Really enjoyed this but yea the last arc is definitely not as good as the earlier parts of the film.Def a solid horror movie tho.
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The Ritual (Netflix)
- Thread starter Wollan
- Start date
Seriously. Open House should be avoided at all cost.
I liked this movie a lot. I get people complaining about the tonal shift in the 3rd act, but I still enjoyed it.
Expected much better. Don't know why I bother reading the opinions of others here because more often than not a mixed review movie doesn't turn out enjoyable for me. Learning over time not to trust another's opinion to taint my own before seeing a movie. It's gotten better but sometimes I find myself unintentionally affected by the things people say and ultimately the disappointment is that much worse than if I had simply saw something without any outside input.
Wasn't a fan at all.
And the ending was a mess. With the last act being trash, everything before it ends up being pointless.
Surprised to see a lot of praise, honestly. Even the group dynamic was eh to me. It's a very well shot movie, though. The script landed in right hands but another disappointing horror movie from Netflix. Somehow the babysitter is their magnum opus.
And the ending was a mess. With the last act being trash, everything before it ends up being pointless.
Surprised to see a lot of praise, honestly. Even the group dynamic was eh to me. It's a very well shot movie, though. The script landed in right hands but another disappointing horror movie from Netflix. Somehow the babysitter is their magnum opus.
Fantastic movie. Loved just about everything about it. Beautifully shot, great acting by horror standards and great tension. Horror movies are so tough to end decently though....
What was a mess about the ending exactly? It was all rather straight forward if anything.
Oh man. Open House was probably one of the worst horror movies I've seen in a longggg time. The second half didn't even make sense.
The Ritual was pretty fantastic. The monster design was reallllly cool.
The Ritual was pretty fantastic. The monster design was reallllly cool.
Watched last night. I thought it was good but my gf and I both thought the ending was a bit of a mess.
We didn't necessarily have a problem with the cult/town itself but the main character just escaping by getting to the end of the woods felt like a cop out and was way too easy/abrupt. Really unsatisfying.
Watched this just last night with my wife and we absolutely loved it. Shit was legitimately unsettling all around and the creature design was very creepy and unique. I just had this sense of impending doom for the group that I couldn't shake off, like the demi-god made the forest completely evil.
Also not sure why so many feel the the last third was a 'mess'. I thought it was an awesome climax and the ending felt fitting.
Also not sure why so many feel the the last third was a 'mess'. I thought it was an awesome climax and the ending felt fitting.
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I like to think he
Too dumb, sorry... pulled me out of the moment (and I was enjoying the ride) so I've chosen to adopt a narrative that makes more sense, even if it's a bit cliched.
went into the woods alone to face his guilt and the whole thing was in his head. Like literally facing his demons. Helps me get past an otherwise anticlimactic ending. My main issue with a more straightforward interpretation is that the creature behaved too stupidly at the end to be real. It clearly punished disobedience, with extreme prejudice, and yet it lets him get away half a dozen times.
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Ehh, I feel
like the creature in the past just likely never encountered someone who'd forcefully defy it like Luke did, and wanted to force him to worship it instead of straight murder. And it was going for the kill after the last axe attack, it had enough.
I thought that final scene was going to end
Glad it didn't go that route.
in a similar way as The Raft.
I think they were trying for that but it didn't land for me... there was the moment
it rears up and clearly that's what they were getting at "look at me, I'm powerful, worship me" but idk it just really didn't play for me.
I thought the movie had good build up, but unfortunately it didn't really go anywhere. I agree with many who say the ending fell flat. Also some weird unexplained stuff thrown in towards the end.
Right, that's what's implied. I suppose it's just down to personal taste.
What sort of things were unexplained?
What is going on here??? How is the last bit getting trashed on here, it's what elevated the movie to amazing for me. Literally the only part about the entire thing that i didn' like was Dom's final nightmare aside from that tho it was golden. The design of the monster was beautiful and the shots and the it just felt so tense in the latter half. The woods tho was godawful and good luck not going onto your phone for that portion
that room full of zombie people that the dude so casually torched. From what I understand that is the price you pay for immortality? Idk that whole cultist thing is just a little vague for my taste. Also why cant the creature leave the forest? i guess i just would have liked some more backstory stuff
Also what criteria do you have to meet to be "chosen" by the monster? They said Luke suffered great pain, but is that all it is?
Also what criteria do you have to meet to be "chosen" by the monster? They said Luke suffered great pain, but is that all it is?
Would have been way better if the monster got killed imo
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I watched this movie like three times. Missed the ending the first times, finally caught it the third time. It was an enjoyable movie, I love me some creepy shit, especially when it's not ultra gory.
