Experience the most documented exorcism in history at home on Digital NOW
Altitude has announced that the real life exorcism horror, The Ritual, is available to watch at home now on digital platforms. After a wide theatrical release on 30th May, the film will now be available to watch at home.
Based on True Events. The harrowing true story of the exorcism of Emma Schmidt, and the two priests who went to war with Satan to save her soul.


The Ritual stars Academy Award-winner Al Pacino (The Godfather trilogy), and Dan Stevens (Abigail), with Ashley Greene (The Twilight Saga) and Abigail Cowen (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) rounding out the cast. The film was directed by David Midell (The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain), who co-wrote the film with Enrico Natale (Catalyst).
Using extensive notes taken at the time by Father Steiger, portrayed by Dan Stevens, The Ritual is a faithful and terrifying depiction of the case of Emma Schmidt (Abigail Cowen), also known as Anna Ecklund. With her first episode having been documented at age fourteen, Emma Schmidt’s alleged decades of demonic possession culminated in a series of exorcisms in 1928. Her case was taken on by Father Theophilus Riesinger, portrayed in the film by Academy Award-winner Al Pacino.


The production was filmed in a real parish. The local priest, Father Aaron Williams, consulted about exorcisms and the struggles of witnessing such rituals, as well as the effects on the individuals being afflicted.
Watch The Ritual now on Altitude.film and other digital platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon, Rakuten, and Virgin TV
Visit Altitude.film for more information.
More Film Reviews
Secrets of a Woman’s Prison 2 (1968) Film Review – Brutality Behind Bars
Despite being one of Japan’s biggest film studios throughout the late 40s and 50s during the golden age of Japanese cinema, Daiei was struggling by the mid-60s and had to…
Iconic (2024) Film Review – A Grungy Take on a Glossy Lifestyle
Iconic is one of those films that looks great on paper: A slick, high-concept piece on the dangers of influencer culture, our tech-saturated reality, and the blurred line between online…
Masking Threshold (2021) Film Review – Madness up Close
Dealing with an abnormal form of tinnitus, a young IT worker begins a series of experiments to figure out the abnormal nature of his condition. Bringing various objects into his…
An Taibhse (2024) Film Review – I Don’t Think We’re Alone Now
There have been plenty of Irish horror flicks in the past, but John Farrelly’s latest film, Ah Taibhse (The Ghost) marks a first. Marketed as the first and only horror…
Wings of the Abyss (2025) Film Review – A Candid Glimpse into Japan’s Skating Counterculture
Wings of the Abyss is a 2025 Japanese crime thriller written and directed by Yuki Kobayashi. The director is known for the action thriller Kamikaze Cowboy (2015), the comedy-drama Death…
The 6 Levels of Horror Comedy – What NOT to Watch
Comedy Horror From the Bottom Shelf Horror Comedy is the beloved sub-genre that brings to mind everything from self-aware zombies to murderous inanimate objects, and the volume of films in…
