The Ritual

90 % der Länge ist ein sehr minimalistischer Horrorfilm, der hauptsächlich mit dem Ton arbeitet. Ein gespensterhafter Wald, Hexerei und ein uralter Dämon, der verborgen gehalten wird, was bei den Zuschauer*innen Angst und Fantasie auslöst. Ein Gänsehaut-Abenteuer für diejenigen, die so etwas mögen, obwohl man etwas Ähnliches schon viele Male gesehen hat (diesmal erinnert es an The Blair Witch Project und Predator). [Sitges FF] (08.10.2017)

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)

At first, I thought like I was watching a more technically advanced version of the Blair Witch Project (and that’s not that difficult to achieve, let’s be honest here). Fortunately, this film gets more interesting, turning a bush craft horror into a proper fantasy one with Scandinavian gods, which elevated it to a new level. Marvel movies aside, not everyone dares to invite the Viking gods from Valhalla into their movie. It always seems strange, ethereal. And they made a good use of it in this movie. It does give Sweden a bit of a backwoods feel, but still better than if it took place in the Czech Giant Mountains. (14.05.2020)

Eine technisch gesehen solide Wanderung durch einen schwedischen Wald, wo sich die Freue ums Vielfache steigt, wenn sich drei Elche treffen und die Innereien an den Ästen hängen. Schauspielerisch ist dies leider unbeholfen, das Tempo gleicht allzu sehr einem Spaziergang und an Originalität oder Intensität bekommen wir in den ersten zwei Dritteln kaum etwas zu sehen. Letzteres wirkt zwar dank des Jötunn-Redneck-Mashups ziemlich scharfkantig, vermag aber dennoch kaum selbst Kratzer zu verursachen. Netflix könnte diese "solala“-Filme langsam wie auf dem Fließband produzieren. (13.03.2018)

The first notch of the year from Britain? I quite regret not going to the cinema the other day when I had the chance, the atmosphere of the film is very good. A group of friends take a trip to the Swedish woods, where they become hallucinated, paranoid and haunted by something supernatural. It keeps up the pace. the scenes in the cabin are decently creepy and the central evil is excellent, too bad they didn't pay attention to gore as well, but still a decent affair and one of the best this year. 75% (07.02.2018)

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)

Due to a new job opportunity, I've had the opportunity to spend 2 days hiking through the Scandinavian wilderness. Before I did, I was advised to watch this piece for light "acclimatization" :-) I admit that it added a certain authenticity to the uneasiness and fear, because our woods after all end in a friendly village over the hill and an icy shower coupled with really bad weather is a bit rarer here. The behavior of the frustrated travelers was logical within limits, and you have to give credit to the fact that it is the invisible and yet clearly audible evil that robs you of sleep. 3/4 of the time you get chills down your spine and elsewhere, only to end up with a psychotic/action-film ending full of exaggerated occultism solidly kill the wonderfully constructed atmosphere. Considering how well made horror movies have been lately, the creators of Ritual have managed to conjure up a worthy representative of the genre. (11.05.2022)

The Ritual kann sich dem Vergleich mit dem Kultfilm Blair Witch Project (den ich persönlich ziemlich mittelmäßig fand) nicht entziehen: Statt dreier Studenten, das absichtlich im Wald nach dem Übernatürlichen sucht, haben wir es in "The Ritual" mit vier Freunden zu tun, die rein zufällig in den Wald gekommen sind, wo sie das Übernatürliche ganz von allein gefunden hat. (Spoiler alert!) Einerseits ist Bruckners Film ein anständiges atmosphärisches Häppchen über die Konfrontation mit Dämonen - sowohl mit den inneren als auch mit den alten -, aber andererseits hapert es an den Figuren (die leider Gottes nach absteigenden Sympathien sterben) und dem mythologischen Bösen, das zwar atemberaubende und originelle Bilder, aber einen schlampig angedeuteten Hintergrund hat. Am Ende des Films waren meine Eindrücke verstörend. (26.11.2023)

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)