The Ritual

Sweden, a country filled with happy naked people, who loves to dance on the streets and paint flowers on houses. Sweden have a lot to offer, no matter what you enjoy doing. You might have heard mostly about cities like Stockholm, Gothenburgh or perhaps Malmö ? But i do belive that many people love to visit the northern part of Sweden. Why is that ? Well, there are many reasons. But to be honest, The North Of Sweden is known for 4 things, that most foreign people have not thought about.

# The Northern Swedish people belive that VHS Video is the latest trend, wash their clothes in lakes and eat rotten fish ( surströmming )

# Here they don´t like to use cell phones, instead they use walkies talkies, just in case an alien invasion will happen. 

# During mating season, real men show other men how you do " The Stefan Sauk Drilling ". I have not seen this myself, but i hear it is very " effective ".

# Everyone who lives in The North Of Sweden, own a copy of Jason Donovan´s classic vinyl album Ten Good Reasons from 1989. This is considered to be the greatest album made of all universe by people who lives here.

There you go, i bet you did not know all of this about The North Of Sweden ? Well there is more to know, if you really want to visit here. There are a lot of great forest areas, mountain hiking trails, and a lot of fishing waters as well. You can also go skiing, or ice swimming ? We even have our very own Elvis Presley up here known as Eilert Pilarm. I believe most people got a different view on The North Of Sweden from the 1996 film known as Jägarna ( The Hunters ). Actually a really good Swedish film, about a police officer ( Rolf Lassgård, who you might have seen in A Man Called Ove ) from Stockholm, who goes home to Norrland to investigate a crime. A film i suggest you should see, if you want to get a glimpse of how life can be up here. The sequel Jägarna 2 ( The Hunter´s 2 ) was surprisingly good, where actor Rolf Lassgård returned to Norrland again, this time to go up against Peter Stormare. Swedish horror films are not seen very often. This is such a shame, because with the right director and with a good cast, i do belive we could have a Swedsih horror film that could actually work. Only a few are worth mentioning, like the Swedish horror film Psalm 21. Released in 2010, this was at least a positive attempt to make a horror film with a religious theme. Since then there have been a few films that have tried to go into this genre, but without a lot of success. Until when i heard about a British horror film called The Ritual last year, that would take place in The North Of Sweden. The trailer looked great, and then i heard that the film was going to be released by Netflix. I have been impressed by Netflix productions in the past, so of course i had to see if The Ritual would deliver something delightful. Could the film The Ritual be the best British horror film for many years, or is this a film they should have thrown down over the mountains of Northern Sweden ?

A group of British friends, Luke ( Rafe Spall ), Phil ( Arsher Ali ), Hutch ( Robert James-Collier ) and Dom ( Sam Troughton ) all decide to go to Sweden and go hiking, far up in the North. Ever since they lost their friend Robert ( Paul Reid ) in a store robbery, they want to make sure this journey is dedicated in the memory of him. Luke feels very guilty, that he could not save his friend, while watching him die. Still, he tries to focus on their journey. As the group take a short cut through the woods, they come across strange markings, and a very old cabin. The hiking journey is about to change, in a completely different direction.

It is of course a great pleasure to see a horror movie that takes place in my home country. I knew that we have some crazy bastards in the woods, but that they would be this insane makes it even more fun. The mixture of horror influences presented here in The Ritual reminds me of Evil Dead and the British classic film Dog Soldiers. Both of these films takes place in different cabins where all hell breaks loose, and it does here as well in The Ritual. The idea to combine Nordic folklore history with horror influences is a really good idea, and the creature we get to see later on looks very creepy, and interesting. I will not reveal much more, just in case you plan to see the film. The cast of The Ritual works surprisingly good, Actor Rafe Spall ( known for his performance as Millburn in Prometheus ), is one of the main characters known as Luke. You can really feel sympathy for him, knowing he could not save his friend in the store robbery. Should he have attacked, or did he do the right thing ? This is hard to know, because what do you do against armed criminals ? The journey to Sweden clearly affect him personally, and you can tell that by his performance as Luke. The rest of the cast, also does a good job. Actor Sam Troughton as the complaining character Dom, give the film a bit more funny moments. Maybe because he is annoying at times, but it fits with the concept of the hiking theme. The cinematography by Andrew Shulkind looks gorgeous, and he have managed to capture the majestic nature of the northern part of Sweden. The mysterious symbols that these hiking lads finds in the woods, including the dead animal ripped apart in the trees, looks very gruesome and effective. And the atmosphere surrounding the old house and the odd objects hanging around, is also a nice touch. Director David Bruckner have directed horror films before, especially on the projects of V/H/S and Southbound, but The Ritual is his real big step into showing his talent as a horror director. He have done a really good job with this film, and have managed to combine classic horror influences with some surprises. I will say i am disappointed with the end, because it felt too easy. But i will say The Ritual is a horror film worth watching, especially if you want to see what Lasse Stefanz fans really are in real life ( they are just as crazy as the forest people ). One thing is for sure, i will not be going hiking for a very long time.

Rating: DDD