I can't really write much about Ritual without giving away what I think is too much. I picked it from the Netflix queue and watched it more or less blindly, and was glad I didn't read any of the reviews about it or anything beforehand. I wouldn't say it's a must-see or anything like that, but if you are looking for a something unique that goes down pretty easily and doesn't require a ton of thought, I'd say to check it out. It's an Indonesian film (so it's a little different style-wise from what you usually get) but shot in English, but there isn't really a lot of dialogue anyways. It's not super gory but has its moments, and genre-wise has a little bit of stalker/home-invasion feel to it.
Okay, if you if that sounds like your bag, stop reading.
For real.
...
because we all like movies, and this one is better if you don't know what's happening.
Okay, here it goes.
Ritual is about a man named John Evans who wakes up buried alive in the woods with no recollection of how he got there. He wanders around a bit and doesn't see any easy escape, and eventually sees someone stalking him. He runs to a house and finds a video camera - when he presses play, he sees a woman killed by this same stalker. (She's pregnant I think, which seemed a bit uncalled for.) Upon further examination of the video tape, he sees that this woman was his wife, and he also has two kids that have gone missing. He ventures out into the woods and tries to get to the bottom of just what the heck is going on.
Now, that's not much of a plot. BUT - that's not really the point.
You see, Ritual the sort of movie that lives and dies based on its twist. The problem with these type of movies is that they are best enjoyed NOT knowing the twist is coming. It's always better to be blind-sided than wondering where it's coming from. I think knowing there's going to be a twist sort of neuters the film, you know? Ask M. Night Shyamalan...
Ritual is well shot and pretty stylish - in a sort of meandering way, if that makes sense. It builds tension by using a lot of drawn out shots - the camera work can be a bit shaky at times, but it adds a sort of immediacy to the film. It almost felt documentary-like at times. The score is pretty solid too - they get a really nice, discomforting effect from this droning atonal siren sound that is used again and again. And the natural environment was a nice change of pace - I've seen plenty of woods-based movies, but not a lot of Indonesian woods-based movies. While they don't look tropical by any means, you can tell that it's from a different climate. So it was a nice change of scenery, and helped add a little more uncertainty to the film.
And, if you are a fan of fake vomit, this movie has got you covered. It's the kind where they just put a hose behind the guys cheek and shoot it from the side. Here is really comes hard and fast. This happens twice! It made me laugh, at least.
One of the only jarring things about the movie is that it is shot in English, whereas it is clearly not an English-speaking production. Rio Dewanto just didn't look like a "John Evans" to me, you know? But there are a couple of times where it's actually detrimental to the movie - the dialogue sounds very unnatural coming from a couple of the characters. It's not too big of a deal since it's not a dialogue heavy film. I know it probably makes Ritual more marketable, but as a native English speaker it took me out of the film a little.
Overall, I quite liked Ritual. Writer-Director Joko Anwar has crafted a pretty unique film (both style and story-wise). You just kind of have to roll with it and there are some bumps along the way, but in the end I think it's worth it.
I would recommend this film.
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