The Ritual (2017)

Director David Bruckner (The Signal, the V/H/S and Southbound anthologies) brings us an interesting atmospheric horror piece that is largely uneven, but there’s more good than bad. The production value, cinematography and acting are top notch. The story has interesting elements and is quite tense throughout, yet somehow doesn’t quite hit the mark. It feels close but doesn’t quite get all the way there. The characters and the journey they go on are quite intriguing as is their fear and struggles to survive, but I was somehow left a little disappointed and largely unaffected by the way the story ended. Too much of it was expected once the film hit a certain mark and the element of surprise, while intended, wasn’t fully there, at least for me.

The film stars Rafe Spall (Shaun of the Dead, Green Street Hooligans, Hot Fuzz, Prometheus, Life of Pi, The World’s End, the upcoming Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), who proves to be quite charismatic and a capable lead. It also features Arsher Ali (Four Lions, TV’s Silent Witness and The Missing, the upcoming The Flood), Robert James-Collier (TV’s Downton Abbey), Sam Troughton (AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, Vera Drake, Spirit Trap, Slumber) and Paul Reid (Boy Eats Girl, Tommy’s Honour) who all do a fine job demonstrating their characters’ distress at different points of the film.

All in all, a very good effort but not quite great. 6.5/10.