The Ritual
XYZ Films | Release Date: June 6, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
33
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
0
Mixed:
7
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
Original-CinThom ErnstJun 6, 2025
For all its proclamations of authenticity, The Ritual feels no more grounded than a message from a Ouija board. And that, perhaps, is the real possession at work here: truth, struggling to be a spectacle. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comCraig D. LindseyJun 6, 2025
Ritual cuts a lot of corners on screen and in the story. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 4, 2025
Despite moments of unintentional humor, “The Ritual” has an appealing gravity about it, which probably derives from its adherence to the historical record. Read full review
45
The Daily BeastNick SchagerJun 5, 2025
It’s not improbability that dooms this Al Pacino-headlined genre throwaway but a crushing lack of originality and a form that makes its clichés even harder to swallow. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubJacob OllerJun 3, 2025
The Ritual just becomes a bad possession movie that’s not pulling off its hokey scares, rather than a bad possession movie unable to fulfill its more down-to-earth ambitions. Read full review
40
EmpireHelen O'HaraMay 30, 2025
This attempts to unite period drama and demonic possession, but feels tired and overworked on both counts. Read full review
40
The GuardianLeslie FelperinMay 29, 2025
At least Pacino doesn’t seem to be taking any of it seriously as he phones in an uncharacteristically low-volume performance whose most distinguishing feature is the Mitteleuropean accent that makes him sound as if he’s reprising his performance as Shylock from The Merchant of Venice. Read full review
30
The New York TimesGlenn KennyJun 5, 2025
Topping it all off is a deliberately shaky and agitated shooting and cutting style that heightens nothing. Just watch “The Exorcist” again. Read full review
30
Little White LiesBillie WalkerJun 3, 2025
With its insistence on truth even as it strays from the historical accounts it hinges on, The Ritual fails to scare, entertain or convert. Even though the seasoned professionals attached manage to hold their own, Pacino and Stevens can’t save The Ritual from itself. Read full review
30
ColliderShawn Van HornJun 3, 2025
Outside of a few creepy images, The Ritual is not even remotely scary. Read full review
25
IndieWireChristian ZilkoJun 4, 2025
For a film that treats historical realism as a primary selling point, The Ritual has no real grounds on which to assert that it’s less fantastical than any of the better exorcism movies out there. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineMark HansonJun 3, 2025
Like any number of Exorcist wannabes, David Midell’s film is a special kind of hell. Read full review
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