By RICKY J. DUARTE
Directed by David Midell
Written by David Midell and Enrico Natale
Starring Al Pacino, Dan Stevens & Abigail Cowen
XYZ Films
In the late 1940s, a 14-year-old boy, known publicly by the alias “Roland Doe,” was the unfortunate subject of a famously documented series of exorcisms performed by one Father William Bowderm. This case, one of the few modern examples of exorcism of demonic forces officially documented by the Catholic Church, has become commonly known as the main inspiration behind William Peter Blatty’s diabolical 1971 novel THE EXORCIST, and then the untouchable 1973 film adaptation.
Another famously documented case of demonic possession, that of Emma Schmidt (a.k.a. Anna Ecklund), also apparently served as inspiration for Blatty’s tale, albeit less so than that of Roland Doe’s. Schmidt underwent exorcisms for literal decades of her troubled life, throughout which she was continuously accused of being mentally ill and purposely contriving the events that would occur. Until her death, there remained doubt that she was ever really overtaken by demonic forces.
This case has been adapted for the screen in THE RITUAL by writer/director David Midell and co-scripter Enrico Natale. Touted proudly in ads as “The true story that inspired THE EXORCIST,” the film condenses decades into mere weeks, straying far from the “true events” upon which it’s based while simultaneously refusing to allow itself to become outlandish enough to be interesting. This middling, messy, distractingly shaky-cammed, run-of-the-mill possession movie misses the opportunity to explore new facets of the exorcism subgenre in favor of tired tropes and sequences we’ve seen before…and done better.
In the film, Father Joseph Steiger (Dan Stevens), grieving the loss of his brother, is charged at his parish with a young woman (Schmidt, played by Abigail Cowen) who has undergone a series of exorcisms in an attempt to quell her unholy behavior. Led by Father Theophilus Riesinger (Al Pacino), and assisted by a slew of practically nameless, bewimpled ninnies–I mean “nuns”–our heroes must band together to face the forces of hell and save the soul of this poor young girl…and maybe learn a bit about themselves along the way.
The choice to make Father Steiger the central character is the film’s first fumble (followed by the casting of Stevens, who stumbles through an American accent while quite literally standing in the corner, merely watching the bulk of the film’s events rather than participating in them). Here we have an opportunity to explore a woman accused of being mentally ill and fabricating a demonic possession in the late 1920s–an angle no possession film has rightly yet taken advantage of–and we’re saddled with yet another cishet white man coming to terms with the fact that he may not have all the answers. Poor fella. Acting as his mentor, Pacino’s Father Riesinger is given little to do besides ferociously recite the sacred text and offer the occasional winking reminder that God works in mysterious ways in a vague Old Country accent.
As poor, possessed Emma, Cowen does what’s asked of her, clearly working harder than everyone around her and somehow pulling off the film’s only memorable or noteworthy moments. The fact that THE RITUAL is not scary is no fault of hers. She does impressive work with the light (or lack thereof) behind Emma’s eyes as she slips in and out of what appear to be multiple demonic personas. Unfortunately, the script restrains her performance tighter than those ropes tying Emma to the bed.
The biggest missed opportunity is in completely wasting Patricia Heaton’s Mother Superior, whose brief declaration that she’s been doing what men have told her to do her entire life comes off as a preachy attempt to make a relevant 2025-worthy statement rather than insight upon which the film might have accomplished some sort of perspective. The character (and her struggle against the patriarchy) is immediately sidelined in favor of Father Steiger’s spiritual journey from whiny boy to whiny man.
That’s the problem: The film repeatedly tells us rather than shows us any sort of development. From a rushed and clumsily edited doctor’s examination of Emma to a suddenly horny nun, there’s no subtlety or realism in dialogue, tone or tension. Fifteen minutes into the film we’re already tossed into the first of…seven exorcisms? Eight? One loses count (and so do the subtitle cards numbering them). Each underwhelming rite ends as abruptly as it begins, and long before anything too interesting occurs. These setpieces add nothing new or even remotely shocking to the common tropes of the subgenre, and their frequency throughout shatters any hope of suspense or tension. By the time we reach the final ritual, we’re ready to shout, “Amen!” when Father Steiger cries, “This has to stop! I can’t take it anymore!”
Midell and Natale’s script moves simultaneously too quickly and too slowly, missing every opportunity to present a perspective and tossing out any hope for an insightful story in favor of a run-of-the-mill story. Why not explore the importance of believing women? Gender roles within the Catholic Church? Religious trauma? Misplaced faith? Why retread what’s already been done time and again by both perfect and poor example? Hell, why not try something really wild and tell Roland Doe’s story (though 2000’s made-for-Showtime POSSESSED is a passable, if silly, portrayal of that case)? Did we really need another movie about a young girl possessed by the devil?
While it may have been distributor strongarming and not the filmmakers that insisted upon tying the events in this film to those portrayed in THE EXORCIST, in doing so, they’ve damned themselves before the first frame flickers upon the screen. If you’ve made the comparison and delivered an underwhelming presentation of the “facts,” you deserve the crucifixion that’s coming your way. Here it is: To avoid pedantry, it can be conceded that THE EXORCIST accomplished everything an impactful possession story possibly can: a grieving, guilt-ridden priest losing his faith, a desperate mother turning to faith for the first time and the vulnerable, innocent child caught in the middle, whose soul is at risk of eternal damnation. Despite the film’s stance that the devil made her do it, Blatty’s novel’s approach to the subject matter successfully teeters between the possibilities that the events were due to mental illness/hysteria and good, old-fashioned supernatural forces. In 2025, that’s still more interesting than anything THE RITUAL has to offer.
