Anna Daniels
When this Netflix exclusive dropped in 2017, it immediately garnered attention for its dark atmosphere, creepy imagery, and increasingly tense story progression. The Ritual begins with a convenience store robbery that results in the tragic death of Rob, a member of a close-knit group of friends who had been enjoying a seemingly ordinary night of fun just moments prior. To honor their deceased friend’s memory, the friend group takes a hiking trip to Sweden.
Almost immediately after beginning their trip, a member of the group becomes injured, and the friends decide to take a shortcut off the beaten path through the forest. The group travels through the forest, where they quickly encounter a gutted elk and human effigies, understandably putting them on edge. To make matters worse, when they awaken the following morning, they have strange marks on their bodies, suggesting that someone, or something, had visited them during the night. We won’t spoil the rest of the story for you, but The Ritual only gets stranger and scarier from there.
Written by: Looper
