The Ritual (2025 film)

The Ritual is a 2025 American horror film directed by David Midell and written by Midell and Enrico Natale. Based on a true story, it follows priests Theophilus Riesinger (Al Pacino) and Joseph Steiger (Dan Stevens) as they attempt to put aside their differences to save an allegedly possessed young woman Emma Schmidt (Abigail Cowen) through a series of exorcisms. The film was released by XYZ Films on June 6, 2025, and received generally negative reviews from critics.

In 1928, in the quiet farming town of Earling, Iowa, a young woman named Emma Schmidt begins to suffer from terrifying and inexplicable phenomena. She's tormented by night terrors, violent outbursts, speaking in languages she doesn’t know, and an unnatural hatred toward anything sacred. Her family, devout Catholics, believes she’s possessed and seek help from the Church. Their desperate plea reaches Father Theophilus Riesinger, a seasoned German-American priest known for conducting rare, authorized exorcisms.

Riesinger travels to Iowa with a reluctant companion, Father Joseph Steiger, a younger priest with a crisis of belief. Steiger is skeptical of demonic possession, haunted by his brother’s recent suicide and disillusioned with the Church’s handling of mental illness. Yet when he meets Emma and witnesses her inexplicable actions, his skepticism begins to erode.

The exorcism takes place at a secluded convent. Riesinger requests strict conditions, silence from the nuns, locked doors, constant prayer. Emma is tied to a bed in a sparse upstairs room. As the ritual begins, the house seems to change, the temperature drops, the air thickens, and Emma convulses. She begins to speak in multiple voices, some mocking and vile, others eerily calm. The demons reveal themselves as ancient spirits, including Beelzebub, Judas Iscariot, and even Emma’s deceased father, a man who had abused her in life. The spirit of her aunt, rumored to have practiced witchcraft, also appears.

What starts as a one-night ritual turns into a harrowing 23-day ordeal. The exorcism is conducted in three major stages, each more violent and draining than the last. Emma vomits strange substances, levitates, and speaks in Latin, German, Spanish, and Aramaic. Her body contorts in impossible ways. The physical toll on both priests is immense—Steiger begins to break down, while Riesinger becomes obsessed, praying nonstop, barely eating or sleeping. Steiger also begins to confide in Emma during rare lucid moments and slowly finds renewed purpose in helping her.

During the final stage, which lasts for 72 continuous hours, Riesinger continues with intensity, while Steiger finally commits himself fully to the ritual. They demand the names of the spirits and force them to swear obedience to Christ. At the ritual's peak, Emma breaks free from her bindings, hovers above the bed, then crashes down, lifeless.

Then, she opens her eyes: the exorcism is complete. In the aftermath, Emma returns to a normal life, though whispers remain that the demons occasionally returned over the years. Riesinger, though victorious, appears deeply altered. Steiger, however, finds peace for the first time in years. He writes a journal detailing the event, unsure whether what he saw was divine or psychological, but certain that it changed him forever.

In July 2023, Al Pacino and Ben Foster signed on to star in the film.^[3] In January 2024, shooting commenced in Natchez, Mississippi.^[4] It was reported three months later that Foster had left the production, with Dan Stevens replacing him.^[5] The film is inspired by the 1935 book, Begone Satan!.^[6]

The Ritual was released in the United States by XYZ Films on June 6, 2025.^[7] It was originally scheduled to release on April 18, 2025.^[5] The film was first released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 30, 2025.^[8]

The film released on June 6, 2025, alongside Ballerina, The Life of Chuck, I Don't Understand You and Dangerous Animals and earned $527,118 in domestic sales and $1,812,891 internationally grossing $2,340,009 worldwide.^[9]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 9% of 67 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "The Ritual purportedly presents a real occult occurrence, but the most blasphemous thing about it may be wasting Al Pacino's talents on a clichéd story with uninspired execution."^[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 33 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.^[11]

Leslie Felperin of The Guardian awarded the film two stars out of five.^[12] Jacob Oller of The A.V. Club graded the film a C-.^[13] Shawn Van Horn of Collider rated the film a 3 out of 10.^[14] Mark Hanson of Slant Magazine awarded the film half a star out of four.^[15] Christian Zilko of IndieWire graded the film a D.^[16] Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting awarded the film one "skull" out of five.^[17] Craig D. Lindsey of RogerEbert.com awarded the film two stars out of four.^[18]

Joseph Holmes of Religion Unplugged rated the motive positively, noting that "One of the movie’s greatest strengths comes from its faithfulness to the exorcism formula."^[19] Movieguide lauded the film, stating that "The Ritual is well filmed".^[20] The Catholic Review praised the film for treating the topic of exorcism with reverence.^[21]

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review and wrote as the bottom line: "Been there, exorcised that."^[22]

Kyle Logan of ScreenAnarchy also gave the film a negative review, calling it "the kind of movie that's only going to be sought out by completionists in a couple years."^[23]

During a Q&A on Reddit, David Midell wrote "We definitely didn't make the film with critics in mind, we always knew it wouldn't be a favorite of theirs."^[24]

• Official website
• The Ritual at IMDb