Gave this a watch two nights ago from the recommendation of this thread. Really enjoyed it for what it was. Loved the characters and the premise of a friend's guilt over a loss. Enjoyed the parts where the protagonist would have flashbacks to the certain moment. Also, the whole who is controlling them and what's out in the woods was great build up. However, like others here it felt like the last 1/3 of the movie was lazy and dumb.
In the end, I enjoyed it, even though it felt flat in the end. I'd recommend it to those that enjoy thrillers and suspense. Just don't get your hopes up too much with the reveal.
They go for the cliche backwood cult who prey to a demigod by sacrifices. Also, it's stupid the demigod being the one making him relive the memories. I'd rather it be left a mystery of why he was witnessing these weird flashbacks. However, the whole, "stands up against his fear" is useful here to end the story. Also, a deer? That's the most non threatening demigod I've ever seen lol.
In the end, I enjoyed it, even though it felt flat in the end. I'd recommend it to those that enjoy thrillers and suspense. Just don't get your hopes up too much with the reveal.
Excellent horror film. Really well paced, acted, the mates were believable especially in their dealing of grief.
Not getting people being down on the final third, while nothing remarkable in terms of expectation for the genre the creature was absolutely brilliant (one of the best I've seen, and they showed just enough of it in the end to make the reveal satisfying - that one shot against the burning house was beautiful) and the resolution felt earnt.
Really glad I watched this.
It's on amazon prime UK for rental for just under a fiver if anyone wants to grab it.
Not getting people being down on the final third, while nothing remarkable in terms of expectation for the genre the creature was absolutely brilliant (one of the best I've seen, and they showed just enough of it in the end to make the reveal satisfying - that one shot against the burning house was beautiful) and the resolution felt earnt.
Really glad I watched this.
It's on amazon prime UK for rental for just under a fiver if anyone wants to grab it.
Yeah, I liked the third act and I don't understand why some people say that what happened before doesn't matter in the end. It's all about
Luke standing his ground, proving to himself that he's not a coward. During the first act he's the most anxious and scared. Then he starts to get pissed off, his survival and protector instincts slowly kicks in as he wants to protect a friend who said terrible things to him. And in the end he burns down a hellish cult, punches a witch and litteraly refuses to bow down to a god and instead he nearly kills it and manages to escape. Behind his guilt was an insane strength, and he showed that he truly cared for his friends. It's all about his journey and the ending was freaking satisfying imo.
The monster design is from Nordic folktales. It's also there in Witcher 3 for you to fight.
Just finished watching the movie. I'll gather my thoughts in a minute.
Overall I liked the movie. There were some tropes that I wish could have been avoided but in the end it's a really good horror film. I have really no problems with the final arc and I felt that it was in line with the rest of the movie.
One of the tropes was that Hutch keeps going forward even after the crazy as shit night in the abandoned hut. Dude, your buddy was naked kneeling to the straw fiend upstairs and you still brush it off as nightmares and keep going forward. I'd like to believe in such situations normal people would turn the fuck around and take the long way home. Other trope was that there was no gps tracker or an emergency alert system.
With that out of the way, the movie was pretty good and has something important to say in the end. The fiend preyed upon people with the most grief and marked them. The others he simply killed. The fiend wanted grief-stricken people to worship him, and that's how it derived power. It did not kill Luke in the end because it wanted Luke's submission, and it meant a lot to it - just by virtue of the fact that Luke's grief was really, really heavy. I guess the more heavy someone's burden is, the more it wants them to worship him. All the cultists submitted, but Luke says to the english speaking Cultist that he's not going to submit - because submitting to that fear is submitting to his own inner demons that have been gnawing at him for the past 6 months. I think overall the point is to move on, continue forward. Either become submit to our past (allegory being the fiend), or have enough resolve to carry forward. We make choices that we make, and there is really no point in imagining 50 million ways we could do something differently. As someone who lost a loved one, I felt the movie spoke to me in that regard. Maybe if I did A, B or C, they might have lived, you know?
Unfortunately Luke loses all his friends but his determination grew even stronger, not weaker. He followed through on Dom's request to burn the fucking place down, and he did. I like to think that now the creepy cabin with all it's followers and zombies got burned to crisp, the fiend will no longer survive.
