The Ritual
Directed by David BrucknerA group of friends reunite after a long time to plan a vacation. They finally decide to go on a hiking trip in Sweden, Northern Europe. When one of them is injured, they have no choice but to cut through the forest in order to arrive at the lodge a couple of hours sooner. During a raging rainstorm, they spent the night in a spooky, abandoned house. What awaits them are things they never expect out of this supposedly bonding trip.
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The Ritual Ratings & Reviews
- Patrick WaiMarch 3, 2026The Ritual (2017) takes a hilariously simple setup—four lifelong friends hike through a Swedish forest to honor a fallen buddy—and turns it into a masterclass in “men processing grief badly while nature judges them.” The acting is genuinely great (Rafe Spall especially sells the simmering guilt), and the first half is deliciously psychological: dread, paranoia, and hallucinations that feel like your brain’s HR department filing formal complaints. It’s also shot beautifully—those misty trees look like a Scandinavian cologne ad sponsored by trauma—and the Nordic folk-horror vibe rules. If you go in expecting a straightforward “monster in the woods” creature feature, you might be thrown the first time; on a rewatch, you can appreciate how smartly it delays the big reveal and leans into guilt as the real predator (even critics who call the script thin still admit it’s incredibly moody and well-directed). And yeah, some folks gripe about the ending, but I found it oddly thought-provoking: it’s not just about surviving—it's about lugging cowardice, regret, and self-doubt out of the forest without getting trampled by whatever nightmare IKEA forgot to label.
- Daniel GustavssonOctober 12, 2024Nice psychological journey for both the viewer and the characters. Love the nordic lore in this.
- Aaron SladeMarch 1, 2026Hell Yes This, along with The VVitch, are some of the best horror films to come out since the heyday of horror in the 70s. This is a must watch!
- stuhannafordDecember 27, 2025All a bit meh. No lore or backstory to create anything truly disturbing. Nothing overly graphic or impressive to the eye to make you jump. Well acted, and you do feel for them as they go deeper and deeper, but it’s so formulaic, it’s hard to stay gripped. The beginning is the darkest, most shocking element, and the rest feels more like a meandering through metaphors of grief and regret. Short enough to breeze through easily enough, but, well… yeah… meh.
- Kevin WardJuly 2, 2025Chilling creature design in this impressive backwoods supernatural thriller. When a man is killed in a convenience store robbery, his buddies go on a backpacking trip to sort of commemorate his passing. Things don’t necessarily go as planned and they find themselves lost in the woods with a presence haunting them, and possibly hunting them. One of the friends is wracked with guilt over failing to act during the deadly robbery. Tackles familiar horror themes of grief and guilt manifesting itself as a supernatural horror of some kind. There are some interesting nightmare sequences that blend/transition the backwoods setting with the convenience store. I don’t necessarily think the metaphor 100% works thematically, but it’s a pretty damn fun film. Really love the creature and liked this on the whole a bit more than The Night House. Nitpick: When you’re camping and your bro unexpectedly walks in on you, buck naked and praying to a weird wooden figure, that’s not something you casually bring up with all your buddies the next morning. That is some sh🤩 you just take to your grave.
- punchsplosionOctober 15, 2025Introspective, but NEVER boring. Tons of great practical effects, this one will keep you guessing while plunging you into the skin of each character and their motivations. Watch it, then watch it again!
- ghost0neMay 16, 2025I'm pretty sure the monster's diet consists mainly of poor navigational skills
- JoshuaWJuly 1, 2025I’m awe struck by this flick 😧🤯👏🏼. Just 🤩. BravO!!
- Josh CFebruary 8, 2025It was extremely slow and then just got plain weird.
The Ritual Trivia
The Ritual was released on October 11, 2017.
The Ritual was directed by David Bruckner.
The Ritual has a runtime of 1h 34m.
The Ritual was produced by Andy Serkis, Richard Holmes, Jonathan Cavendish, Ron Ames.
A group of friends reunite after a long time to plan a vacation. They finally decide to go on a hiking trip in Sweden, Northern Europe. When one of them is injured, they have no choice but to cut through the forest in order to arrive at the lodge a couple of hours sooner. During a raging rainstorm, they spent the night in a spooky, abandoned house. What awaits them are things they never expect out of this supposedly bonding trip.
The key characters in The Ritual are Luke (Rafe Spall), Phil (Arsher Ali), Hutch (Robert James-Collier).
The Ritual is rated R.
The Ritual is a Horror, Thriller, Mystery film.
The Ritual has an audience rating of 6.3 out of 10.
The Ritual had a budget of $1M.
The Ritual has made $1.8M at the box office.