The Ritual
*** Major Spoilers Ahead!!! ***
This one is a bit of a cheat because I have watched this before, but it is one of my favorites and the best for quarantine horror. This movie scared me so much, because it was like a remade upgraded "Blair Witch Project." "The Descent" was as great as this movie, so I guess the poster tagline is correct.
In the beginning, when the four are casually drinking beer at a bar in London while making vacation plans, it looks like a normal beginning of a normal horror movie, the audience eagerly anticipating for something to happen.
It takes such an abrupt turn when one of the friends die, with the main character just cowardly hiding behind the aisle while his friend gets butchered to death, saving himself.
This sets the major tone throughout the movie, because it is such a powerful scene in the beginning.
This kind of introduction always gets me, because it is so mentally traumatizing and also horrifying to think about later on. It is very relatable to the audience also.
I liked watching this movie because it was the first movie I watched with my sister when she came from Michigan and became stuck in lockdown with us in California. I suggested it as I know I really liked this movie. It was my third time watching but it's such a good movie!
So anyways, the friends end up going to Sweden as his friend might have cursed the whole friend group, since they all end up dying, and it is so weird how anyone would want to go to Sweden since there is just cold and forests.
The part that really scared me was when the protagonist is in the sketchy cabin with the friends and start hallucinating the liquor store scene, where his friend died. This scene keeps popping up because the Loki's son or whatever is trying to get at his weakness. That scene was so terrorizing for me, because I would imagine that would be the closest thing to hell. Repeating that guilt in your mind must be the worst nightmare for me, and the director portrays this so well.
After watching this scene, I began to think that the protagonist was such a dick. However, is he really? I mean he was just trying to hide as a result of fight or flight, and doing the right thing by hiding. But his friend was right in front of him and he knocked over a glass, making the robbers notice the friend. The friend becomes the bait and eventually, the friend is killed. Does that still make it the protagonist's fault, or is it just the friend's? Even if it wasn't his fault, it would make anyone feel guilty for the rest of their lives. Even more so since the friends kind of thought that it was his fault not protecting the friend as he died. Since he came out with no scratches on him and didn't do anything to help him. What do you guys think?
Let's also talk about how cool the monster is. He is Jotunn, a Norse mythical creature. It looks like a deer mixed with some mythical animal, with an interesting dark face. It doesn't look too vicious because of the deer sparkly image, and it doesn't look tacky. It is still scary but also makes the creature mysterious and mythical. When I first saw it, I thought immediately, a centaur.The creature has many hands and it resembles a creature from a game. The concept artist apparently was the person who draws for Guillermo Del Toro (big time guy), such as Crimson Peak. The creature seems so vulnerable when the protagonist refuses to pray to him and stabs him, but also is terrifying when the friend dies to him, or he is chasing his friends throughout the whole movie.
I do not know why this part scared me the most. I feel like people would feel the same way watching the film. I feel like the scene with the friend praying to this creature in his sleep walking episode was very scary, especially because it was such a scary figure without a head. It kind of reminded me of "Hereditary" and the headless figures. The way the nice hot friend who always had everyone's back was gutted was so terrifying and gory also. His insides were all split and he died the most painful way. He seemed like the most useful one among the group too.
I do not really know much about Norse Mythology, but I do know about Odin and Loki and Thor just because they are in so many movies these days. It is interesting how they combined Blair Witch Project like vibes with Norse mythology, and this was really liked by the audience and critics. The movie was really cool and awesome because of these concepts, the storyline, and scary backstory. The cast was amazing as well with good acting. The main character did a pretty good job in this horror film for a Chick Flick actor.
I really liked this movie and I really recommend this during quarantine! You will probably be really scared and will be thinking about the film afterwards. It is a good film to watch with the whole family while satisfying your quarantine junk food cravings.
