Pacino and Stevens confront evil in "The Ritual's" harrowing tale

The Ritual, set to premiere in 2025, marks a new addition to the horror movie genre, featuring Al Pacino and Dan Stevens. Pacino's role is particularly unexpected, given his rare appearances in horror films.

This movie explores the lives of two priests with contrasting dilemmas. Dan Stevens portrays a priest grappling with his faith, while Al Pacino plays his counterpart, who faces a troubled past. They unite for a dangerous mission to save a young woman through a series of exorcisms.

The premise is inspired by the real-life story of Emma Schmidt, also known as Anna Ecklund, whose 1928 exorcism is one of the most well-documented cases in American history.

Although The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund, a British film released in 2016, also explored this story, it was a low-budget project. The Ritual is poised to be the first major, high-quality cinematic treatment of Ecklund's tale.

The cast includes Ben Foster, Ashley Greene, and Abigail Cowen. David Midell directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Enrico Natale.

For Pacino, this represents only his second foray into the horror genre. His first was his iconic role in The Devil's Advocate (1997) alongside Keanu Reeves. The Ritual promises an authentic horror experience.

With its 2025 release, The Ritual shares its name with a 2017 horror film available on Netflix, though the two movies are unrelated. The latter adopts a Monster Movie narrative.