The Ritual (2025) Review!!

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

My Take – We all love a good possession story, but in a world where at least two or three (probably more) exorcism flicks are being released every year, filmmakers nowadays are struggling to bring something unique to the sub-genre. Particularly as The Exorcist (1973) continues to be the gold standard among all demon-infested cinematic tales.

Though on paper, the script, credited to the film’s director David Midell and co-writer Enrico Natale, showed immense potential considering it is based on the real-life events of Anna Ecklund aka Emma Schmidt, whose case is considered by theologians and scholars of the paranormal to be one of “the most thoroughly documented and widely publicized exorcism in American history.”

Unfortunately, the final result is about as bland as a story about an exorcism can be. While the film claims to be based on a true story, lending it a sliver of gravitas, the plot and character beats march dutifully down a checklist that genre fans know all too well. It is competently acted but creatively stagnant.

Filled with cliche horror tropes, uninteresting characters, poorly executed thrills, and a weak atmosphere that offers no scares nor tension to be built towards. It simply retraces a concept that has been done to death for decades. It’s literally all here: bed restraints, self-mutilation, green puke, doubting young priests, wise old priests, different creepy voices, and all the familiar works.

It is a wonder how such a good cast was assembled for such a poor film. Unless you’re a die-hard fan of exorcism tales, this one offers little more than a reheated 98 minutes version of films you’ve likely already forgotten.

Set in 1928, the story follows Father Joseph Steiger (Dan Stevens), who is trying his best to lead his parish, even as his continues to grieve for the recent sudden death of his brother. Making things more difficult are the startling orders he receives from his immediate superior, Bishop Edwards (Patrick Fabian), about hosting Emma Schmidt (Abigail Cowen), a young woman with a disturbing case history, who after going through exhaustive psychological tests and exams has come to the church for help, and is now due for an exorcism.

Though Steiger is initially shocked that the church would push for such a seemingly outdated practice, he agrees to do the requested along with being a sit in to take notes.

However, when the elderly Father Theophilus Riesinger (Al Pacino) shows up to do the actual ritual on the tired and dehydrated Emma, Steiger not only has to deal with his clashing faith, but also the toll the nightly exorcisms begins to take on everyone involved and the multiple injuries the nuns are forced to weather from a torn scalp to a crushed hand.

But if they don’t all pull together and get on the same religious page, the ritual will be shut down and Emma’s soul will be lost, leaving redemption for everyone involved to be nothing more than a distant pipe dream.

From there on we witness everything we have already seen in every other demonic possession story ever made. Structurally, the film is tedious to get through, primarily consisting of six rituals that amount to Father Riesinger reciting verses from the Bible while the usual demonic possession shenanigans occur.

But as a horror film, the biggest sin the film commits is that it is never remotely scary or creepy. It doesn’t even seem to try too hard to cultivate a spooky atmosphere. The whole tone and look of the film is just dull. Even the true story angle is undercut by how formulaic everything feels. You don’t question the possession-you just wonder which trope is coming next.

There’s a possessed young girl, obviously. A priest and nun torn between faith and forbidden feelings. Cryptic Latin. Flickering lights. Floating bodies. You’ve seen this all before. The film also immediately jumps into the deep end, poor possessed Emma writhing and drooling uncontrollably from the get go. We know very little about the woman, which makes it very hard for us as viewer to care about what is happening to her.

Also, the film can’t quite decide whether it believes in demons or not. There’s a lot of chat about the psychological roots of Emma’s distress, and Steiger’s role as a skeptic seems primed to offer a different take on the supernatural. But ultimately it comes down on the side of the macabre without much hedging, which feels like a missed opportunity, and forces everyone involved to confront their own demons. To make matters worse, the direction leans heavily on hand held camera to generate tension, but it ends up disorienting rather than immersing.

Performance wise, Al Pacino is charismatic as always and is believable as a seasoned, seen-it-all cleric with a gravelly wisdom. Dan Stevens brings his usual intensity to the role of the handsome young vicar wanting to do the right thing. Abigail Cowen as the possessed goes through the familiar physical wringer. Though her role is as about as undernourished as her beleaguered character, Cowen manages to be appropriately harrowing and creepy enough.

In supporting roles, Ashley Greene, Patricia Heaton, María Camila Giraldo, Meadow Williams and Patrick Fabian do the needful. On the whole, ‘The Ritual‘ is just another generic exorcism horror that despite endless potential chooses to be bland, tired and uninspired throughout.