The Ritual

No spoilers in this review but having come away from watching this film, on my own at the local Empire Cinema on Friday 13th I would say this is a good horror film for those who are bored senseless by the endless tide of "jump scare but not scary really" horror films we have to endure these days.

This is a proper story with a proper start, middle and end.

At times unsettling, at times creepy, at times a bit distressing whilst always being restrained (its not an utter gore fest and the violence is all the more affecting for that) this is a decent film elevated by good characterisation and very good acting.

Whilst nothing utterly original is on offer here, it is a film that does what it says on the tin and it is all done well. Special mention to Rafe Spall who, just like his dad, Timothy, continues to be brilliant in everything he's in.

Solid 7/10 and one for fans of proper horror. It deserves to be seen at the cinema as well so I'd urge people to get to watch this.

I really liked this movie. Yes, the ending could've been better, a lot better, but it was really psychologically thrilling and spooky, especially for a Netflix movie. I'm really impressed with Netflix's content lately.

I see trends in the low star reviews that I want to address.

1) "the ending was bad" I agree, but the rest of it wasn't. A movie with a bad ending isn't going to be the best movie of all time, but if I enjoy watching 90% of the movie, then I would say I got my time's worth. It's just a shame that it didn't take the opportunity to use the "monsters who scare your mind, not just rip up your body" thing that it could have had going for it.

2) "not scary enough" it was suspenseful and creepy. It's more psychologically thrilling than outright terrifying, and I genuinely wonder which movies these people deem scary enough for them to enjoy because most horror movies really suck, especially in the past 20 years. Where are they finding all these "genuinely scary" movies? Or are they just consistently always disappointed with all of the horror movies they watch but keep watching them anyways? I have a lot of questions.

3) "didn't capture the essence of the book" why does everyone who reads a book that gets made into a movie feel the need to say this? I'm not sure if they just like being pretentious or if they genuinely believe a 90 minute movie must entirely capture the essence of a full length novel. There's no reason to judge them as if they need to be identical. They're standalone works. When I choose to watch the movie, I would hope that they don't drag it out as long as turning a book into a literal script would require.

4) "Blair witch rip off" very few movies, songs, books, etc. are truly original. You can make a movie with the same basic story tone as another one. Add your own twist, or don't, whatever, I'm not the purity police - just make an entertaining work without breaking copyright laws. If I'm entertained, I don't care if it resembles something else that also entertained me.

Anyways, if you read this entire review to learn if this movie is worth a watch, you clearly don't have anything better to do so just watch it. It's not bad.

I don't remember ever reviewing a movie here, but I decided to come at the rescue of this movie... I really enjoyed this movie and I go against the reviews which once more put it in the "average around 6.0 score" where so many other scary movies are standing. I consider myself a horror/scary amateur and I have seen many movies of this kind, and since the last 10 years, its getting harder to find some that makes you say "ok, this was a bit different".... (of course there are some, but in my opinion over the large quantity, only over 20% are passing the "not too bad" test"). For once, we don't have to bear some stupid teenagers partying for spring break in the forest, some people behaving so stupidly that you think "seriously ??", a haunted house, a possession, or a redneck hillbilly family... Here the movie has a lot of a "realistic" touch to it, the characters are normal and they could be us, normal people behaving normally in the face of danger and fear and that reinforce the attachment for the characters. Many times I wondered, "damn, i dont know what I would have done in this situation". The mood is nicely growing more and more stressing and not much of the "monster" is shown for a long time, letting the viewer finding out slowly about the real horror happening in those woods. The change of scenery (Swedish forest) and the isolation of the characters reinforce the idea that nature in itself can be scary and that even a friendly country like Sweden can appear in another light... The last quarter of the movie is a bit more conventional to the genre but still not falling in all the clichés. I especially raise a thumb up for the creature design and the explanation on what it is. Probably not all will approve, but I liked the way this was going and when learning what the creature really was, I wondered "would I try to fight against that or give up ?"

So yeah, this movie is not THE movie of the year for me, but for sure, it is totally over many of the "i watch and I forget" movie that I've been seing in horror recently. I recommend.

Making effective use of its isolated setting to amp up its claustrophobic aura, The Ritual begins on a promising note, gets even better with a tense middle act but all the potential it had of finishing as a thrilling example of its genre is ultimately squandered by its underwhelming final act.

The story follows a group of four friends who embark on a hiking trip in Sweden to honour their recently deceased pal. Things take an unexpected turn when they decide to go off-trail by taking a shortcut and are lost in the woods. To make matter worse, they are being stalked by a menacing presence.

Directed by David Bruckner, the premise is set up rather quickly with a finely crafted prologue and once the characters go off-trail, the director expertly switches gears by smartly utilising the silence & mystery of the surroundings to ratchet up the tension while the excellent camerawork & brooding score only add to its foreboding aura.

The characters aren't fleshed enough to make us invest in their journey but their shared predicament is still relatable. The tension is nerve-wracking when it's done right but few creative choices don't work out in its favour. Performances aren't any impressive but the cast still manages to deliver enough with what they are given.

On an overall scale, The Ritual had the opportunity to secure its place amongst the better examples of indie horror in recent years and was on trail during the first hour but the last 30 minutes foil the overall journey, for it doesn't pack the same punch as what unfolded before. At its best when capitalising on our fear of the unknown, The Ritual finishes as just another middling entry in the horror genre.

So going off wandering might not always be the best idea. Especially if you have some baggage to carry (pun intended). And while we do get some flashbacks and some backstory to the characters and their motivation to go on that trip, some may feel like the rest of the story is detached from that. Don't get me wrong, it has quite a few moments, it is shocking and it is tension filled, which might make you sit at the edge of your seat.

There is also the moral question and the what would you have done (that's for the inciting incident, the one that is the reason for their predicament in the first place)? It is a tough question to answer for some, though even those who may say different might have acted exactly the same way. The ending is maybe a little bit of a let down, but technically this is sound to say the least ...