By Brad Miner.

But first a note from Robert Royal: Where else are you going to enjoy the art, the film criticism, and the general goodguyness of the Compleat Gentleman, Bradford Miner? An eminence even among other eminences. You know what they all bring you day after day. Never fail. You don't want to fail them, do you? Dig deep into your soul's generosity. You're part of this Catholic Thing, too. Please show it with your tax-deductible contribution. This very day.

Now for today's column...

Although it was never my intention, I seem to have become The Catholic Thing's resident expert in exorcism, although only in the sense that I've reviewed five movies about the subject: The Rite (2011), The Conjuring 2 (2016), The Exorcist: Believer (2023), The Pope's Exorcist (2023), and now The Ritual (2025), which will be in theaters tomorrow.

Al Pacino stars in this story of the actual 1948 exorcism of Emma Schmidt; thus, the film is "based on true events." The promotion of the film refers to the Schmidt case as the "true story that inspired The Exorcist," a reference to William Friedkin's 1973 blockbuster, which is untrue. I suspect the movie poster below that asserts this was created by an art department unfamiliar with the facts.

The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty's novel and Friedkin's film - is based, loosely, on the 1949 case of the pseudonymous Roland Doe. The Ritual purports to be the story of Anna Ecklund (a pseudonym used until recently), who underwent exorcism in 1912 and then again in 1928. This was the real Emma Schmidt case.

And whereas the characters in The Exorcist are wholly fictional, several of those named in The Ritual were among those who undertook the exorcism of Miss Schmidt (played by Abigail Cowen), including Fr. Theophilus Riesinger (Pacino) and Fr. Joseph Steiger (Dan Stevens).

During the exorcism, the real Fr. Steiger took notes, which are the foundation on which director David Midell has constructed his film. That foundation is likely strong; the structure is transparently weak, and this is because Mr. Midell (and his co-screenwriter Enrico Natale) can't help but evoke Friedkin's The Exorcist, which they do poorly.

As in that earlier film, the younger priest, who may or may not be questioning his vocation, is tasked with taking on the exorcism of a young woman. He is skeptical and unfamiliar with the rite. His bishop reassures him: another "poor soul" will be the one in charge: Fr. Theophilus Riesinger, OFM. Cap.

The Capuchin Fr. Riesinger was a German immigrant, and his 1928 confrontation with Anna Schmidt's demons was not his first: he had tried in 1912 to help the girl in a failed exorcism when she was 30 (Miss Cowen is 27), but the events in the film portray the second exorcism, at which point Miss Schmidt was 46.

And Anna Schmidt comes into The Ritual without her fascinating, true backstory.

Viewers of The Exorcist will remember various scenes in which young Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) and her mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn), interact happily until Regan's behavior begins to change. There is a vector for demons: a Ouija Board. We see Regan acting out. There are hospital visits. We watch Chris's frustration lead to anger and despair. Only then, well into the film, do we meet Fathers Marin (Max von Sydow) and Karras (Jason Miller). And there's that score by Jack Nitzsche (with Mike Oldfield's tubular bells.) The Exorcist is plenty scary, but it's also big, bright, and generous.

The real Amma Schmidt was a Catholic woman, a Swiss immigrant, who manifested disturbing symptoms early in her life, including participation in "unspeakable sexual acts." Again, a vector for demons. But none of this is in The Ritual, which is small, dark, and stingy.

The film's era is set by a single shot of a vintage automobile in front of the church. There are several other brief scenes shot outdoors. But basically, the rest of the film is darkly lit within small rooms. A few scenes are inside a church, including a couple in wh...