30 Best Movies Like The Ritual You Need to Watch
If you liked the scary and character-driven horror movie The Ritual, we have you covered. In this article, we are bringing you the best movies like The Ritual you can watch right now. So, if you liked the settings of the movie, the scary aspects and its characters, the movies below are great for you.
A group of college friends meets to go hiking together in the Swedish mountains. When they find themselves in a dense forest along the way, someone’s menacing presence will begin to haunt them.
Check out the movies like The Ritual below and choose your next scary watch.
Apostle (2018)
In 1905, a man travels to a remote island in search of his missing sister who has been kidnapped by a mysterious religious cult.
The Cabin In The Woods (2011)
Several friends, two of whom are girls and three guys with a camper, are going for an exciting weekend in a cabin on the lake. Whether they like it or not, they will discover the terrible secret that this secluded cabin hides.
The Unholy (2021)
A young hearing-impaired girl, after allegedly being visited by the Virgin Mary, inexplicably suddenly can hear, speak and heal the sick. As rumors spread about her and people come from far and wide to witness the miracles, a disgraced reporter (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) arrives in this small New England village to investigate the unusual happenings in hopes of reviving his career. When terrible things begin to happen, he begins to wonder if these phenomena are the work of the Virgin Mary or something much more sinister.
The Hallow (2015)
A family that has swapped the hustle and bustle of London for life in a remote Irish village is drawn into a relentless life-and-death struggle with a cruel creature that has lived in the forest since ancient times.
In the Tall Grass (2019)
When siblings Becky and Cal hear the cries of a young boy lost within a field of tall grass, they venture in to rescue him, only to become ensnared by a sinister force that quickly disorients and separates them. Cut off from the world and unable to escape the field’s tightening grip, they soon discover that the only thing worse than getting lost is being found.
The Shrine (2010)
After a young American backpacker goes missing in Europe, a group of journalists link his disappearance to a remote village in Poland. They travel there hoping to get the story, but as they unravel the secrets behind this mysterious village, they are suddenly pursued by hostile locals.
Unable to escape, they soon become the next victims of ritualistic human sacrifice. Forced into the gruesome reality of true survival horror, the journalists soon discover that this village hides a much darker secret than they could ever imagine.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch play father and son, Tony and Austin, who work as pathologists. The story takes place in the morgue, where they deliver the body of an unknown, beautiful young girl, who inexplicably ended up at the scene of multiple murders. Without any visible clues or evidence that could point to the reason for the death, the father and son resolutely go in search of any evidence.
Eli (2019)
The film follows a boy with a rare autoimmune disease who is taken by his parents to a private medical facility to be cured and suddenly begins to experience paranormal occurrences.
Willow Creek (2013)
One of the true mavericks of American independent cinema now looks to the shadows of the forest and the Bigfoot myth to fashion this fascinating addition to the found-footage horror genre.
The Witch (2015)
The critically and audience-acclaimed feature debut of director and screenwriter Robert Eggers takes us to seventeenth-century New England, where we meet a family of seven that has been beset by a terrifying curse.
The Descent (2005)
After surviving a terrible car accident, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) and her friend Beth (Alex Reid) are persuaded by their friend Juno (Natalie Mendoza), who left Britain in a hurry after Sarah’s accident, to come and join her in the US on a caving expedition.
Three friends, together with Juna’s new acquaintance, embark on a speleological expedition, which turns into a nightmare after stones fall at the entrance to the cave, for which they do not have a map, and they only have food for a few days. As the tension between the girls grows, they face another danger: a being that loves darkness and blood equally.
Creep (2014)
Aaron answers an online ad and goes to a stranger’s house to film him for a day. A man wants to make a film for his unborn child, but his demands become more bizarre by the day.
The Forest (2016)
A young American woman goes in search of her twin sister who has mysteriously disappeared. After discovering that her sister has headed to the infamous Aokigahara Forest, Sara, with the help of a guide (and journalist) Aiden, and despite warnings to stay away from the place, enters the forest determined to uncover the truth about her twin’s fate, facing angry and tormented to the souls of the dead who stalk everyone who wanders the forest.
A Lonely Place To Die (2011)
While hiking and climbing in the Scottish Highlands, a group of five mountaineers discovers a young Serbian girl buried in a small chamber. In the attempt to get the girl to safety, they become caught up in a terrifying game of cat and mouse with the kidnappers.
Lights Out (2016)
A terrifying being that only appears when the lights go out returns to Rebecca’s life. During her childhood she was stalked from the dark, and now the target is her younger brother, who experiences disturbing, equally inexplicable events that drive him mad. Rebbeca must discover the truth about the unknown being in order to save her brother.
Devil’s Pass (2013)
The story follows a group of students who investigate the true life mystery of nine Russian skiers who died under unexplained circumstances while climbing the Russian mountains in 1959. To this day, their deaths remain one of the most bizarre unsolved mysteries of the 20th century.
