The Ritual: Al Pacino, Dan Stevens exorcism film unveils a teaser poster

Al Pacino has played the Devil before (in the 1997 film The Devil’s Advocate), and earlier this year we learned that he would be playing an enemy of the Devil in the exorcism horror film The Ritual. Taking on the role of a troubled priest, Pacino stars in the film alongside Dan Stevens of Abigail and Godzilla x Kong, who also plays a troubled priest. We’ll get to see how well this troubled duo fares against Satan when XYZ Films gives The Ritual a theatrical release on April 18th, 2025 – and with that date just four months away, a teaser poster for The Ritual has been unveiled. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.

Based on a true story, The Ritual will center on two priests — one questioning his faith (Stevens) and one reckoning with a troubled past (Pacino) — who must put aside their differences to save a possessed young woman through a difficult and dangerous series of exorcisms. The film is an authentic portrayal of Emma Schmidt, an American woman whose demonic possession culminated in harrowing exorcisms. Her case remains the most thoroughly documented exorcism in American history. Wikipedia confirms that Emma Schmidt (March 23, 1882 – July 23, 1941) was “an American woman whose alleged demonic possession and exorcism occurred over several decades, culminating in an extensive exorcism that lasted from August 18 to December 23, 1928, in Earling, Iowa. Ecklund was said to have exhibited symptoms akin to possession beginning at age fourteen, and was forty-six years old during her final exorcism by Father Theophilus Riesinger, a Roman Catholic priest.” So, sure, we’ve seen exorcism movies before, but the exorcisms don’t usually last as long as the one in the Emma Schmidt case.

Ashley Greene (Twilight) and Abigail Cowen (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) join Pacino and Stevens in the cast.

David Midell directed the film from a screenplay he wrote with Enrico Natale. He previously directed the 2014 drama NightLights and the 2019 thriller The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain. Natale is producing The Ritual with Andrew Stevens and Mitchell Welch.

Are you looking forward to The Ritual? Check out the teaser poster, then let us know by leaving a comment below.