The Ritual

Name: The Ritual
Director: David Bruckner
Released: 2017

Synopsis

A group of college friends reunite for a trip to the forest, but encounter a menacing presence in the woods that's stalking them.

80
Total Film
Entertaining, engrossing and at times genuinely unnerving, Bruckner’s bad trip is one for horror fans to relish.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
While thoughtfully done, the entertainment value of this sombre scare fiesta isn’t high. It’s about life’s paths taken and the rituals (and fears) we submit to.
63
Slant Magazine
Eventually, the filmmakers reveal the secrets they'd previously withheld, spoiling the film's sustained mystique.
60
Empire
Straightforward, unpretentious and well-acted, this is a solid if unsurprising genre piece.
60
The Guardian
Spall is good casting in the lead: miserable, hangdog, humorous and scared, like a handsomer version of Josh Widdicombe. James-Collier is a fierce screen presence: some film-maker needs to find something more for him to do.
60
The Telegraph
It’s the character dynamics here, more than the dark and stormy set-pieces, that get things off the ground.
60
Time Out
If it lacks the originality and sheer muscle of the best horror fare, this does offer an astute take on fragile thirtysomething machismo, and Spall treads a convincingly anguished path towards potential redemption.
60
Variety
Though well-cast and competently written, The Ritual owes its primary effectiveness not so much to story or character per se as to the unsettling atmosphere Bruckner and company have eked out of the forest itself.