User Reviews

III: THE RITUAL is a Russian indie horror story shot on the German border. It's about a village which has been afflicted by a supernatural plague, and when the protagonist's sister falls ill, she calls in the aid of a local priest to help out. Yep, it's THE EXORCIST played out once again, albeit on a tiny scale this time around and in a period setting. The film has a dull and depressing look to it, with lone, dirty characters swamped by isolated locations; very little happens, and it's entirely drawn out.

An unknown fatal disease has swept through an unnamed small medieval type town. It has claimed many of this towns inhabitants but notably the mother of sisters Aya (Davydova) and Mirra (Ignatushko) who seek solace in each other after their tragedy. Father Herman (Gagarin), who is a friend of the family tries to help where he can and bring them both some measure of comfort.

But Mirra seems to be shunning religion and questioning her own beliefs. When she herself falls ill and Aya is told to leave the village as doors are barred from the outside, she takes Mirra to the local priests house to seek help. Father Herman reassures her and says her sister can be saved but that the disease is in her mind. A shamanistic ritual to enter her subconscious can be done to try and save her. What Aya finds will test her and her own demons though.

When taking notes while watching films and then subsequently when writing the reviews, some just come to you easily, whether they be good or bad films in their own right. Other films are just so much harder to grasp and III: The Ritual falls into this latter category. There is so much I could say about it, yet I do not want to spoil anything or give too much away. The film has a style of its own and the subject matter seems to twist from one area to another until its real purpose is finally revealed as something completely different to what you thought it would be.

We are not told when the film is set, where or anything really. But this works in context to what you see as this really is a visually beautiful film to watch. Throughout watching I was curious as to where exactly it was set. Certainly I had my ideas and some were correct, but the language threw me off. This is a Russian film and the landscapes are quite literally breathtaking. There is some wonderful cinematography on show here. On the flip side to this film, nearly all town sequences were set in the stunning and beautiful Marburg in the Hessen region of Germany. This is a wonderful old-world fairy tale type of place and the location is used to its utmost advantage.

As well as the excellent photography, the soundtrack while odd and certainly different at times, fits the mood and atmosphere with such precision it is very impressive. Likewise, direction is very clever and the film contains some lovely dark and rich tones, while other scenes are dreary and washed out. All in all the whole film has been put together very well. Even more incredible when actors aside, less than ten people worked on this on an incredibly low budget. What they achieved is nothing short of remarkable, and this is a worthy inclusion in my 'what you can do with little money' list. Many a blockbuster should take note.

As for the film itself, this is one very confusing mess. By design or not, it certainly stays with you. Acting is also very good all round with no one looking out of place or seeming stilted. There are lots of subtle hints everywhere which only really become apparent at the films climax, which somewhat comes out of the blue and leaves you with an eerie and disturbed feeling. Script is a little weak and the film relies heavily on a narrated voice-over which may be to your liking or not.

There's really not much more to be said. A truly strange, well crafted, haunting film that came across to me while watching it as some kind of strange, menage-a-trios of Russel, Lynch and Carpenter that resulted in a hybrid love child. Russian films over the years can be very hit and miss, and they do have their own style, so if all that sounds weird enough for you and has peaked your interest, I urge you to go and find this interesting little title and see what you think.

The Sage's Rating: 6/10

III is the first film directed by Pavel Khvaleev. It was made on a very low budget with a crew of just eight people. The result this small team achieved is remarkable.

The script, which was written by Aleksandra Khvaleev, focuses upon two sisters Ayia (Polina Davdova) and Mirra (Lyubov Ignatushko). A mysterious epidemic is ravaging their rural village and the girls promise their dying mother they will look after each other. The village priest, a family friend, also promises the girl's mother to take care of them once she has gone. When Mirra falls ill with the disease, Ayia realises traditional remedies are not going to assist. Looking for an alternative way to help her sister, Ayia finds a shamanistic healing ritual in the priest's home. However, the mysterious ritual requires Ayia to enter deep into her sister's subconscious. Once there, she has to confront and resolve Mirra's innermost demons in order for healing to take place. With the help of the priest, Ayia makes a number of terrifying journeys into the sickness that is the landscape of Mirra's mind.

III is beautifully filmed. Great care and attention is taken to give the viewer a real sense of time and place. One becomes aware of the remoteness of the village, the bricks and mortar of the buildings, the scope and size of the settlement. This grounding in realism contrasts beautifully with the surreal landscape of Mirra's subconscious. Lighting is also used to contrast the differences between these external and internal vistas. Naturalistic lighting is used for the external world both sisters reside in, whereas a pink and/or sepia tint colours a great deal of Mirra's fear riddled subconscious.

However, horror resides in both worlds. As the story progresses, the attitude, of those running the village, changes towards people suffering from the epidemic. In Mirra's mind-scape, horror resides in both physical challenges to Ayia and within the structure of the landscape itself. Here, I thought the special effects were well managed. There is no reliance on CGI, instead the viewer sees physical performances and actual body make up. These elements, combined with the lighting, manage to create some creepy and uncomfortable moments. The only criticism I would make is that Mirra's demons weren't surprising – they felt somewhat routine and the last one was a no-brainer. Yet care had been taken to ensure they fitted logically within the narrative framework of the film. Although I felt vaguely disappointed there wasn't something more shocking and horrifying about Mirra's demons, the film's ending, plus what happens to Ayia, did mediate my disappointment. Suffice to say, I like the ending. It is chilling and a nice touch to end a horror movie on.

One of the reasons I liked the ending of III so much, was that it added another layer to the story. On one level there is the simple tale of a girl trying to save her sister using a shamanistic ritual. However, by the end of the film, the viewer is aware III isn't just a tale of two sisters. Clues are given to the audience throughout yet, somehow, they're almost unobtrusive - the clues blend with what is happening as the story progresses, and what is said by the characters. The reveal at the end is arguably the true horror of this piece. Without doubt III belongs in the horror genre, but it's creepy and unsettling rather than full of blood, guts and gore. The viewer is shown grotesque body horror and disease, as the result of fear upon both the psyche, and the physical body. Then, in the final scene, we're shown a different aspect to all of these terrors.

Performances are solid, honest and the characters portrayed believable. No single performance blew me away, but they all did more than enough to keep me focused and involved in the story. More work on the sister's relationship before their mother died might have engaged more emotion from this viewer, but it was a small lack rather than an overwhelming one.

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey Pavel Khvaleev and his crew took me on. I found their work to be gripping. I felt III was quite an unusual art house film because the narrative was linear, with a beginning, middle and end. As a first film, this is terrific and I look forward to seeing what Khvaleev and his crew do next. I highly recommend seeing III. Film making of this stature is to be encouraged and deserves support.