'The Ritual': Exorcism With No Pyrotechnics But Lots of Prayer (& Pacino)

Written by Father Vince Kuna | Jun 4, 2025 4:00:00 PM

The name of the latest exorcism-horror film, The Ritual, suggests something rote in its title, that the story will feature repeated religious action geared toward a liberating outcome -- but maybe without the pyrotechnics of 2023's The Pope's Exorcist.

The film, hitting theaters nationwide on June 6, is based on an extensively documented, real-life, protracted exorcism case which took place in Iowa in the late 1920s.

Here's an excerpt of a TIME Magazine story about the incident, from 1936.

In 1928, a certain 40-year-old woman was taken first to a church, then to a Franciscan convent in Earling, Iowa. Apparently an energumen, she had exhibited symptoms of diabolical possession for a dozen years: she could not pray, take communion or even pronounce the name of Christ.

Doctors had examined her, found her neither mentally nor physically abnormal. With the approval of the Bishop of Des Moines, the woman was made ready for exorcism by learned Father Theophilus, who upon 19 prior occasions had successfully made use of the Church's ancient rite, canonically available to all priests, for casting out devils.

However, contrary to some reports, this isn't the case that inspired William Peter Blatty's 1970s novel and screenplay for The Exorcist. That case involved a teenage boy in Maryland and St. Louis in 1949.

The Truth of Exorcism

To director David Midell's credit, he has fashioned a realistic exorcism film that respects Catholic belief and practice. Most other exorcism films spend much of the story vacillating between the question of whether anything demonic is possessing the victim or whether strange occurrences can be explained rationally.

The Ritual bucks conventional storytelling of the genre by making it absolutely clear from an opening scene, where Bishop Edwards (Patrick Fabian) gives approval for the exorcism. The rest of the next one-and-a-half hours will be an exorcist team praying the same prayers repeatedly until the young woman, Emma Schmidt (Abigail Cowen) is freed from demonic possession.

So, it’s an appropriately exhausting movie, with scenes of purposefully repeated beats. There’re only a few ways to increase the efficacy of the prayers, which the film also gets right.

The Question of Distractions

Early on, Father Joseph Steiger (Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame) and Sister Rose (Ashley Greene) exchange a pleasant greeting. It’s a brief encounter that doesn’t indicate anything untoward has happened between the two, but the viewer gets a sense the unspoken chemistry will be a distraction when it comes time to pray the exorcism.

Among the many spiritual fruits of a vow of chastity, one would be the efficacy of sacramental prayers, exorcism included. For the prayers to work, a person needs to be “locked in” and praying with an undivided heart.

What can be said of the spiritual world can be observed in the natural world as well. If exorcism is a spiritual battle best fought by celibate Catholics, there have been celibate (sometimes temporary) fighting forces throughout world history, including the Swiss Guard (no longer an absolute requirement for the current Swiss Guards serving at the Vatican).

The Question of Belief

Another more obvious factor in rendering a successful exorcism lies in the level of belief of the designated priest or priests assigned the possession case.

Father Theophilus Riesinger (Al Pacino), an elderly, wizened Capuchin Franciscan priest, arrives in full habit and a disheveled head of hair seemingly electrocuted by a lifetime of serving in the field. To continue the military analogy of spiritual warfare, we get a sense that he’s sent as part of the special forces acting in surgical fashion: arrive, pray, and depart with mission completed.

What complicates matters is that the younger Fr. Joseph Steiger has been conscripted from the local church to assist in the exorcism. He represents the rank-and-file frontline foot soldier who knows life in the day-to-day trenches of running a parish, but may never have encountered the unique case of a possession.

Thus, it’s a spiritual team divided against itself. Religious order priest Fr. Riesinger is convinced of his professional exorcism vocation, while Fr. Joseph isn’t quite so sure.

It's Never Quick or Easy

As the number of prayed rituals pile up, Fr. Joseph progresses in his moral life and sincerity of belief. And yet, the possession stubbornly holds. So, even if the team functions as a cohesive and efficient unit, spiritual warfare remains a hard-fought battle.

The team members must keep praying the rite and have in the back of their heads that they’re invoking Jesus, along with the saints who live forever and never gave up during their life on Earth.

Contrast that with the devil, who, while the most formidable adversary one can face, gave up. Satan and some of the other angels were presented with an eternity in Heaven, yet chose rebellion. They were forced to fall to Earth unwillingly to be subject to Jesus.

An exorcism (or prayers of deliverance of the non-ordained Christian) invites the believer to keep praying the same authorized prayers over and over for as long as it takes. In the tersest of ways: “Be chaste. Believe. Stick to the ritual.”

Catholic actress Patricia Heaton also appears, as the convent's Mother Superior.

Worthy, But Not for the Whole Family

While The Ritual isn't as over-the-top and sensationalistic as some exorcism films, it is intense and definitely only for mature teens and up (as of this writing, it hasn't gotten an official rating yet, but it might wind up with an R -- or PG-13, at minimum).

And, even if Catholic parents allow their teens to watch, a family discussion about the reality of demonic activity and the efficacy of prayer is likely warranted.

Image: XYZ Films

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