The Ritual ending explained: What was actually hunting the group of four friends?

Gods may not always be what we usually imagine them to be. Sometimes, they can be dark and demand things that we should call ungodly in nature. They might not be a human-like figure wearing a calm smile with bright light surrounding them but more like a giant deer with four legs and a couple of hands coming out from where the ears are supposed to be.

This is the same creature that's chasing the four friends in David Bruckner's 2017 movie, The Ritual. The creature Moder is a jötunn, a creature straight out of Norse mythology. He is also an offspring of Loki. If you still think of the God of Mischief from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (God of Stories now), then know that the Tom Hiddleston character was based upon this Norse God, who is the real deal.

By the end of this gut-wrenching film, only one of the four friends survives. And the way this survivor screams after escaping shows his powerlessness as both the creature and the survivor stare at each other.

Moder demands human sacrifice from the cult

The film is about five friends, Phil (Arsher Ali), Dom (Sam Troughton), Hutch (Robert James-Collier), Luke (Rafe Spall), and Rob (Paul Reid). However, the film's beginning sees some robbers robbing Rob of his life, which is the reason the remaining four friends go for a hike in a jungle in Sweden; something they all planned to do together.

However, this is a death trap they are walking into, as they'll find The Ritual's strange creature lurking there. Two of the friends die horrible deaths in similar ways. Now the remaining two survivors are knocked unconscious and find themselves in a community living there.

This is where the viewers learn that The Ritual's creature demands human sacrifice from them. In exchange, the creature grants them immortality. Now they are both being held captive and Dom is the chosen one for the sacrifice.

How did the creature kill Luke's friends in The Ritual?

The creature can induce hallucinations in The Ritual. (Image via The Imaginarium)

The creature appears to be hunting these guys for sport; maybe that's a worthy opponent for Predators. It would be a worthy duel. Anyway, Hutch is the first one to fall from the group. While spending a night in their tents, they are confronted by this ungodly entity, who drags Hutch away. The three friends are unable to find him but eventually do; impaled on a tree. What's more frightening is that this dead body's cold eyes appear to be looking straight through them.

Next comes Phil, who dies in a similar way. Thankfully, this happens at night so they don't have to see another one of their friends looking through them with his cold eyes from his lifeless body. Now Dom and Luke are the only ones left and it's time for the ritual that the cult follows. Having captured Dom and Luke, they decide to put Dom out as bait, or a human sacrifice—call it whatever you want—for their 'God.' For god’s sake!

Moder also possesses this power to make people hallucinate. And while he is restrained, he sees his wife approaching him, caressing his cheeks, only to find that it's the creature doing that, and it kills him.

Luke is the last survivor of all and somehow manages to escape. A chase ensues between Moder and him in the final moments of The Ritual, where the latter manages to get outside of the jungle and finds himself on a highway with a rising sun.

As Moder is a creature of darkness, he cannot come out in the sun, so he stares and growls at Luke, who screams in pain, showing his anger and powerlessness as he couldn't and cannot do anything about what he just went through.

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