THE RITUAL, a tale of horror, guilt and a hellish monster

Reading THE RITUAL by Adam Nevill back in 2014 made me hate enormously camping - to be honest I've never been a fan of - and I dreaded more backwoods and shortcuts because Adam knows how to trigger sheer dread and play with anxiety and inner fears. He has this unique intense style to create an evocative and atmospheric realm into which he drags both characters and readers. So when it was decided for a movie adaptation of his book, I admit that I've waited for it with an anxious anticipation. I am one of those who will always prefer the book and scrutinize the movie and since THE RITUAL is a very intense book, I wanted to experience this intensity, feel the tension and fear I have experienced while reading the book; I should have known that a talent like David Bruckner's can make this happen and strike us with awe when the terror becomes real through visuals and sounds in his adaptation of THE RITUAL. What was the outcome of it? I hated even more and more camping and shortcuts in backwoods will never be an option for me.

The first scene of the movie makes introduction of main characters Luke, Dom, Phil and Hutch  with their friend Rob having a drink and planning vacation. Soon the mood shifts and the viewer follows the friends to a liquor store where a tragedy happened. Rob got killed while Luke failed to intervene and help him out. Later on, the viewer is taken to Sweden wilderness with looming mountains and dark ancient forest where the group went for hiking to honor the memory of their lost friend. However, bad luck has again followed them. When Dom hurt his knee, the call to take an off- trail in the forest seemed the most convenient way to continue their doomed journey. The old 'carcass' of a van abandoned at the outskirts, the dead silence that followed their steps and the discovery of a gutted animal hung in between  the trees will be just the beginning of their worst nightmare.

David Bruckner, who co-directed horror flicks like THE SIGNAL and SOUTHBOUND, makes THE RITUAL a platform to convey intense horror embedded in unsettling atmosphere and surrealism, shifting moods between the horrific violence of civilization to the bloodthirsty gods and cults claiming sacrifices in the forbidding backwoods. The psychological element is omnipresent in almost every scene adding more dimensions to the Lost-in-Wood movie. Bruckner brings out this human genuine performance of a brilliant cast to express the sentiments of guilt and shame and resentment. Those unfortunate men try to hide behind denial and miserable robustness, their fear, their desperation and their strained relationships.  In both book and movie, it is Luke who is the most remarkable. He is different, intense and damaged by guilt and sorrow and Rafe Spall displays perfectly his shaken facade behind which  frustration, shame, and anger are seething.

When we talk about THE RITUAL, we should stop a moment to talk about Moder, the  monster which has become the new craze in monsters world, applauded and admired by big names in the horror industry such as Guillermo Del Toro. Contrary to the book, the movie doesn't identify the name of this unholy mysterious creature, but introduces it as the same terrifying presence lurking between trees and shadows, in this ancient place, a Nordic pagan god that rips and guts its sacrifices before its final revelation. Indescribable is maybe the best way to describe it. And like that disturbing effigy with unwholesome hands and feet found by the group in an old cabin in the wood,  Moder stands out as a genius design of both mesmerizing and terrifying abhorrence, scary and one of its kind. In addition, the visuals are overwhelming with dread to grip the viewer's attention and make the unfolding mystery more frightening. With such imagery, the elements of sound and music forged an alliance to create a ritualistic atmosphere that I found epic, raw and tense. A symphony of terror, evocative, moody and intense that starts and ends with a feeling of sadness and grief from the fateful opening until the poignant closing.

There is no doubt that THE RITUAL delivers the classic scares of uncharted woods, doomed shortcuts and friends being lost and hunted by a mysterious demonic creature but these scares have become real only through the smart lenses of a director of great originality like Bruckner because he associates horror with psychological strains and dilemmas and that's what makes good movies memorable.

THE RITUAL is streaming now on Netflix.