The Ritual

Watch: The Ritual

6/6/20251h 38m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ You must have faith. ~

Overview:

Two priests, one in crisis with his faith and the other confronting a turbulent past, must overcome their differences to perform a risky exorcism.

Director:

David Midell

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$98.00

Revenue:

$1,528,998.00

Key words:

exorcism
based on true story
demon
demonic possession
possesion
somber
priests
hallucinations
gloomy

Cast

Dan Stevens

~ as ~

Father Joseph Steiger

Abigail Cowen

~ as ~

Emma Schmidt

Al Pacino

~ as ~

Father Theophilus Riesinger

Patricia Heaton

~ as ~

Mother Superior

Ashley Greene

~ as ~

Sister Rose

Patrick Fabian

~ as ~

Bishop Edwards

María Camila Giraldo

~ as ~

Sister Camila

Meadow Williams

~ as ~

Sister Sarah

Enrico Natale

~ as ~

Dr. Fabian

Ritchie Montgomery

~ as ~

Chester

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 4 week(s) ago
5
I’m guessing that Russell Crowe was busy for this latest exercise in priestly exorcism so an hardly recognisable Al Pacino decided to have a go. He is a Capetian father drafted in to help the reluctant Fr. Joseph (Dan Stevens) with a particularly difficult task. Fr. Theophilus must help rid the poor young Emma (Abigail Cowen) of an unwanted bodily guest. His methods do not impress the rather naive young father, nor the sisters in attendance as she increasingly resorts to involuntary bleeding, foul language, violent outbursts and even the usual hanging upside down from the ceiling lamp trick whilst under relentless assault from the repetitious bible verses being read across what I counted are at least seven of those ritual attempts at expulsion. Sound familiar? Well that’s because it is. Aside from Pacino turning in a slightly different style of performance from his norm, the rest of this hasn’t an original bone in it’s body. Indeed, its only claim to fame appears to be that it is based on the original, almost century old, transcriptions from Fr. Joseph of events that are really supposed to have happened but we’ve seen this all predictably play out so many times before that even the traditional collapsible bed doesn’t turn an head - spiritual or metaphysically. The one element that does provoke a little interest is, perhaps, the clear indication that Catholicism in the 1920s was riddled with incantations, superstitions and a degree of symbolism that probably hadn’t changed since much since there was a Borgia on the throne of St. Peter. This might work on the telly at Halloween of you’re full of Grappa, but as a cinema experience it is disappointing and entirely forgettable, sorry.