The Ritual is a Netflix original horror film, and one that in all honesty, can be forgotten. While there were a few parts that make it stand out from the slew of other isolation-style horror films, this movie followed the classic structure to a tee. Much of the story was recycled material and the revealed monster was goofy as hell, but the cast was very talented, diverse, and performed very well. This film is nothing more than a popcorn movie, but it still manages to be entertaining despite its predictability.
The decent parts about this film that stood out the most were the diversity of the friends, the violence, and a few moments scattered through the film that shook me. The story followed this group of friends that were hiking in the mountains and decided to take a shortcut through the forest. Firstly, that's never a good idea, but the characters did work very well together. As much as they fought and developed through the film, the actors portraying them had great chemistry. Only one of the guys ended up making it out alive in the end, but it's the journey that really matters, right? I am also pleased with the attempted diversity seen in the film, even though it is not superb. While this movie is predominantly white (as can be expected), two of the main men in the group were people of color, as well as the forest tribe being comprised of many different types of people. Diversity obviously was not the filmmakers' first concern in this film, but it was naturally decent. And the people of color actually weren't the first to die, either, which was a nice touch. The violence in this film was also done very tastefully. While there was not a excess of bloody scenes or gory images, just the right amount was used to scare the audience. This leads me to the best part of this film: a few shocking moments that actually did surprise me. The first being in the initial scene in the movie where their fifth friend is killed in the convenience store. That scene was done very well and as scary and realistic as it was, it provided some great background for the group of friends. The other moment that got to me was when the third friend was shown spread apart in the tree. Quite literally in pieces in the tree. I could feel that this was coming eventually, but I apparently was still not prepared as it took me by terrifying surprise.
The biggest problems with this film, however, were its lack of originality and some confusing plot pieces. The tone of this movie was the same as any other C-list horror film you may find online, and this just made it predictable the entire time. I knew exactly what was coming the majority of the time, and there was nothing done that made me sit and think "wow, that really got to me." The most confusing aspect of this film was its weak connection between the main character's background and the spooky monster tribe in the forest. The main character Luke, played by Rafe Spall, was in the convenience store when their friend was murdered in the opening of the film. He hid behind an aisle and did not do anything as his friend was killed by the looters. This guilty history is obviously traumatic enough for this character, but that background did not have anything to do with the main antagonist of the film. It definitely added some tension and paranoia to Luke's mind throughout the film, but it seemed like an unnecessary plot device to further his character while he was in the forest. The final issue with this movie was the reveal of the monster. Some of the best horror films, in my opinion, never have to show the monster in order to get the audience jittered. This one did, however, but it made me laugh more than anything. The 12-foot tall beast basically looked like a mutant, hunchback elk with two hands coming out of its face that was covered by a spooky hood. From the earlier shots in the film where we couldn't see the entire monster, he appeared to be very menacing and isolated. But the fact that an entire forest tribe was worshiping this dopey, Monsters, Inc. reject was hilarious to me.
The Ritual is an unoriginal horror film that provides nothing new in the genre. Even though this film is still entertaining and has many great ideas and performances, it is nothing more than a typical, time-killing movie with one of the dumbest monsters I have ever seen.
My Rating: ★★
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