Jakarta. David Midell’s “The Ritual”, a horror inspired by a true exorcism story, stars the acting legend Al Pacino. Despite having someone of Al Pacino’s caliber in the cast, “The Ritual” falters with a weak and tedious plot.

In “The Ritual”, two priests -- Theophilus Riesinger (Al Pacino) and Joseph Steiger (Dan Stevens) -- have to overcome their differences to perform a risky exorcism on a troubled young woman, Emma Schmidt (Abigail Cowen). Father Joseph struggles to cope with his brother’s passing and disapproves of Father Riesinger’s risky methods. 

Watching “The Ritual” feels like when you have to stick to a long-term medication regimen. You will see the days pass by as the priests seek to cast the demons out of Schmidt, but this exorcism really never comes to an end. Despite the escalations in the horror as the days go by, “The Ritual” fails to scare its audience. There are no jump scares, although some exorcism scenes can turn your stomach. 

Father Joseph is the protagonist. Even though the film makes an attempt to explore his grief, “The Ritual” still loses touch with the audience -- most likely due to the weak script, credited to David Midell and Enrico Natale. The weak script also affects Al Pacino’s performance, as there are times when his scenes feel flat.

“The Ritual” tries to get creative with the camerawork with the shaky, unstable camera effect -- possibly to create suspense. It would sometimes zoom in on the characters. However, its use of zooms reminded me of the popular mockumentary sitcom “The Office”, which is definitely not a good thing, as horror movies are supposed to evoke fear. 

With almost everything lackluster, not even Al Pacino can save the film. 

“The Ritual” is now out in Indonesian theaters.

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