The Ceremony Is About to Begin

This unusual found footage style horror movie presents a little mystery inside of a much bigger mystery. You can probably guess the solution to both puzzles early on, but the tension comes from waiting for the inevitable and very disturbing reveal.

There is a cult. The protagonist's girlfriend was part of that cult, but has disappeared. Where did she go? Our intrepid YouTube detective investigates the cult's grounds, only to become confronted with a much bigger question: where did everyone else go? A richly decorated ancient Egyptian commune (props to the production design team) that is fit to house hundreds of moonies is weirdly vacant, save for one deeply odd fellow named Anubis.

We know Anubis is hiding something. We know our man is in trouble. We know something very very bad is going on here. And again... if you've been paying attention and you've seen a horror movie before, you can probably guess what it is.

Still, I found the chemistry between the leads and the accompanying tension to be quite strong. All of the set design and Egyptian artifacts defy the presumably small budget and add to the atmosphere. Yes, the ending is a bit predictable, but execution is what counts here and I was glad that in that respect the filmmakers went for the jugular and didn't hold back when it counted.

The Ceremony Is About to Begin" (2024) is only 70 minutes long, yet it somehow feels much longer. The protagonist makes one dumb decision after another, while the antagonist is so over-the-top goofy that it's impossible to take him seriously. Instead of being scary, the film leans on gross-out moments that add nothing of value. One cult member says she regrets not leaving earlier-something I completely related to. I kept hoping it would improve, but it never did. By the end, I was just relieved it was over. If you're looking for real horror, skip this. This ceremony isn't worth attending, and neither is this movie.

Like a lot of found footage movies, this is 2/3 slow buildup and 1/3 insane payoff. The chit-chat drags a bit, but this is a very short film and the extended setup ultimately pays off in dividends when you get to the last 20 minutes. The final scene in particular is one of the most outlandish and surprising I've seen in some time. For me, this is why I watch indie horror. The budgets are tiny, but these films are willing to go places that mainstream horror simply would never even contemplate. The poor ratings on this one suggest this film has been a victim of mismarketing. No, this is not really a "mummy" movie exactly, but actually something much more disturbing and (darkly) funny. Recommended for those with adventurous tastes.

I don't even know how to properly review this abomination of a film. How can I properly convey just how dreadful it is, and how it defiles every single element that makes for an enjoyable movie? I just don't even understand how movies like this actually get made, and why anyone funds them.

It's bad enough that found-footage seems to be the haven for broke and talentless auteurs to make vanity projects for as little money as possible, but this has to be up there with the very worst the sub-genre has to offer. With FF movies, at the very least you are guaranteed believable acting, as many people just play themselves or versions of themselves, which often adds to the (albeit, fake) authenticity. But for a movie with a cast of less than 5 people, everyone was absolutely horrendous, the two male leads were just bad and had very weak scene presence, and nothing about the movie seemed like it was given any actual creative consideration. The script was bad, the Egyptian motif looked cheaply made and poorly designed, and the film itself was only an hour and 10 minutes, but not a single horror element occurred until the last 20 minutes of the film, and only lasted for 10 minutes.

I paid $3 for this and I still felt jipped. I wasn't expecting a best picture Oscar nominee, but I was at least hoping I'd be entertained. Instead, I'm writing this review at the credits roll, not caring about anything else that's transpiring on the screen. It was all just so utterly abhorrent, I am going to make it mission to avoid anything made by anyone responsible for this movie to prevent any future disappointment.

An hour of yapping to only be given 10 minutes of the absolute worse horror I have seen in decades left a very sour taste in my mouth. I cannot recommend this film to anyone, not even as a goof. Please stay as far away from it as possible and do not waste your time on it like I did.

Always happy to see a small indie horror create big crazy worlds with a tiny budget. Anubis is such a weird and specific character, played perfectly by Hinds. Keith is a fun foil for him. Aside from the elaborate set design of the cult headquarters, this is mostly just two actors sparring with each other for most of the runtime, so I expect this movie being misleadingly marketed as a "mummy found footage movie" is hurting its rating on platforms like this. The ending is insane and gross as its reputation suggests, but I actually preferred the journey to get there. The short runtime is also a plus as this thing just shot by.