My quick rating – 4.8/10. The Ritual is a sober, procedural take on exorcism that boasts the true story hook but struggles to rise above the many, many films that have already traversed this terrain. It’s a film that feels almost deliberately plain, offering no cinematic fireworks or shocking revelations—just a careful walk through a case of demonic possession documented in 1928.
Al Pacino stars (though “stars” might be generous) as Father Theophilus Riesinger, a grizzled veteran of exorcisms, whose very presence seems to communicate a tired resignation to the task at hand. Opposite him is Dan Stevens, doing the heavy lifting here as Father Joseph Steiger, a younger priest wrestling with his faith and clearly out of his depth. Together, they are tasked with confronting a suspected possession that turns into a grueling nine-day affair.
The Ritual opens with that now-familiar trope: a tense scene pulled from somewhere near the climax, which we’ll loop back to after a “nine days earlier” title card drops us into quieter beginnings. From there, it’s a slow, almost clinical unraveling of the ritual. The Latin incantations, the skin lesions, the psychological terror. It’s all here, but done with a restrained, almost documentary-like approach. There’s no spinning heads or bodies launched across rooms; instead, it leans into how an exorcism might truly look, rooted in discomfort and the fear etched on every face in the room.
While there’s something respectable about its dedication to realism, it also becomes the film’s biggest liability. We’ve seen so many of these tropes before, often with far more style or gut-wrenching horror. The possessed patient rants in foreign tongues, the clergy question their faith, ominous figures lurk in candlelit hallways—it’s all executed competently, but without any new spark. You’re left feeling like you’re checking off a list of expected beats.
Pacino is hardly recognizable under a mop of white hair and a raspy whisper that does just enough to remind you he’s still got it, but even he seems mostly to be shuffling through the motions. It’s Stevens who stands out, delivering a nuanced performance that captures both the fear and reluctant resolve of a man trying desperately to hold on to his beliefs in the face of something he barely understands.
In the end, The Ritual isn’t a bad movie; it’s just uninspired. It’s exactly what you’d expect a “true exorcism story” to look like, for better and for worse. If you’re looking for sensational scares or a fresh spin on possession, you won’t find it here. Without Pacino and Stevens, I would’ve let this slip right into the basement. As it stands, it’s a passable but ultimately bland entry in a genre that’s already overflowing with more memorable takes.
Amazon and a few other streamers have this at matinee prices as of 06.30.25.