History Film / TheRitual

* TheTrickster: [[spoiler: The creature is this, being able to induce hallucinations of anything that people want (or don't want) to see, which lends some credence to the claim that she really is a child of Loki.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Luke manages to get out of the forest alive and burns down the village sacrificing people to the monster for good measure, and it's implied that he makes peace with the guilt he feels over Robert's death. However, he's the only one who made it out alive due to Phil, Hutch and Dom and the monster is also still very much alive in the forest. Though given it seems trapped in the woods and Luke despite being wounded and alone was still able to injure it with a mundane weapon, if the authorities investigate the circumstances the woods and the monster could soon be destroyed.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Luke manages to get out of the forest alive and burns down the village sacrificing people to the monster for good measure, and it's implied that he makes peace with the guilt he feels over Robert's death. However, he's the only one who made it out alive due to Phil, Hutch and Dom having been killed by the monster and may very well be feeling guilt over their deaths. The monster is also still very much alive in the forest.]]

* WhamLine: Luke and Dom's heated exchange about halfway through the film. Luke says to Dom that the group "wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Dom responds with "no, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for *you*!" implying that Luke's failure to act in the liquor store resulted in Rob's death.

* TheTheTitle

* SurvivorsGuilt: Once the monster starts imparting nightmares and visions onto the group, Luke's guilt over somehow not stopping the robbery that Robert died in comes to the surface, even though all he was armed with was a bottle of vodka versus a violent man's extremely sharp machete.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Luke manages to get out of the forest alive and burns down the village sacrificing people to the monster for good measure, and it's implied that he makes peace with the guilt he feels over Robert's death. However, he's the only one who made it out alive due to Phil, Hutch and Dom having been killed by the monster. The monster is also still very much alive in the forest.]]

* ReligionOfEvil: [[spoilers: The villagers worship the monster, said to be a child of the Norse god Loki. Said worship involves sacrificing innocent people to the monster in exchange for immortality.]] Sounds like a fairly evil faith, no?

* TooDumbToLive: If Robert had simply given his wedding ring to the robbers in the liquor store, he wouldn't have had his throat cut.

* SurvivorsGuilt: After Luke fails to assist Robert during the robbery, he is plagued by nightmares that stem from his guilt. By the end of the film, he's likely feeling much worse.

* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler: Luke burns down a room containing moving mummified corpses, killing the mummified villagers.]]

* GenreSavvy: Upon the group first entering the cabin, one of them says "This is definitely the house we get murdered in."

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Luke manages to get out of the forest alive and burns down the village sacrificing people to the monster for good measure. However, he's the only one who made it out alive due to Phil, Hutch and Dom having been killed by the monster. The monster is also still very much alive. Considering that the trek was due to honouring their friend Robert, who was killed in a liquor robbery that Luke feels utter guilt for, he's likely feeling much worse by the end.]]

* AnimalisticAbomination: The thing that lives in the woods [[spoiler: possesses a shape not unlike a gigantic elk. However, she also has what appears to be a headless human torso for a skull with human arms coming from where its legs would be, antlers sprouting form where its arms would be and a vaguely human-like head hidden in the shadows within a shroud where the torso's crouch is. When she rises on her hindlegs, she also reveals a second pair of human-like hands near her hips. She can also make people hallucinate just by being in the area.]]

Former college friends Luke, Phil, Hutch, and Dom go backpacking in the Swedish wilderness to honor Robert, who was killed in a liquor store robbery. However, after Dom sprains his leg, the four decide to take a shortcut through the woods. When they discover an elk hanging gutted from a tree, they begin to believe there may be more than bears in this forest…

* ShortcutsMakeLongDelays: After Dom twists his knee, Hutch suggests leaving the trail and cutting through the woods to get to the lodge quicker. Luke protests, but is overridden by the others. This decision kicks off the entire film.

* LovecraftLite: Ostensibly, WordOfGod says that the creature was inspired by [[spoiler: Yhoundeh; The Elk Goddess, purported wife of Nylarthotep.]], [[spoiler: Shub-Niggurath; Black Goat of the woods]] or some combination of the two.

* AdaptationalAbomination: [[spoiler: Jottuns are normally not portrayed in the way this film are portrayed (see AnimalisticAbomination).

* FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter: [[spoiler:The monster spends most of her time walk on all fours like an animal; however, near the end, she stands bipedally in a distinctly human fashion]].