‘The Ritual’ Film Theories: Explanations, Themes, and Meaning

I have a bad habit of using this site to write only about movies I liked. I’m breaking that habit today.

The Ritual wasn’t just OK — it was pretty bad. And as of this writing, the critics appear to agree with me. The film has a 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s bad even by horror movie standards.

Still, even bad movies can have deeper themes, hidden meanings, etc. So I decided to give this one a shot.

Here are my theories about The Ritual.

Screenshot from “The Ritual” trailer.

Top Theories About the Meaning and Themes of ‘The Ritual’ (2025)

1. Faith as a Battle with the Self

Theory: The exorcism is a metaphor for the inner demons each priest must confront, with the possessed individual serving as a mirror for their own guilt, doubt, and trauma.

• Why It Fits:
  • Rather than depicting faith as a stable institution, the film positions it as something volatile and deeply personal. The “ritual” becomes less about saving another soul and more about reclaiming their own sense of purpose and belief.
• Key Moments:
  • The priest in crisis seeing aspects of himself in the possessed.
  • Confessional-style dialogues that reveal more about the priests than the demon.
  • The exorcism scenes triggering flashbacks or emotional breakdowns.
  • A moment where the demon taunts them with secrets only they know — exposing internal wounds.

2. The Exorcism as Repressed Trauma

Theory: The possession is symbolic of repressed trauma — not just within the possessed person, but within both priests. The film suggests healing requires not spiritual domination, but facing buried pain.

• Why It Fits:
  • Horror often externalizes the internal, and demonic possession is a classic vessel for trauma personified. The ritual is dangerous not just spiritually, but emotionally, because it forces confrontation with things left unspoken.
• Key Moments:
  • One priest breaking down during the ritual, not from fear but from personal recollection.
  • A moment when the demon shifts personas, taking on the voices or faces of people from the priests’ pasts.
  • A temporary halting of the ritual because of emotional overwhelm.
  • The final act blurring reality and memory — suggesting this is as much about memory as evil.

3. Religious Duality: Doctrine vs. Experience

Theory: The film contrasts institutional religion (rules, hierarchy, ritual) with personal spirituality (faith born through experience), questioning which has more power against true darkness.

• Why It Fits:
  • With two priests from seemingly different backgrounds and personal journeys, the film sets up a tension between rigid doctrine and lived faith. The exorcism becomes a battleground not only for a soul but for opposing worldviews.
• Key Moments:
  • Conflicts between the priests on how to conduct the ritual.
  • One relying on texts and liturgy, the other on instinct or emotional appeal.
  • A key moment where formal ritual fails and only personal connection makes progress.
  • A climactic gesture or prayer that comes from the heart, not the book.

4. Evil as Inherited, Not Invited

Theory: The possession is not caused by a mistake or sin, but is the result of generational cycles — inherited guilt, silence, or violence that has passed down and taken root.

• Why It Fits:
  • This theory reframes the possession as systemic rather than individual — challenging the notion that evil only enters when we “let it.” Instead, it suggests it’s always been there, embedded in history and family.
• Key Moments:
  • The possessed person having no clear cause of possession.
  • Revelations that both priests share elements of the same past (e.g. same abusive mentor, same failed mission).
  • Flashbacks to the priests’ youth, suggesting that the “demon” is a legacy.
  • A line implying, “It was always going to be you” or “This has happened before.”

5. Ritual as Transformation, Not Just Salvation

Theory: The film’s title, The Ritual, hints that the exorcism is not only about banishing evil but about transforming the participants. The ritual becomes an alchemical process — burning away falsehood to reveal truth.

• Why It Fits:
  • Rituals in horror often symbolize thresholds: the space between life and death, doubt and belief, fear and acceptance. The danger of the ritual is not that it might fail — but that it might work and change the priests forever.
• Key Moments:
  • A physical or emotional change in the priests during the ritual (e.g. shaking, speaking in tongues, collapsing).
  • A moment where one priest finishes a line the other begins — suggesting a shared, transcendent understanding.
  • Post-exorcism silence or awe that suggests something irreversible occurred.
  • A final visual — blood, ash, light — symbolizing rebirth rather than simple victory.

Key Themes in ‘The Ritual’

The Weight of Vocation

The film explores how religious calling is both a duty and a burden. Both priests carry the psychological toll of their spiritual roles, showing how faith-based professions demand sacrifice, isolation, and an ongoing confrontation with existential doubt.

Masculinity and Emotional Repression

By centering on two male priests with deeply buried personal struggles, the film subtly critiques traditional masculinity — particularly the tendency to suppress vulnerability, fear, and grief in favor of stoic control, even in the face of spiritual terror.

Silence and the Unspoken

Much of the tension in The Ritual emerges from what isn’t said — between the priests, about their pasts, and even within the possessed. The film uses silence and restraint to underline how the unspoken often holds the most power.

Time, Memory, and Ritual Repetition

The ritual itself is framed as an act repeated across generations, suggesting that time may be circular rather than linear. This theme highlights how unresolved histories continue to replay themselves in spiritual, emotional, and even supernatural ways.

Truth Hidden Within Structure

The film questions whether ancient rituals — with their rigid structure and dogmatic form — are truly about divine power or if they merely mask human truths waiting to be exposed. It asks whether we use ritual to access deeper reality or to avoid it.

Plot Summary

• Year Released: 2025
• Director: David Midell
• Writer: David Midell and Enrico Natale

Two Catholic priests — one struggling with his faith, the other haunted by a buried past — are brought together to perform a high-stakes exorcism. As the ritual unfolds, tensions rise between them, exposing emotional wounds, long-held secrets, and spiritual doubts. The exorcism forces both men to confront not just the entity possessing their subject, but the demons within themselves, revealing that salvation may come at the cost of personal transformation.

Movies with Similar Themes to ‘The Ritual’

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The Exorcist (1973)

A young girl’s possession challenges a priest grappling with his own loss of faith, blending spiritual horror with personal reckoning.

—> Watch The Exorcist online.

First Reformed (2017)

A tormented pastor undergoes a slow unraveling as he confronts despair, environmental collapse, and the limits of his belief system.

—> Watch First Reformed online.

Calvary (2014)

A priest in a rural Irish town is told he will be murdered in one week, leading him through a soul-searching journey filled with guilt, forgiveness, and moral ambiguity.

—> Watch Calvary online.

Saint Maud (2019)

A devout hospice nurse becomes obsessed with saving a dying patient’s soul, blurring the line between religious ecstasy and psychological breakdown.

—> Watch Saint Maud online.

The Seventh Seal (1957)

A disillusioned knight returns from the Crusades to find a land ravaged by plague and spiritual emptiness, playing a symbolic game of chess with Death.

—> Watch The Seventh Seal online.

The Apostle (1997)

After a violent outburst, a fallen preacher tries to reinvent himself and continue his ministry, confronting personal demons along the way.

—> Watch The Apostle online.

Silence (2016)

Jesuit missionaries in 17th-century Japan face torture, loss, and doubt as they witness the collapse of faith under brutal persecution.

—> Watch Silence online.

The Night House (2020)

A grieving widow uncovers disturbing secrets about her husband, exploring themes of grief, duality, and the spiritual void beneath the surface of loss.

—> Watch The Night House online.

Have Your Own ‘The Ritual’ Theory?

The movie was pretty bad, but writing down my theories about The Ritual wasn’t SO bad.

Still, I don’t think I’ll be watching this one again. One and done.

What about you? Do you disagree with me? Did I miss something that might make me like this film better?

Let me know in the comments.

😱