The Ritual

How Adam Nevill's Folk Horror Masterpiece reveals both internal and external monsters Few novels blend psychological horror, ancient folklore, and biting social commentary as seamlessly as Adam Nevill’s The Ritual (2011). What begins as a tense survival story about four friends lost in the Scandinavian wilderness soon spirals into a harrowing confrontation with an ancient evil—and the crumbling facades of modern masculinity.
With its claustrophobic forests, grotesque pagan horrors, and searing critique of male friendship, The Ritual has become a defining work of contemporary folk horror. This article explores the novel’s themes, its terrifying mythology, and why its 2017 Netflix adaptation only scratched the surface of its darkness.

1. The Plot: When the Woods Decide You’re Prey
Luke, Hutch, Phil, and Dom, four college buddies, get together for a hike in rural Sweden. Their relationship is tense even before they take a "shortcut" through an unnaturally dense forest, strained by adulthood and unspoken resentments. Soon, they find:
A gutted animal hanging from the trees.
Antlers and bones adorn the crumbling temple. Something stalking them—something that doesn’t just kill, but ritualizes its violence.
As the group fractures under fear and guilt, Luke becomes the reluctant protagonist, forced to confront both the monster in the woods and the failures of his past.
2. Themes: The Real Horror Isn’t the Monster
A. The Crisis of Masculinity
The four men embody different archetypes of failing masculinity:
Luke: The underachiever, paralyzed by self-loathing.
Hutch: The would-be leader, whose competence cracks under pressure.
Dom and Phil: The complacent conformists, clinging to nostalgia.
Their dynamic demonstrates the destructive effects of unprocessed resentment and toxic nostalgia on male friendships. B. Nature as an Active Antagonist
The forest isn’t just a setting—it’s a sentient, malevolent force. Nevill’s descriptions of the "old growth" evoke something primordial and hungry:
The trees did not merely observe. They judged.”
C. Modernity vs. Primal Horror
The men’s reliance on phones, maps, and rationalism crumbles against the forest’s ancient rules. Their terror stems from realizing how fragile civilization truly is.
3. The Creature: A God of Punishment
The Jötunn
The entity stalking them is implied to be a bastardized Norse deity—a Jötunn (giant) warped by centuries of pagan worship into something far worse. Its appearances are fleeting but horrifying:
A towering, emaciated figure with limbs too long for its body.
A face stretched like bark, with black pits for eyes.
A voice like creaking branches, whispering threats in dead languages.
The Cult
Luke discovers that the monster is not alone in the novel's third act. A black metal-inspired cult venerates it, offering sacrifices to maintain its slumber. Their brutality mirrors the men’s earlier pettiness—just amplified to grotesque extremes.
4. The Movie of 2017: What It Changed and Didn't Do The Netflix adaptation by David Bruckner is good, but it is very different: Novel Element Film The Creature A decaying god with dialogue A silent, more bestial monster
The Cult Central, with deep lore Minimized to a few scenes
Luke’s Arc Focus on his self-destructive guilt More action-hero survivalist
The film's visuals are strong, with memorable creature design, but the novel's psychological depth is unparalleled.

5. Why The Ritual Still Haunts Folk Horror
A. It Predates the Folk Horror Revival
Nevill was digging into the darkest veins of the genre prior to Midsommar (2019) and The Witch (2015). B. Its Critique Resonates Today
The men’s fragility feels even more relevant in an era of male loneliness epidemics and reactionary nostalgia.
C. The Ultimate Campfire Tale
Like The Blair Witch Project, it taps into the universal fear of being hunted in the wild—but with a mythological weight that lingers.

The Woods Were Always Waiting
The Ritual isn’t just about a monster. It’s about the rituals men perform to avoid facing themselves—and how the past always demands payment. In Nevill's words: “Some forests are older than guilt. Some gods are hungrier than shame.