Checked out the Netflix original horror film The Ritual the other day and, well, if you like the kind of movie where unlikable idiots wander into the woods and get what’s coming to them, you’ll probably like this flick. I’d like it more if I liked any of the characters… though there’s a satisfying redemption arc at the very end for at least one of them.
Following a tragic death, four British friends backpack into the wilderness of Scandinavia to memorialize their dead buddy. They then get lost in the woods and the usual array of bad things happen to them that happen in horror movies like this. It’s kind of a mutant baby of The Descent, The Blair Witch Project (this is NOT a found footage movie, to be clear), and As Above, So Below. It’s not as good as the first two and is way better than the last (if anyone even saw that one).
I won’t say exactly what they run into in the woods but the title of the movie (and the marketing) kind of hint that it’s something both human and supernatural. That’s unfortunate since the movie takes its time getting to anything approximating a ritual yet it spoils the idea anyway. What’s not spoiled though is a very imaginative appearance of something… one of the more inventive bits of horror design I’ve seen in a while.
The biggest flaw is that this is a story of four unlikable dummies and that makes it hard to really care for anyone. As mentioned earlier though, there’s at least a good resolution to one of the character’s stories so that makes, at least momentarily, one of them worth rooting for.
From a scares standpoint, there’s some eerie moments scattered through but also a lot of predictable what-was-that! and is-this-a-dream type stuff. On the plus side, I can’t recall any cheap jump scares and the reveal of what’s going on is, early on, creatively suggested and show on the edges of the frame. More hint than shown.
So this is a pretty good film. It makes some mistakes but it also does other things quite right. It looks good and is well acted… I just wish the actors were working off a better, ultimately more original script.
Score: 78