind but she gave him “the actress that I needed.” He described the film as centered on “how we are conditioned to see love in a certain manner.” Hayslett, marking her first feature film lead, called the experience of having a project built around her deeply affirming, saying simply that she was “so grateful that someone believed in me.”
Hardrict brings a television and film résumé spanning recurring and lead roles on The Chi, All American: Homecoming, and The Oath, along with earlier film work including Gran Torino and American Sniper. His only prior Tyler Perry credit is Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black (2024), where he played Dallas Bertrand opposite Meagan Good. The new key art shows his Conditioned character in silhouette, standing before an arched window, a visual choice that fits the film’s central theme of control operating just beneath the surface of an outwardly perfect relationship.
Conditioned marks the first release under Maxscene, a specialty division Tyler Perry Studios launched to give independent filmmakers theatrical distribution and resources often out of reach outside major studio systems. The division is named in honor of Perry’s late mother, Maxine, and operates on three stated principles: believe, create, connect. Stallings has described Maxscene’s relationship to the larger studio in label terms, comparing it to a hip-hop imprint structure and saying the division is actively looking for filmmakers with a full catalog in them, not just a single project.
Conditioned is slated for a theatrical release in early 2027.