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The Ritual

The Ritual

Horror · Mystery · 2017

A group of university friends reunite for a hiking trip in Sweden, but are stalked by a menacing presence when they're diverted through the woods.

Movie details

The Ritual

“Your darkest dream awaits you.”

2017 Horror · Mystery 1h 35m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

A group of university friends reunite for a hiking trip in Sweden, but are stalked by a menacing presence when they're diverted through the woods.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Ritual?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Nosferatu

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House of 1000 Corpses

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Silver Bullet

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The small city of Tarker's Mills is startled by a series of sadistic murders. The population fears the work of a maniac, but sightings of a mysterious, hairy creature soon spread. People lock themselves up at night, but there's one boy who's still outside…

Never Let Go

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As an evil takes over the world beyond their front doorstep, the only protection for a mother and her twin sons is their house and their family’s protective bond.

Color Out of Space

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A Field in England

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During the Civil War in 17th-Century England, a small group of deserters flee from a raging battle through an overgrown field. They are captured by an alchemist, who forces the group to aid him in his search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field. Crossing a vast mushroom circle, which provides their first meal, the group quickly descend into a chaos of arguments, fighting and paranoia, and, as it becomes clear that the treasure might be something other than gold, they slowly become victim to the terrifying energies trapped inside the field.

Dark Harvest

Dark Harvest

Horror · 2023

In a small Midwestern town, a deadly annual ritual unfolds when the mythical nightmare, Sawtooth Jack, rises from the cornfields and challenges the town’s teenage boys in a bloody battle of survival.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

David Bruckner

Written by

Joe Barton

Rafe Spall

Rafe Spall

Luke

Arsher Ali

Arsher Ali

Phil

Robert James-Collier

Robert James-Collier

Hutch

Sam Troughton

Sam Troughton

Dom

Paul Reid

Paul Reid

Robert

Matthew Needham

Matthew Needham

Junkie

Jacob James Beswick

Jacob James Beswick

Fiend

Court is in session

Put The Ritual on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.