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The horror film The Ritual, starring Al Pacino, Dan Stevens, and Ashley Greene, received negative reviews from critics before its release in theaters on June 6, 2025, in the United States. The horror film was directed by David Midell, who also wrote the script with Enrico Natale.
The synopsis of the film, as per the XYZ Films website, reads:
"Two priests, one questioning his faith and one reckoning with a troubled past, must put aside their differences to perform a difficult and dangerous exorcism."
According to Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator website, The Ritual scored a 0% rating based on 38 reviews from critics so far. The score suggests that the movie has performed badly in almost all aspects. The performances of the established actors, such as Stevens and Al Pacino, were just not enough for the movie to earn any positive feedback from the critics.
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Another review aggregator site, Metacritic, gave the film a "generally unfavourable" score of 31 based on 10 reviews from critics so far. While the users are yet to share their opinion, the reviews from critics have not been kind to Al Pacino and his latest film, The Ritual.
What are the critics saying about Al Pacino's The Ritual?
Some of the prominent critics gave negative feedback to the horror film The Ritual, starring Al Pacino. A top critic, Glenn Kenny from The New York Times, was short and harsh with his review, suggesting that the audience should simply rewatch the old classic horror film The Exorcist, a film that portrays the same case.
"Just watch 'The Exorcist' again."
Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting called the horror film "boring" and also suggested the film failed to bring out any emotion.
"The 'based on a true story' horror movie fails to evoke any emotion as it sleepwalks through a tired recreation of an exorcism movie’s third act, committing the ultimate cardinal sin in cinema: it’s boring."
Another top critic, Jake Wilson from the Sydney Morning Herald, criticized the camerawork. He also felt like the actors did not belong in a horror film.
"The handheld camerawork is somewhat jarring in a period piece, but the bigger problem is that none of the actors seem to belong."
Frank Scheck, from the Hollywood Reporter, felt like the movie was a repeat of many others from the horror genre.
"Stop me if you’ve heard this one before... No, I mean it, stop me."
These comments highlight how even Al Pacino could not save The Ritual, which falls short in almost all components that make a film worth watching. To be criticized by top critics for aspects such as camera work for a modern-day movie can turn out to be highly unfavourable for its box office projections.
The horror film The Ritual is currently available in theaters for interested viewers in the United States. The film follows the same case as the one shown in the 1973 film titled The Exorcist. Many reviews could not help but compare the two against each other, with The Ritual mainly focusing on the exorcism part of the case.
Stay tuned with us for further updates.