With that out of the way, the movie was pretty good and has something important to say in the end. The fiend preyed upon people with the most grief and marked them. The others he simply killed. The fiend wanted grief-stricken people to worship him, and that's how it derived power. It did not kill Luke in the end because it wanted Luke's submission, and it meant a lot to it - just by virtue of the fact that Luke's grief was really, really heavy. I guess the more heavy someone's burden is, the more it wants them to worship him. All the cultists submitted, but Luke says to the english speaking Cultist that he's not going to submit - because submitting to that fear is submitting to his own inner demons that have been gnawing at him for the past 6 months. I think overall the point is to move on, continue forward. Either become submit to our past (allegory being the fiend), or have enough resolve to carry forward. We make choices that we make, and there is really no point in imagining 50 million ways we could do something differently. As someone who lost a loved one, I felt the movie spoke to me in that regard. Maybe if I did A, B or C, they might have lived, you know?
Unfortunately Luke loses all his friends but his determination grew even stronger, not weaker. He followed through on Dom's request to burn the fucking place down, and he did. I like to think that now the creepy cabin with all it's followers and zombies got burned to crisp, the fiend will no longer survive.
Really? I thought they showed just enough. The monster is so cool and even though there were quite a few clear shots toward the end they were all framed in a way that made it seem mysterious and unreal.
I'd probably agree usually, but I loved how they handled it here. Really helps that the film was so well shot in general, some wonderful framing in the final third.
I honestly think it took away from the fear factor of the monster. I don't mind a full quick reveal or what not, but for me it took away from the mystery of what the monster was.
I know people will compare this to lost in the words ala Blair Witch, but BWP was much, much more effective is being genuinely scary and using the forest as a scare tactic. And this movie did a great job of that but lost me in the final 3rd of it.
I know people will compare this to lost in the words ala Blair Witch, but BWP was much, much more effective is being genuinely scary and using the forest as a scare tactic. And this movie did a great job of that but lost me in the final 3rd of it.
Fair enough, I can understand this.
Worked the opposite for me, this became one of my favourite horror films after the final third.
Curious, are there any horror films you like that show their monster off a lot that you think work better?
Compare Alien to Aliens. Two great uses of showing little of the monster and a ton of the monster. Both perfect in execution.
Cloverfield is another example (probably more suited comparison for this movie) that nails the perfect amount of time you see the creature and still fear the fuck out of it.
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I seen the trailer at the cinema and it really didn't do anything for me but going off the buzz I've heard around it I'll need to check it out.
Is it up on UK Netflix?
Is it up on UK Netflix?
Gotcha, and I agree they're excellent examples.
I'm just in love with the monster in this film I guess, I think the way they framed it made the exposure work (fire in the background, light through the trees, its silhouette rearing up). Had they shown us too much actual detail it wouldn't have worked, but even when we got a full view it was still a mess of shapes with little flashes of what these shapes were (the mess of limbs and maws).
It kind of reminded me of the monster from Zygote in that respect, although they showed more in that short the monster had a similar feel. You're looking at it trying to make out what it really is, and as you discover little details you realize how truly horrifying the monster is.
Not currently, but you can rent it for under a fiver on Amazon UK.
Good if you are judging it by horror movie standards. It had some unsettling moments, built tension and was well shot. I agree with the whole monster design being very unique and creepy.
Thought the dialogue was sub par and it never convinced me to really care if anything bad happened to the characters.
6.5/10
Thought the dialogue was sub par and it never convinced me to really care if anything bad happened to the characters.
6.5/10
I saw this last night, enjoyed it, although being a British person who lives in Sweden and loves all creepy things associated with forests and nature I was always going to enjoy it. I agree with everyone who says this was so much better than the Blair Witch reboot, and that the best scene was the night at the abandoned cabin. I think they revealed a bit too much toward the end (not in the sense of showing the monster but rather by explaining what was going on I think the film lost a little bit of its creepiness) but that's just nitpicking on my part, it was a good film.
Just finished this, thought it was pretty solid. Atmosphere was ace although not as scary as I was expecting.
The cultists reminded me of RE4 haha
The cultists reminded me of RE4 haha
The setting would make for a great resevil game tbh. With the monster being the stalker type thing.
Hell the monster elevated the movie for me. I hate the 'its all in his head' trope.
Watched it yesterday, actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I liked the bit with the monster being
Since it had trickster aspects and kept fucking with peoples' heads. It took me a bit to get over the main guy being the smartass kid who worked with Shaun at the TV shop in Shaun of the Dead.
A child of Loki
Since it had trickster aspects and kept fucking with peoples' heads. It took me a bit to get over the main guy being the smartass kid who worked with Shaun at the TV shop in Shaun of the Dead.
that monster was fucking CRAZY. who designed that? best monster design in ages. terrifying. anytime it
it strode a line between awe inspiring/beautiful and terrifying--exactly right for a supposed god.
cradled someone's head in its hands/mandibles, a pose eerily adoring, maternal, but also malevolent,
