Ritual

[Filmin] A thriller that goes through several stages, not all of them successfully. At the beginning, it builds a dark plot about the discovery of a severed hand in a Brussels canal that is disturbing and mysterious. As the story unfolds, the references to the colonization of the Congo and the permanence of psychological wounds in the new generations become clear, which provides an interesting background. But the more it focuses on this aspect, the more it loses its conception of a dark thriller, and ends up being predictable and repetitive, with a hasty and disappointing ending.

The pace is extremely slow, and the story develops in a confusing way, prioritizing investigative dialogues over scenes that really drive the plot forward or lead to a clearer development. The feeling is that the plot has no apex or meaningful progression, giving the impression that it goes round in circles without leaving the place. In addition, the long running time makes the movie tiring and uninvolving.