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The Ritual (2017 film)

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This article is missing information about the film's production. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (October 2018)
2017 British film
The Ritual
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Bruckner
Screenplay byJoe Barton
Produced byJonathan Cavendish
Richard Holmes
StarringRafe Spall
Arsher Ali
Robert James-Collier
Sam Troughton
CinematographyAndrew Shulkind
Edited byMark Towns
Music byBen Lovett
Production
companies		The Imaginarium
eOne Films
Distributed byeOne Films (UK)
Netflix (International)
Release dates
  • 8 September 2017 (2017-09-08) (TIFF)
  • 13 October 2017 (2017-10-13) (UK)
Running time94 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.3–1.6 million

The Ritual is a 2017 British supernatural horror film directed by David Bruckner, written by Joe Barton, and starring Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, and Sam Troughton. The film is based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Adam Nevill.

Plot

Five university friends—Phil, Dom, Hutch, Luke, and Rob—meet at a pub and discuss plans for a group trip. Rob suggests hiking in Sweden, but gets shot down. Afterward, Luke and Rob enter a shop for drinks, but interrupt a robbery in progress. Luke hides while Rob becomes frozen with fear as the thieves start antagonizing him. Luke nearly intervenes, but decides against it before the thieves kill Rob for not complying with them.

Six months later, the remaining four embark on a hiking trip along the Kungsleden in northern Sweden in Rob's memory. Almost immediately, Dom trips and falls, injuring his knee. Hutch suggests they cut through the forest rather than use the longer marked trail in hopes of sparing Dom further suffering. Upon entering the forest, the group encounters strange phenomena, including a gutted elk hanging from some branches and strange symbols carved in the trees. As night falls, a torrential rainstorm forces them to find shelter. They come upon an abandoned cabin, so they break in and stay for the night. Inside, they find necklaces bearing similar symbols and an effigy of a decapitated human torso with antlers for hands. The next morning, the group finds that Luke had sustained strange and mysterious puncture wounds on his chest, and Phil praying to the effigy. Weirded out, the group tries to find a way out. While discerning their location, Luke spots a large figure, but Dom doubts him. In their ensuing argument, Dom brings up the past, blaming Luke for Rob's untimely death and calling him a coward for hiding and letting Rob die to save himself.

Later that night, Luke is suddenly awakened by Hutch's screams. While investigating, he finds Hutch's tent empty and partially collapsed. The remaining three men rush deeper into the woods to search for him. By dawn, they realize that they are lost and unable to locate their campsite. While continuing their search without their supplies, they find Hutch eviscerated and impaled on tree branches. After giving him an impromptu burial, nighttime has fallen again. Within seconds, Phil is suddenly dragged away by an unseen creature that has been stalking them the whole time. With no other options available, Luke and Dom make a run for it, but the creature relentlessly gives chase. They find a path lined with lit torches leading to a small settlement and rush towards an old cottage hoping to hide from the creature. While barricading themselves inside, they are knocked unconscious.

When they awake, they find themselves restrained in a cellar. An elderly woman enters and inspects Luke's puncture marks, revealing she bears a similar pattern. On her way out, she orders two men to take Dom to the upper floor. A younger woman enters and explains that preparations are being made for a sacrifice. Sometime later, a beaten and bloodied Dom is returned to the basement. He tells Luke that he is to be sacrificed to the creature, urging him to find a way out and destroy the village before he's taken outside. Amidst the ritual, Dom has a vision of his wife emerging from the trees, not realizing it's the creature until it impales him on a nearby tree. Desperate to escape, Luke partially frees himself, but gets interrupted by the young woman. When he asks about the creature, she explains that it is a Jötunn, a bastard son of Loki and a god-like figure from Scandinavian mythology. The cult provides sacrifices to the Jötunn in return for immortality. Luke is to either submit to it or be killed.

After she leaves, Luke fully breaks free and ventures to the upper floor. Armed with a torch, he finds a twisted congregation of mummified worshipers. He sets them alight, burning the cabin and attracting the Jötunn. Luke finds a hunting rifle in another room and heads downstairs. He runs into a follower whom he kills with the rifle and takes his axe. The Jötunn enraged, kills the young woman while Luke escapes. The Jötunn pursues him, crippling his mind with hallucinations before catching him and forcing him to his knees, offering him a chance to submit. Luke strikes the creature with the axe, briefly incapacitating it. Following rays of sunlight, he emerges in an open field. Unable to leave the forest, Moder roars in anger while Luke screams back in triumph before heading towards a paved road.

Cast

Release and reception

The film premiered in September 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival, where its international distribution rights were sold to Netflix for $4.75 million. The film was theatrically released in the United Kingdom by eOne Films on 13 October 2017 and grossed over $1 million during its run. It was later released to Netflix on 9 February 2018.

Critical reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2018)

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 86 reviews, and an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Director David Bruckner makes evocative use of the Scandinavian setting and a dedicated cast to deliver a handsome — if familiar — horror story." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times praised the film and said that it was "Efficient and highly effective in its style, relying on sound, creepy production design, and the men's own fear and misjudgment to create the sense of pervasive doom." RogerEbert.com writer Simon Abrams scored the film a 2/4, saying "The most disappointing kind of bad horror movie: the kind that's too smart to be this dumb." Kyle Kohner of The Playlist gave the film a negative review, saying "David Bruckner had all the ingredients for a horror masterpiece - deceptively scenic wilderness shots, great character camaraderie, dreadful atmosphere/setting- but The Ritual winds up a missed opportunity."

References

  1. ^ "The Ritual (2017) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  2. "The Ritual". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  3. "'The Ritual' Review: David Bruckner Shows Promise in Familiar Horror Tale | TIFF 2017". Collider. 10 September 2017.
  4. "Toronto: Horror Film 'The Ritual' Sells to Netflix for $4.75 Million (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  5. "THE RITUAL Heading to Netflix This February | Nightmare on Film Street". Nightmare on Film Street. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  6. "The Ritual (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  7. "The Ritual Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  8. Walsh, Katie. "Primal and visceral horror haunts 'The Ritual'". latimes.com. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  9. Abrams, Simon. "The Ritual Movie Review & Film Summary (2018) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  10. "'The Ritual' Conjures Up Familiar, Forgettable Horror [Review]". The Playlist. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.

External links

Films directed by David Bruckner
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