The British horror movie The Ritual is arguably much better than the book it's based on. The movie, which was released on Netflix in 2018, was directed by David Bruckner, and written by Joe Barton. The book, which was published in 2011 and has the same title, was written by Adam Nevill. The movie version has generally the same plot points as the book - up until the second half, at least - but various changes that the filmmakers made to the source material were welcome and ultimately made for a better version of the story.
The overall plot of the Netflix original movie centers on four friends - Phil (Arsher Ali), Dom (Sam Troughton), Hutch (Robert James-Collier), and Luke (Rafe Spall) - who reunite for a camping trip along the Kungsleden in the Scandinavian woods, sixth months after the tragic murder of their friend Rob (Paul Reid). When Dom injures his knee, the friends decide to take a short cut through the forest instead of following the long trail around it. They end up stumbling across ancient forest land in the woods, where ancient evil spirits stalk and terrorize them.
The movie is creepy and builds up slowly, making viewers sit on the edges of their seats. Its cinematography and score strike a balance that's dark and haunting; both elements were praised by critics upon the movie's release. What's more, the four friends in the movie are relatable characters; it's easy for viewers to picture themselves in their shoes, encountering terrifying things as they traipse through the woods. The book the movie was based on, however, did not do as good of a job conveying the same horror and darkness. Of course, it couldn't use imagery and music to do so, which were arguably two of the biggest reasons The Ritual's movie adaptation edged out its source material.
In the movie, an ancient Norse villain - the Jötunn - hunts down the four friends one by one, brutally killing them. In the second half of the movie, there's two characters left standing: Luke and Dom. After fleeing for their lives, they are held hostage by a group of apparent devil worshippers. The people in the community torture Dom and sacrifice him to the Jötunn, leaving Luke the last man standing. After a series of thrilling and terrifying events, Luke ultimately escapes his confinement, and finds a road outside of the forest to take him back to civilization.
In the book version of The Ritual, there is also a protagonist who is left as the last man standing, but events transpire differently. In the book, after running from a monster for days, he finds himself held hostage not by Satanists, but by a death metal band consisting of teenagers. It turns out they were waiting for him to show up so that they could sacrifice him and summon a monster from the forest. When this part of the story comes about, there's an instant shift in tone, with everything becoming less and less scary. Plus, it's confusing to be introduced to a slew of new characters so far into the novel.
Overall, the movie adaptation of The Ritual is better than the original story written by Adam Nevill. The first half builds up slowly and successfully, and the second half is incredibly scary, leaving viewers on-edge until the very last shot. Once the second half of the book comes around, meanwhile, the story goes off the rails. What's more, not only did the movie have a creepier tone throughout the story, it had better characters. In the book, meanwhile, the friends are less relatable; they have distracting side stories and it's harder for readers to picture themselves in their shoes.