User Reviews

For almost 90 minutes, the film follows a single man wandering in the woods, convinced something is stalking him. His paranoia leads him to kill both his children by mistake, in two different knife attacks.

And that's the whole film except for the supposed twist ending several reviews praised. So what was the twist? He was high on drugs that made him see things and get psychotic. The loving father we were supposed to feel sorry for turns into a crazed killer again, this time killing an innocent family, a mother and her two teen kids.

The problem is, we lost any sympathy for him once we saw him murder his second child "by mistake." The would be twist is not mind blowing at all. You feel cheated.

Just because people gave this film a low score doesn't mean they are incompetent. This film received a low score for a reason. I finished this film and I give it as such for couple of reasons. One is the story. it started off well where the main character with no memory is stuck in the forest. The tension in the first 30 minutes of the film was superb. Not knowing what's going to happen adds a great deal of mystery and suspense. I wish the writer or director would maintain the atmosphere throughout the movie. It died down as soon as the two kids were introduced. As the story progresses somewhere in the hour mark made it looked like it was ending when there was 20 minutes left in the film. I don't want to give too much off the story away but overall it didn't make any sense and the twist at the end was a cop out. No payoff whatsoever and I bet people who praised this film only because of the twist ending. I have to disagree because when your story does not have a definitive explanation as to why the events are happening or for what purpose then there's no reason why it shouldn't sense. I don't expect the film to spoon feed the audience but at least have a reasonable script. That goes double with the twist ending. In addition to this, there was a lot of plot holes. The acting was terrible. Even though the actors' native language is not English, there is no excuse for that. At least give some effort to the characters. On top of that the dialog was terrible as well. The special effects on the blood was decent nothing special. A negative point was the vomiting scene which was poorly made. The cgi was awful even for a low budget film. I've seen low budget films that didn't have poorly done special effects.The music was pretty good. There was ominous music though I wish they didn't overplay during the chase scenes. The first 30 minutes proved this by having silent moments to add the tension. Camera work was wonky at times. it didn't really bother me. Overall this film was a massive letdown. I was into the story for about 30 minutes of it. Although it went downhill after that I was still interested on how is it that the rest of the story turn out. About the hour mark is when I was disappointed and kind of mad. The twist would have worked if it makes sense but even if it did then what was the purpose of the events unfolding. I give this film a two out of five simply because I enjoyed the tension and mystery part of the film and I wasn't entirely bored throughout the film.

Modus Anomali aka. Ritual starts with a man waking up in the woods with no recollection about himself and his whereabouts. Gradually he pieces together his predicament with the help of a video camera and realises that he must find his two children all while battling people who are trying to kill him.

The premise, while not new is presented interestingly. We follow our protagonist and like him we as a viewer are also unaware of what is happening. The film invites us to piece the puzzle along with our protagonist and whatever we see onscreen is from his point-of-view, so when he realises that he has a family or his name is John, we realise that at that very instant. Dramatic irony is almost non-existent in the entire film.

The film doesn't follow a conventional narrative structure where you get a protagonist, an antagonist, a conflict and a confrontation in the end. We don't even know about John and how he got here and who the villain is? The entire film is like a chase scene between the victim and hunter, full of question with how and why. Due to this, it becomes heavily reliant on its climax to give the necessary resolution and tie things up neatly. The film, right from the commencement bets heavily on its climax but prevails only partly. While the twist at the end is genuinely good, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions in its wake. The way the plot progresses from second to third act is really weird and feels completely out-of-place and disconnected from the narrative. It's implied that some sort of drug is responsible but the way it's shown is lousy.

The entire story is set in a forest and is shot using natural lights which heightens the atmosphere and helps tremendously in ratcheting up the tension while also creating a suspenseful and moody atmosphere full of dread and gloom.

From the beginning to the end, we follow our protagonist, played by Rio Dewanto, and in nearly 75% of the scenes he is the only person on screen. While in physical tasks like running, fighting, jumping etcetera he excels, but being the only actor on the screen for almost the entirety of the film, his character also demands a lot of emotional stuff, and that's where he botches everything up. And it soon becomes a problem because the film contains very few dialogues and most of the scene demands acting without lines and in lot of places our lead needs to show his vulnerable side. Those scenes demanded subtle acting but Rio is really bad in those moments. Other cast members come and go for two or three scenes and they are stereotypically written and mediocrely performed.

This is the most different film in Joko Anwar's stellar filmography, and also his weakest. The way he chose to exhibit his story is excellent but falters in its rendering. He begins his film nicely but after a time, the film starts to lose its grip. It's not until the end of the film when the film gains some momentum. The mid-section feels really slow and lackadaisical. Withal, the moody atmosphere he created was top-notch.

Cinematography is awesome with some incredible use of handheld camera. Most of the film is shot in handheld mode which creates a sense of disorientation while long takes gives a sense of being trapped. Gunnar Nimpuno's camerawork is masterfully coherent and impeccably captures the setting and action.

Ritual is an interesting and fresh take on a done-to-death horror setting of being trapped in a jungle while being hunted. While the initial and final parts of the film are really tense, it's the mid-section that exhausts. Also, a lot of pending questions doesn't help its case. It is an impressively shot psychological thrill ride albeit you have to overlook its sundry flaws in order to enjoy the ride, which to be fair are exceedingly tough to ignore.

A very good movie. 10 stars for the idea/5 for the execution = 7 overall.

This movie best makes sense (to me, anyway) if viewed as a sort of allegory or Buddhist-infused meditation on the nature of human violence.

We don't know exactly why the events we witness are taking place, and it's not always clear how we should feel about the events either. And the last twenty minutes, frankly, actually deepen the mystery rather than explain it. The mild-mannered, confused and "hurt" human man we first encounter as he rises from "the grave" is, by the end, a being without feeling-- a man who robotically replicates the story for yet another "victim." Over the course of the movie, we see the desire to avenge his hurt lead him to, in turn, hurt himself and his remaining family members. He then becomes part of the cycle of violence (the "Ritual" or "Modus Anomali) before re-burying himself so that the "ritual" can continue.

In short, this is the rare horror movie with a philosophical or quasi-religious point of view. Worth a watch.