“The Ritual” follows two priests who must put aside their differences to perform a difficult and dangerous exorcism on a possessed woman.
A Formula with No Surprises
When it comes to exorcism movies, there’s only so much you can do. The concept itself generates countless horrifying images and ideas, but that alone doesn’t make a great film. “The Ritual” has scattered moments of tension and terror, but it also features every cliché in the book, bleak visuals, and dull characters.
“The Ritual” makes no attempt at being different. It falls in line with the tried-and-true tropes of the genre and never manages to bring anything new to the table. This results in a formulaic experience, as the film is checking boxes rather than captivating the audience.
The movie isn’t just repetitive in terms of genre clichés – it’s also monotonous on a story level. A better name for the film would be “The Rituals“ because, well, there are a lot of them. “The Ritual” develops an early pattern and recycles it… over and over again. This leads to a tiring experience that becomes more frustrating than engaging.
An Exhausting Watch – Visually and Structurally
The cinematography is maybe the most fascinating blunder of them all. “The Ritual” is bleak, with a dull, dark environment. The audience doesn’t get to see much of the setting anyways, however, with the camera constantly locked on the characters’ faces. With the persistent use of handheld shots and never-ending zoom-ins and zoom-outs, “The Ritual” becomes almost nauseating.
It’s not pleasant to look at, and the shaky style feels more like a gimmick than an intentional choice. Rather than building tension, it ends up distracting from it.
Good Actors, Wasted Characters
A bright spot in “The Ritual” is the performances. Al Pacino (Father Theophilus Riesinger) and Dan Stevens (Joseph Steiger) pull off the classic priest combo. Pacino is more calm and collected, delivering wise words from his older, experienced perspective. Stevens gets to explore a wider range of emotions, as his character faces more obstacles than one. This duo somewhat works, though the characters themselves still aren’t particularly compelling.
The characters may actually be the biggest fault in “The Ritual.” Abigail Cowen delivers a chilling performance as Emma Schmidt, though her potential is vastly wasted. As everyone is attempting to save Emma, the story would have benefited from spending more time with her. This lack of development makes the movie feel hollow – a soulless experience with no emotional investment.
“The Ritual” is unable to break new ground in the exorcism subgenre. It’s filled with clichés, paper-thin characters and overbearing cinematography. All of this blends together into an underwhelming and exhausting experience.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
