The Ritual movie storyline. 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 Ritual is a 2017 British supernatural folk horror film directed by David Bruckner and written by Joe Barton. Based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Adam Nevill, the film stars Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, and Sam Troughton as four friends on a hiking trip through a Swedish old-growth forest, where they encounter an ancient evil presence.
The Ritual premiered in September 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival, where its international distribution rights were sold to Netflix for $4.75 million. The film was theatrically released in the United Kingdom by eOne Films on October 13, 2017 and grossed over $1 million during its run. It was later released to Netflix on February 9, 2018.
About the Story
In a pub, five friends—Phil, Dom, Hutch, Luke, and Rob—discuss plans for a holiday. Rob suggests hiking in Sweden but gets rebuffed. Afterward, Luke and Rob leave to purchase alcohol but get involved in a robbery which soon turns violent. While Luke hides, the robbers harass and eventually kill Rob.
Six months later, the remaining four start a hiking trip along the Kungsleden in northern Sweden in memory of Rob. After Dom injures his knee, Hutch suggests cutting through the forest rather than following the marked trail. Upon entering the forest, the group comes across a gutted and hanged elk, and mysterious symbols carved in the trees.
At night, a torrential rainstorm forces them to take shelter in an abandoned cabin. They find necklaces bearing similar symbols and an effigy of a decapitated human torso made of twigs, with antlers for hands. During the night, Luke has a nightmare about the robbery. The next morning, they awake to find Luke’s chest bleeding from puncture wounds and a naked Phil praying to the effigy. Disturbed, the group tries to leave the woods. While discerning their location, Luke spots a large figure amongst the trees, but Dom doubts him. In their ensuing argument, Dom calls Luke a coward for letting Rob die.
Later that night, the group is awakened by Phil’s screams. Hutch is missing and his tent has partially collapsed. The remaining three search for him, but by dawn, they realize they are lost. Eventually, they find a gutted Hutch impaled on tree branches and give him an impromptu burial. Around sunset, Phil is attacked and dragged away by an unseen creature; Luke and Dom flee. They find a torch-lined path leading to a small settlement. Upon rushing into a cottage, they are knocked unconscious.
Luke and Dom awake to find themselves restrained in a basement. An elderly woman inspects Luke’s chest wounds, revealing she bears a similar marking. Two men drag Dom upstairs and later return him, beaten and bruised, to the basement. Dom says he will be sacrificed to the creature and urges Luke to flee. Later, while Dom is tied up outside by the townsfolk, Luke begins freeing himself from the restraints. Amidst the ritual, Dom hallucinates his wife emerging from the forest, only to realize it is the creature as it picks him up and impales him on a nearby tree.
A young woman explains to Luke that the creature is the jötunn “Moder.” It is an ancient god-like entity and an offspring of Loki that grants the cult immortality in exchange for sacrifices. Luke is to either worship Moder or be sacrificed. After she leaves, Luke frees himself and ventures upstairs. Armed with a torch, Luke finds a congregation of mummified worshipers that begin to move and sets them alight, burning the cabin, and attracting Moder. Luke finds a hunting rifle and heads downstairs, killing a cult member and taking an axe. The enraged jötunn kills the young woman while Luke shoots at it and escapes.
The Ritual (2017)
Directed by: David Bruckner
Starring: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, Sam Troughton, Paul Reid, Maria Erwolter, Hilary Reeves, Francesca Mula, Matthew Needham, Kerri McLean, Gheorghe Mezei
Screenplay by: Joe Barton
Production Design by: Adrian Curelea
Cinematography by: Andrew Shulkind
Film Editing by: Mark Towns
Costume Design by: Ana Ioneci
Set Decoration by: Gina Calin
Art Direction by: Ghinea Diana
Music by: Ben Lovett
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: eOne (United Kingdom), Netflix (International)
Release Date: September 8, 2017 (TIFF), October 13, 2017 (United Kingdom), February 9, 2018 (Netflix)
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