The Ritual (2017)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The ritual |
| Original title | The ritual |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2017 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | David Bruckner |
| script | Joe Barton |
| production |
Jonathan Cavendish , Richard Holmes |
| music | Ben Lovett |
| camera | Andrew Shulkind |
| cut | Mark Towns |
| occupation | |
| |
| synchronization | |
| |
The ritual is a British horror film of the American director David Bruckner from the year 2017 . The film is based on the novel of the same name by Adam Nevill , which was published in 2011. The leading roles are played by Rafe Spall , Rob James-Collier , Sam Troughton and Arsher Ali .
Premiere The Ritual on September 8, 2017 the Toronto International Film Festival . The film was released in British cinemas on October 13, 2017. The international release took place on February 9, 2018 on the video-on-demand platform of the streaming provider Netflix .
action
The four friends Luke, Hutch, Dom and Phil set out on the Kungsleden long-distance hiking trail in the Sarek National Park in northern Sweden . There they commemorate their late friend Robert , who was killed six months earlier in a robbery on a supermarket. Luke, who was present at the robbery, hadn't helped Robert out of fear and had to watch how the latter was brutally killed. Since then, Luke has been plagued by guilt and nightmares.
After Dom injures his knee on her hike and finds it difficult to walk, Hutch suggests taking a shortcut through a forest. On their way through the forest, they first come across a gutted moose hanging between two trees. The group later found runes carved into tree trunks . When it rains in the evening, the four men find shelter in an abandoned hut. In the attic, Phil finds a wooden figure in human form, but without a head and with antlers for hands. During the night, each of the friends is haunted by nightmares : Luke dreams of the robbery on the supermarket and wakes up with four bleeding stab wounds in his chest. Phil kneels in front of the wooden figure in the attic and seems to be worshiping it.
Disturbed by the events, the four try to find a way out of the forest. Luke climbs a hill and sees a strange creature that is apparently chasing the group. When Luke tries to tell the others about it, he and Dom have an argument. Dom accuses Luke of being to blame for Robert's death for failing to protect him. Injured and angry, Luke knocks down Dom. When night finally falls, they pitch their tents and Hutch explains to Luke that he wants to send him alone to the southwest the next morning to get help. During the night, however, Hutch is attacked by the creature and abducted. In search of Hutch, the others get lost and decide to go on without their equipment. Finally they find Hutch, who, like the moose before, hangs gutted between two trees. With the help of Hutch's compass , the three remaining friends go on and come across an inhabited village, which they bypass, however, because they suspect that the villagers might be behind the attacks.
The following night, Phil is killed by the creature, while Luke and Dom can hide in the thicket . When they are finally discovered by the creature, they both run away and follow a torch-lit path that leads them directly into the previously discovered village. There they are caught by the residents and locked in a hut. While Dom is about to be offered as a sacrifice, one of the residents explains to Luke that he was chosen by the creature to take part in the ritual because of his emotional pain over Robert's death. Hence the four stab wounds on his chest: he had been marked. Like the other villagers, Luke is supposed to worship the creature, which is a Jötunn , and thus become immortal. If Luke refused, he would be impaled on the trees like his friends.
The offering from Dom in the night lures the Jötunn into the village. Meanwhile, Luke is able to free himself and finds a room in the attic of the hut with mummified corpses, which he lights with the help of a torch. Luke also finds a hunting rifle and an ax and escapes. The hut, which has now caught fire, causes the Jötunn to kill the villagers. When Luke shoots the creature, it starts chasing him. Luke can fight them back with the help of the ax and escapes from the forest. At the border to the forest, which the Jötunn apparently cannot cross, the two of them finally face each other screaming. Luke turns his back on the creature and goes back to civilization.
Background and production
The film, financed and produced by Entertainment One (eOne) , was presented for the first time in February 2017 at Berlin's European Film Market , a trading center for the film industry.
Jonathan Cavendish and Andy Serkis were also involved as producers with their production company The Imaginarium, which in the same year were responsible for the production of the British biopic So long I breathe . After the film premiere on September 9, 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival , it was announced that Netflix had bought the international distribution rights to The Ritual , with the exception of the UK market, for $ 4.75 million .
Although the film is set in Sweden, The Ritual was shot in the Transylvanian Alps in Romania in late autumn .
reception
The Ritual received mostly mixed to positive reviews. At Rotten Tomatoes , 71 percent of the 68 reviews collected are positive, while at Metacritic it received a Metascore of 57 percent from 17 reviews.
For Sebastian Stumbek from Moviebreak.de "[the film] turns out to be a successful horror contribution, which has been carefully crafted and scores points with a gripping atmosphere, even if it runs out of breath a little in its last act". Lauterfilme.de thinks The Ritual is a “very passable horror film with a few fresh approaches”, in which “a lot of questions remain open when it comes to the resolution […]”.
Web links
- The ritual in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The ritual in the German dubbing index
Individual evidence
- ^ Greg Evans: Sierra / Affinity Bringing 'The Ritual' To European Film Market - Berlin. Deadline, February 1, 2017, accessed on April 1, 2018 (English).
- ↑ Tatiana Siegel: Toronto: Horror Film 'The Ritual' Sells to Netflix for $ 4.75 million. The Hollywood Reporter, September 19, 2017, accessed April 1, 2018 .
- ↑ Alexander Dunerfors: Monster lurar i de norrländska skogarna i rysaren “The Ritual” - these trailers! MovieZine, September 24, 2017, accessed April 1, 2018 (Swedish).
- ^ The Ritual (2017). Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 30, 2018 .
- ^ The Ritual 2018. Metacritic, accessed March 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Sebastian Stumbek: The Ritual - Critique. Moviebreak.de, accessed April 1, 2018 .
- ^ Film review: The Ritual. lauterfilme.de, accessed April 1, 2018 .