The Good Friends of Jackson Elias, Podcast Episode 130: The Ritual (audio product)

Episode 130 – The Good Friends undergo The Ritual

We’re back and we’re lost in the woods. There seem to be some familiar landmarks, however. If we look to the left, there’s The Blair Witch Project. Over there on the right is The Wicker Man. And sneaking up behind us is just about every rural horror film made. What, if anything, makes The Ritualstand out in this landscape?

The Ritual is a 2017 British horror film, based on the 2011 novel by Adam Nevill. We decided to discuss it because it follows on nicely from our episode about survival horror. The book especially is a great example of the genre, combining isolation, a hostile environment, dwindling resources and an unkillable threat. The dynamic of a group of friends who disagree about everything also appealed to us for some reason.

As ever, we offer an overview of the film, picking it apart as we go, then tear deeper into the remains to see what we can scavenge for our games. We also do something a little different this time, comparing the film to Nevill’s original novel.

We all know people who complain about film adaptations, with their rambling rants about how the book was better. It’s irritating. Any film based on a novel has to change and simplify elements to better fit the new medium. An adaptation does not replace the book and merely offers a fresh perspective. Still, it’s interesting to compare the two, looking at what is different and the impact of these changes. So we do. And we complain a bit because we are flawed and complex human beings. Consistency is for insects.

The show may contain occasional swearing and is thus NSFW.