The Ritual 2017

"The Ritual" is another title listed as "A Netflix Film". I find I'm watching a lot less on Netflix, primarily because it's becoming difficult to find any content on the service that previously played in the theaters. Much of Netflix's content is branded as their own. This is probably because it's more expensive to enter into contracts to stream content from other studios or networks. It's evolving into just another CBS or Disney. The only difference is the Internet is their primary method of delivery (for now). It's interesting that my cable TV service now provides a Netflix app on my cable box. It confuses the business model.

The time is coming when everyone "cord-cutting" won't have cable or satellite TV bills anymore, instead, they'll be paying a dozen individual streaming services for their original content.

I already see people thinking they're geniuses by signing up for trial periods to binge watch something on Hulu or CBS All Access or something. Eventually, those extended trial periods will be shortened or the services will start offering only the first five episodes of a TV series or maybe five free movies. They'll hook you, then you'll be asked to pay. These companies aren't stupid. Enjoy while you can. Binge for today.

So why did I get on my soapbox in the previous paragraphs? Because it's tougher to find something I want to see on Netflix. I don't log into Netflix to find something I've not heard of. I go there specifically looking for something. In the case of "The Ritual", I settled because I couldn't find any of the Horror movies I wanted to see. I clicked on "The Ritual" out of frustration. Do other people just settle for what Netflix offers? Is it their only option? The service is so popular that I'll assume that I must be the exception.

But finally, about "The Ritual". It was one of the better Netflix branded movies I've seen (which aren't many).

The movie is suspenseful, the characters are likable and the thing-in-the-woods is certainly creative and menacing. There was plenty of frustration which turned into conflict which morphed into desperation and finally, bravery. But somehow, another story of one man conquering his own personal demons at the expense of others fell flat.

I have mixed emotions about this one; about 66% in, I was ready to write a full-on great review about this...and then it ended and I was left with that awful feeling of, "That's it?" In all honesty, this was a great little find on Netflix and I really enjoyed it. More than just another "A group of friends get lost in the woods on a hike" film, this actually had a neat little storyline to go along with it. I use the term "go along with it" because the weird twist was, in a sense, what the movie was all about and yet you didn't realize it until right at the end of the film. While I love a good blood-and-guts splatter film occasionally, I still enjoy the weird, spooky mind-benders and this one fell into that category. You knew something was going on...and you knew something was behind what this group of friends were dealing with... you just didn't know for sure WHAT it was, or if it was real or imagined. All in all, I found this to be a really good film that can fall into the "horror" genre without actually being "horrific". It was creepy but didn't have the cheap jump scares that so many have. It had a really dark feel to it almost from the beginning and sadly, the ONLY reason I can't give this a higher rating is because the ending was so horribly abrupt and so...well, just completely detached from the entire rest of the story. No spoilers here: just watch it for yourself and see if you agree. It might work (the ending, that is) for some folks but it left me really wanting a more definite conclusion. If it weren't for such a disappointing ending, I would strongly consider watching this one again; it was that good throughout, but man, that finish just didn't work at all. Too bad, because the rest of this was an excellent film.