The Ritual

The first quality horror film of the year. For two thirds of its length, it’s a terrifying and mysterious forest madness and I was ready to give it the highest rating, because everything works perfectly genre-wise. It’s also further proof of how much better horror can be when the main characters aren’t only pretty young faces from a poster, but living characters – or normal people. The night sequence in the abandoned forest cabin was the creepiest movie experience I had a long time; it was really chilling. The closing third takes things a bit further than I would have expected, at the expense of the atmosphere the film was building up until that point. And the ending is proof of how valid the old wisdom is: that horror works better when the core evil is hidden. So I’m keeping the last star for myself, but otherwise, I’m very satisfied. (06/02/2018)

It's a bit of a surprise to me that such a good horror film came from the UK, because I've recently become accustomed to seeing films from there that are almost at the C level. At least in the horror genre, anyway. However, The Ritual perfectly shows that there are filmmakers in the UK who know how to make a horror film. David Bruckner has the skills to do that. You can find good films in his filmography even before The Ritual. (30/03/2018)

I really enjoyed this one. Recently, there have been a lot of horror films that don't hold back on the blood, but I still prefer a good ghost story that keeps you on edge and occasionally gives you a mild heart attack. I didn't expect much from The Ritual, thinking it would be a film I’d quickly forget. Turns out I was wrong. I grew fond of the quartet of main characters; it’s clear that you don’t need world-famous actors to achieve a fantastic result. I have no complaints about the atmosphere; the first half was so intensely mysterious that I was occasionally breathless. And those loud, unpleasantly rumbling sounds—yikes! The unknown surrounding the main quartet created a strong sense of anxiety, which I consider a key element of a successful horror film. The second half eased up a bit, starting with the actual slaughter, which didn’t bring many innovative moments but still maintained above-average quality. The ending, with the discovery of the village and its local tribe, was perfect, and the main monster was unexpectedly realistically portrayed. Simply a high-quality film. I give it 79%. (08/03/2018)

Ninety percent of this movie’s runtime comprises a very minimalist horror story working mainly with sound. A scary forest, witchcraft and an ancient demon whose concealment rouses the audience’s fear and imagination. The Ritual is a goose-bumps-inducing adventure for those who like to watch this type of thing over and over (this time you will be reminded of The Blair Witch Project and Predator). [Sitges FF] (08/10/2017)

We don't get a very revelatory ending and the characters aren’t too good, but that is compensated by a really thick atmosphere, an almost perfect narrative concept, and it's hard to find any weak spots in terms of style. The Ritual is both effective as horror and able to unnerve the viewer, as well as believable in the rapidly changing mood of the threatened group, which keeps it authentic for the first two-thirds and makes it essentially functional as a forest survival of sorts. It's really a shame that the explanatory finale pretty much ruins the existing tight structure and tension. Strong 3*. (09/02/2018)