The Ritual is a 2017 British supernatural psychological folk horror film directed by David Bruckner and written by Joe Barton.

Based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Adam Nevill, the film stars Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, and Sam Troughton as four friends on a hiking trip through a Swedish old-growth forest, where they encounter an ancient evil presence.

Following its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September, The Ritual was released by eOne in the United Kingdom on 13 October.

They find necklaces bearing similar symbols and an effigy of a decapitated human torso made of twigs, with antlers for hands.

As they continue hiking, they find an abandoned tent overgrown in foliage, with a backpack and wallet that has a credit card that expired in 1984.

Amidst the ritual, Dom hallucinates his wife emerging from the forest, only to realize it is the creature as it picks him up and impales him on a nearby tree.

A young woman explains to Luke that the creature is the giant deer-like jötunn "Moder", an ancient god-like entity and offspring of Loki that grants the cult immortality in exchange for sacrifices.

Armed with a torch, Luke finds a congregation of mummified worshipers that begin to move and sets them alight, burning the cabin, and attracting Moder.

The website's critical consensus states: "Director David Bruckner makes evocative use of the Scandinavian setting and a dedicated cast to deliver a handsome — if familiar — horror story.

[8] Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times praised the film and said that it was "Efficient and highly effective in its style, relying on sound, creepy production design, and the men's own fear and misjudgments to create the sense of pervasive doom.

"[10] Kyle Kohner of The Playlist gave the film a negative review, saying "David Bruckner had all the ingredients for a horror masterpiece - deceptively scenic wilderness shots, great character camaraderie, dreadful atmosphere/setting- but The Ritual winds up a missed opportunity.