The Ritual (2017)






The Ritual is a Netflix original film about five middle aged men who decide to reconnect their friendship a year after a tragedy effects them all by going hiking in the wilderness. If this storyline sounds familiar it’s because The Descent is the SAME principle, but with women, a cave, and some naked bat-man hybrids. The Ritual is haunting in that the woods feel like a character of its own- like something out of Wonderland. Sometimes reality doesn’t make sense, and for me that can be the most frightening thing of all. It’s psychological in that the woods/creature are able to tune in to each characters’ fears, and is able to control what they see when they’re dreaming and awake. The scenes where you’re not sure if the characters are alive or awake are very effective! Lastly, the creature design is one of the most unique, beautiful yet disgusting things I have ever seen in a film. The movie is worth watching just for the creature reveal!

Scoreboard:
Gore: 2/5
Suspense: 5/5
Sex appeal: 0/5
Writing: 5/5
Creature Design: 5/5
Brainssss: 0/5
Overall: 9/10



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