O Ritual

I thought that Russell Crowe had cornered the market in crappy exorcism films, but The Ritual proves me wrong: anything Crowe can do, Al Pacino can do just as bad, if not worse: Al's lackluster performance as elderly Father Theophilus Riesinger is a career low. Not that Pacino is all to blame for this tired and predictable possession flick: David Midell's direction is atrocious, with horrible, wobbly, reportage-style camerawork making the film a strain on the eyes, while his script is a messy hodge-podge of well-worn clichés that have been done to death ever since Regan first spewed up pea soup over 50 years ago.

In The Exorcist, it was easy for the viewer to feel empathy for the little girl who unwillingly played host to Pazuzu, since director William Friedkin was mindful to introduce us to her before the demon took hold. The fact that Linda Blair was so loveable and cherubic before becoming a foul-mouthed, head-turning beast with a crucifix up her snatch made her transformation all the more horrific. Not so with The Ritual, which immediately jumps into the deep end, poor possessed Emma writhing and drooling uncontrollably from the get go. We know very little about the woman, which makes it very hard for the viewer to care about what is happening to her. The only reason I was keen to see the demon driven from her body was that the film would finally be over.

Sadly, it takes several tedious rituals to achieve the desired result, none of which deliver anything we haven't seen many times before: we get some vomiting, guttural swearing, and levitation, with observer Father Joseph Steiger (Dan Stevens) struggling with his faith a la Damien Karras. One might imagine that the best would have been saved for last, but the final ritual, in which the priests successfully exorcise the demon, is a damp squib: it's loud and chaotic, but there's nothing shocking, and it's over before you can say Captain Howdy, everybody living happily ever after (as the film's closing captions inform us).

I rate The Ritual 1/10: it's formulaic, boring, unimaginative and utterly banal garbage. Those of us stupid enough to stay to the end exited the theatre in a hurry.

The movie is not slow passed, it's just that nothing happens. There is barely any action, no character development. The jump scares break the monotony but even them seem outside of the main plot and feel like they could have been left out all together. Al Pacino's performance is the only thing this movie has going for it.

The parish priest seems there to fil in a spot so the movie can claim to be based on a real story. His only contribution feels squeezed in at the end so he can justify his place in the movie.

This middle ground between horror fiction and real story is hard to tread and the movie has failed to do so. I went in expecting more psychological horror rather then jump scares given the "real story" part and might have been a better direction for this movie.

The Ritual (2025) is an exorcism horror movie that is based on a true story and it is another generic ass exorcism horror movie.

Positives for The Ritual (2025): Dan Stevens and Al Pacino are giving their best with their performances. And finally, the movie is short at only 98 minutes.

Negatives for The Ritual (2025): This is another exorcism horror movie that you've seen a million times before and it plays out the same way as those other movies. There is nothing new about this one that others have done before and have done better. The side characters are boring and forgettable. The woman who is in need of an exorcism is every victim from those other exorcism movies and she acts the same way. And finally, the exorcism scene is so lame and underwhelming.

Overall, The Ritual (2025) is just as bad as every other exorcism horror movie that has been made and it will immediately fall into obscurity after you have watched it.

I'm guessing that Russell Crowe was busy for this latest exercise in priestly exorcism so an hardly recognisable Al Pacino decided to have a go. He is a Capetian father drafted in to help the reluctant Fr. Joseph (Dan Stevens) with a particularly difficult task. Fr. Theophilus must help rid the poor young Emma (Abigail Cowen) of an unwanted bodily guest. His methods do not impress the rather naive young father, nor the sisters in attendance as she increasingly resorts to involuntary bleeding, foul language, violent outbursts and even the usual hanging upside down from the ceiling lamp trick whilst under relentless assault from the repetitious bible verses being read across what I counted are at least seven of those ritual attempts at expulsion. Sound familiar? Well that's because it is. Aside from Pacino turning in a slightly different style of performance from his norm, the rest of this hasn't an original bone in it's body. Indeed, its only claim to fame appears to be that it is based on the original, almost century old, transcriptions from Fr. Joseph of events that are really supposed to have happened but we've seen this all predictably play out so many times before that even the traditional collapsible bed doesn't turn an head - spiritual or metaphysically. The one element that does provoke a little interest is, perhaps, the clear indication that Catholicism in the 1920s was riddled with incantations, superstitions and a degree of symbolism that probably hadn't changed since much since there was a Borgia on the throne of St. Peter. This might work on the telly at Halloween of you're full of Grappa, but as a cinema experience it is disappointing and entirely forgettable, sorry.

Just Got Out of a Screening of The Ritual

🎥This Film is a Moving Picture of the Alleged Exorcism of Emma Schmidt/Anna Ecklund

🔁Look, it's another Exorcism Film, We've Seen These Over & Over & Over & Over & Over Again.

🙂You should pretty much know what you're going to get once you step in the Auditorium of the Cinema.

🎵It's a Less Amped Up, Powerfully Scored Film like for Instance Exorcist Believer, or a 📜Screenplay Driven Experience Like The Popes Exorcist.

📸It's more Pared Down and More of a Home Video Style Experience of an Exorcism Film because it's Shot Like That.

👍All that Said, it was a Good Watch, and it had me Constantly Interested in continuing to watch. So the Film did it's Job, as far as I'm concerned.

👍Dan Stevens & Al Pacino, put in Good Performances. Abigail Cowen😳👌 Puts in an Excellent Performance, it must of Been Rough to act as if Possessed by Such a Thing.

So Overall, again, you already know what this Film is.