Overview

• The Ritual premiered on June 6, 2025, depicting the 1928 possession of Emma Schmidt in Iowa through a mix of historical photographs and period settings.
• Al Pacino stars as veteran exorcist Father Theophilus Riesinger and Dan Stevens plays skeptical priest Joseph Steiger in David Midell’s direction.
• Critics praised Pacino’s restrained performance and the film’s commitment to documented accounts but described the overall tone as drab and lacking scares.
• Abigail Cowen portrays Schmidt’s physical and psychological turmoil in scenes that emphasize character impact over traditional horror effects.
• Believers regard the real-life Emma Schmidt exorcism as one of the most thoroughly documented American possession cases.