THE STORY – Two priests, one in crisis with his faith and the other confronting a turbulent past, must overcome their differences to perform a risky exorcism.
THE CAST – Dan Stevens, Al Pacino, Ashley Greene, Abigail Cowen, Patrica Heaton & Patrick Fabian
THE TEAM – David Midell (Director/Writer) & Enrico Natale (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 98 Minutes
“The following is based on true events.” This is an often-emphasized statement in horror films that aims to ground audiences in fear immediately. It’s a somewhat tacky move, but to many of the average movie-goers who are easily susceptible to the powers of Hollywood magic, it does indeed work wonders when they’re in the mindset that there’s some sort of historical basis to what is about to transpire. So, when David Midell’s “The Ritual” starts throwing up this warning, along with standard true story horror information, it becomes clear what type of film this strives to be.
Within the first few minutes, audiences are taken back to the late 1920s in the small parish of Saint Joseph’s. Dan Stevens’s Father, Joseph Steiger, lives a moderately simple life, tending to this in his convent, dutifully spreading the word of God. His world will soon be thrown for a loop as Father Steiger is asked to be in charge of the sole exorcism of a troubled young woman named Emma Schmidt, played by Abigail Cowen. The limits of secular practices have failed to aid Emma, hence the hope that she could be healed with the power of God at Father Steiger’s convent. Father Steiger isn’t alone as the controversial friar Theophilus Riesinger, played by Academy Award winner Al Pacino, joins Father Steiger in the hopes that they could free Emma from the grips of whatever dark powers are attached to her soul. If this sounds like the basis for any exorcism film, it’s because it is. Except that “The Ritual” delivers a nearly unwatchable experience that is a simmering stew of every horror trope that could exist.
What immediately sets Midell’s efforts off on the wrong foot is that his approach to this film’s visual storytelling is disastrous. Adam Briddle’s cinematography looks like a cheap episode of “Succession.” This faux-documentarian shooting style is filled to the brim with the camera constantly zooming in and out of conversations and plenty of shaky cam. The digital artifice that glazes over “The Ritual” erodes almost any sense of immersion to audiences, as this film takes place in the early 1900s, giving off the aesthetic of a crowdfunded student film with two-star actors attached to it.
The film’s monotonous nature is mainly due to Midell and Enrico Natalie’s screenplay, which has every encounter in this seventy-two-hour exorcism play out in the same generic format. Father Steigler and company approach Emma, quote scripture, watch her react violently, and then proceed to flee from Emma’s chambers while debating the ethics of what is transpiring. This repetitiveness only instills boredom that washes over those who somehow manage to be still intrigued past the film’s halfway mark. Midell’s direction also lacks any substantial scares or characters worthy of any reaction from the audience. One of the worst sins Midell commits is getting the chance to work with brilliant talents such as Pacino and Stevens and making nothing out of it.
Stevens, one of the more criminally underrated and underutilized fixtures in Hollywood today, is mismanaged in every aspect in “The Ritual.” A film filled with demon encounters, self-mutilation, and the overall dreary atmosphere brought on by religiously fueled horror is something that should only benefit Stevens, who has not been shy about going all out not only with his performances but also with the projects he selects to be apart of. Father Steigler is so broadly constructed as a character, mainly diluted with the typical trauma-based afflictions that are considered backstories for a multitude of horror protagonists. Stevens desperately tries to grasp something to make his performance worth it and is given nothing in return. It also doesn’t help when Stevens and Pacino have little rapport with one another. The moment Pacino comes in, speaking with an accent that sounds almost eerily like his work as Marvin Schawrz in “Once Upon a Time In…Hollywood,” it’s apparent what register of Pacino audiences are going to get. Every Pacinoism is in full display with plenty of scenes of him yelling at a possessed young woman, which makes for the only notable moments of “The Ritual,” where it feels like he isn’t asleep at the wheel.
All of these issues come together to make a horror film that isn’t worth the energy. Shockingly, audiences will live in a world where two Russell Crowe horror films about exorcisms in Italy are far more memorable than a horror film with Al Pacino.
