Old rituals is a picture about escaping from tradition and renouncing one's own roots. The story is presented in the convention of horror, and the setting is South America.
The main problem with the painting Old Rituals is that its plot structure is so simple that it might as well not be there. Of course, the film has a leitmotif, its development and ending, but most of the action focuses on endlessly looped visions, rituals and bloody exorcisms. The events usually take place in one room, where it is still dark. The characters don't talk much to each other, and when they do, the dialogues are simple and rather perfunctory. Such a form does not doom the image positioning itself in the broadly understood horror cinema to failure. The problem is that the film Dawn Rituals improperly manages the atmosphere and spends too much time celebrating the title rituals. Where the action should move forward and the film should serve the viewers with genre delicacies, practically nothing happens.
The story is about a journalist who returns to her native South American side. On the spot, Cristina is kidnapped by the shaman and her son, who claim that a powerful demon has possessed her. The exorcisms begin, during which the heroine also has to work through the trauma of the past, preventing her from returning to her roots and approaching family relationships honestly. That's basically enough for the plot of the Old Rituals. Unfortunately, the social context causes a certain dissonance. The dramatic issues are not fully elaborated on and, in a broader perspective, seem to be forced into a horror film. As if the creators necessarily wanted to give a deeper meaning to the dark events, finding their reference in ordinary life. Ultimately, it does not sound properly and seems rather unnecessary. The movie doesn't last long, and we participate in rituals most of the screen time. There is really little space for the exploration of moral motifs and this conciseness is felt. It would be better to give up such references altogether and use all the creative forces to refine the atmosphere and genre elements of the horror convention.
Rituals are always in the foreground, but due to our moral digressions, we are constantly thrown out of the claustrophobic atmosphere. The tension is not working properly - there is no feeling of hate or demonic terror. The film does not cause fear, but only discomfort caused by the pictorial representation of some rites. Pushing your fingers into your bowels and pulling your intestines out is always imaginative, but a few of these shocking moments don't build the mood of horror. For most of the action, we wade in the dark in the footsteps of the protagonist, listening to her moans and screams. We observe abstract visions that sometimes cause anxiety, other times cause weariness. The final act of the film offers us some twists and sets for the grand finale, in which the heroes come face to face with the demon. The ending is written according to Hollywood standards, which contrasts slightly with the earlier acts. Although they are not entirely well implemented, they cannot be denied a certain unconventionality in relation to the tendencies present in modern horror. All of this breaks down in the conclusion that neither the fictional volts nor the result of the
clash between good and evil.
Old rituals fail most where they should shine the most. The painting does not explore South American folklore in a way that is different from what we would not already know. The film uses beliefs, myths and folk rules, but they are not the essence of the story. This is not the driving force behind the plot. Here and there there are mysterious books, illegible notes or bizarre costumes of shamans, but this is only a flavor that does not give the whole unique character. Old Rituals is a story of exorcisms taking place in a dark room, not a story deeply rooted in South American culture about the power of ancient beliefs. Unfortunately, on this level, the failure of the film hurts the most.
