There are a number of UK children's series that are well regarded: The Box Of Delights, Tom's Midnight Garden, The Phoenix And The Carpet and The Borrowers. With just a little bit of work, The Ritual would easily fit into the style of these series. However, it would need some children added to grab the interest of the pre-teens, who are the only ones likely to be interested in this piece of rubbish. But, there are some scenes that aren't suitable for children - some bad language and nudity/sex - so there's no real audience for this film.
The plot revolves around some mystical artefact that has recently been dug up at an ancient Irish settlement. If this artefact is as powerful as some believe then the world of faerie and the world of men will merge, though it's not clear why this is a problem.
Sadly, in the vein of much children's television, the characters are mostly walking clichés and stereotypes, with no character development. The plot line is linear and simplistic, the villains and heroes obvious, the henchmen idiots, and the police are completely clueless. New characters suddenly appear, whilst those introduced at the start of the film disappear for long periods of time.
Also, as with most children's television, you know how it's all going to end long before the scene is even set. Indeed, if you didn't know better, you'd say that this film is an edited version of a children's series from the late 1970's, with all that such a statement invokes.
If the budget of this film was higher than that spent making 90 minutes of the Teletubbies then the producer should die from embarrassment.
As it stands, this film has nothing to interest teens and adults and too many scenes unsuitable for children. Cutting a few scenes would produce a children's film for a rainy day, otherwise it just too simplistic and outdated for modern tastes.