Hereditary (2018)
After the death of Ellen Graham, her family begins to uncover terrifying secrets about their origins. The more they discover, the more they strive to avoid the sinister fate they have inherited. This horror sensation by director and screenwriter Ari Aster won over critics at the Sundance Film Festival.
Mama (2013)
For five long years, Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica Chastain), search for two sisters who got lost in the forest on the day of their mother’s death. But when, by some miracle, the children are found alive in a ruined cabin, the couple wonders if the girls are the only guests they have hosted in their house?
Are the sisters experiencing post-traumatic stress, or are some other inexplicable phenomena occurring? How did the girls survive all those years?
Bird Box (2018)
The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where we meet Malorie Hayes and two children trying to cross a river in a boat, all blindfolded. Five years ago, supernatural creatures were found on Earth, and if people look at them, their mere presence will drive them to madness and suicide. The only way to survive is blindfolded.
Evil Dead (2013)
Five 20-year-olds are imprisoned in a secluded cabin. When they find an ancient book of the dead, they attract hidden demons from the nearby forest with it, who in turn haunt them while one of them remains untouched, fighting for his life.
The Wicker Man (1973)
Police officer Howie (Edward Woodward) goes to Scotland to the secluded island of Sumerisle in search of a missing girl. He is a believer and discovers that the inhabitants have abandoned Christianity and accepted the Celtic pagan cult. Despite all the hardships, the residents mostly retaliate against him in the investigation and claim that the girl never existed.
Midsommar (2019)
Visionary director Ari Aster, known for the suspenseful horror Hereditary, has transformed the popular Scandinavian tradition of Midsommar into a fear-soaked cinematic tale where the dark horrors unfold entirely in broad daylight.
Dani and Christian are a young American couple whose relationship is on the verge of breaking up. But after a family tragedy keeps them together, Dani joins Christian and his friends on a trip to an isolated Swedish village for an unusual summer solstice festival and celebration that only happens once every 90 years.
- RELATED: 35 Scariest Movies Like Midsommar
What begins as a carefree summer vacation in the land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the inhabitants of the island invite their guests to participate in festivities that make this shepherd’s paradise increasingly terrifying and disturbing.
The Evil Dead (1981)
The plot involves five young people on vacation: Ash (Bruce Campbell), his girlfriend Linda (Betsy Barker), their colleagues Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss), Scott (Hal Delrich) and Shelly (Sarah York). Unplanned, they stop by an abandoned mountain hut surrounded by an impassable forest. Before settling in for the night, they discover a book similar to the ancient ones, full of obscure hieroglyphs and ghostly illustrations, as well as a dagger made of human bones and an audio recording.
In the video, the professor of archeology describes the content of the Sumerian “Book of the Dead” full of spells with which otherworldly demons came to life and which then haunted the living. It goes on to state that possessed persons can only be stopped by dismembering them completely. When they play the tape later, the recorded translation of the ritual spells terrifies the clairvoyant Shelly and simultaneously unleashes evil from the forest. Evil spirits throw themselves into their work with pleasure
Blair Witch (2016)
The story follows James Donahue, a young man whose sister has disappeared without a trace while investigating the real truth about the Blair Witch. In order to finally find out what really happened to his sister, James and a small group of brave explorers head deep into the dark heart of the Black Hills forest.
As Above, So Below (2014)
Thousands upon thousands of kilometers of catacombs stretch beneath the streets of Paris. When a group of archaeologists comes across unknown bones, they accidentally discover the secret of the City of the Dead. The journey through the darkness of the catacombs will take them to the most hidden corners of the human mind.
Dark Was The Night (2014)
After a logging company destroys part of a nearby forest, Paul Shields, the grieving sheriff of Maiden Woods, begins to investigate the unusual occurrences, but believes it to be an unsavory prank. Six months earlier, the sheriff lost his older son and is plagued by guilt. As the investigation progresses, he faces his own demons and uncovers the truth behind the folklore.
The Possession (2012)
Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) see no cause for alarm when their youngest daughter Em becomes strangely obsessed with an antique wooden box bought at a yard sale. But as Emma’s behavior grows increasingly strange, the pair discover that the box harbors dark and terrifying secrets, and that the demon that inhabits it is powerful and ready to destroy its human host.
Antlers (2021)
Adaptation of the short story ‘The Quiet Boy’ by writer Nick Antosco about a small-town teacher who, together with her brother, the local sheriff, discovers that one of her students is hiding a dangerous secret with terrifying consequences. The producer of the film is Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro.
Relic (2020)
When elderly mother Edna inexplicably disappears, her daughter Kay and granddaughter Sam rush to their dilapidated family farmhouse to find traces of her advancing dementia scattered around the house in her absence.
After Edna turns up in the same mysterious way she disappeared, Kay’s concern that her mother seems unwilling or unable to say where she’s been, clashes with Sam’s unbridled enthusiasm for her grandmother’s return. As Edna’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, they both begin to sense that an insidious presence in the house may be taking control of her.
The Perfection (2018)
When troubled musical prodigy Charlotte seeks out Elizabeth, the new star pupil of her former school, the encounter sends both musicians down a sinister path with shocking consequences.
