The Ritual

On the first day of their hike, Dom twists his knee and Phil’s feet become covered in blisters. They are too uncomfortable to enjoy the scenery far from cities and people.

Halfway through the second day, Hutch tells everyone to take a break and internally becomes angry at his two injured friends for setting an uncomfortably slow pace. Luke and Hutch step aside, look at the map, and discuss how their friends aren’t physically fit enough to continue along the planned route. Hutch convinces Luke to not voice his anger at their friends and vaguely hints that Dom and Phil are having problems at home.

Hutch points out an alternate route heading through virgin forest toward a river and tourist huts in Skaite. Luke is hesitant about leaving marked trails, but Hutch assures him they are only traveling briefly through a narrow band of untouched forest.

After seeing the mutilated creature hung in the trees, the men run through the forest. When they stop in a clearing, Luke gives Hutch a cigarette and hypothesizes that a hunter or bear could have killed and suspended the animal. Dom swears at Hutch, condemning the shortcut. Hutch assures him that they will be out of the forest soon. They joke about meeting “Swedish beauties” (13) at the river.

The men don’t find the river, and Hutch thinks about how they are lost. They had to travel where the forest was thinnest, and this took them in the wrong direction. Hutch considers backtracking, but doesn’t want to pass by the dead animal in the tree again. He encourages the others to keep going toward the river. Dom complains about his knee pain.

The four men are led further in the wrong direction by the obstacles in the forest. Internally, Hutch is concerned because he can’t find a clearing to pitch their tents. Eventually, the men find a trail leading to a house. Since they are wet from the constant rain, they decide to go inside.

Luke doesn’t want to go into the house, but Phil says he’s not sleeping outside. Hutch notices the chimney on the house and agrees with Phil about going inside to get warm. Dom insists he can’t walk further on his bad knee.

Luke is angry at Phil and Dom for being so out of shape. Hutch calms down Luke. Luke and Dom trade insults, and Hutch intervenes again to calm them down. Luke thinks back on when the four of them planned the trip at Hutch’s wedding six months ago, as well as how they’ve grown apart during the 15 years that they have been friends.

Pausing outside the house, Luke feels like there is something wrong with it. He hears a crash in the woods and asks Hutch if he hears it too. Hutch only hears thunder. Dom comments on the evil Christian paraphernalia in the house as Luke enters.

Luke sees skulls, crosses, and mice in the house. Hutch finds tools in another room. Dom sits on a stool and asks Hutch to help him with his shoes and give him a painkiller for his knee. Luke asks the other men about the crash in the woods, and Dom thinks Luke is joking. Hutch works on getting the stove open with his knife, and Luke thinks about how Phil lost his knife on the first day of their hike. Phil goes upstairs while commenting on how the crosses are creepy.

Phil comes running back downstairs and says there is something upstairs in a bed. Hutch tells Luke to get out his knife so they can investigate. Dom and Phil go out on the porch. Phil says the thing in the bed was black and sitting up. Hutch says they can’t go back out in the thunder and lightning, and Luke says Hutch should lead the ways upstairs.

Luke follows Hutch upstairs while thinking about how they shouldn’t be in the house. Hutch sees something and says it is all wrong. Luke reluctantly looks inside the attic where Hutch is looking.

A dark figure sits in a wooden casket. It has horns, hooves, and hands. Hutch notices animal bones all around the casket, as well as runes carved into the roof. Then, he slowly walks toward the casket and says the creature is a stuffed goat with human hands stitched onto it. When Hutch starts to talk about caskets that double as benches when their lids are on, Dom starts calling for him downstairs. Before they leave the attic, Hutch takes a picture of the goat.

The men eat and drink Jack Daniels. Phil applies antiseptic to his feet and Dom props up his knee on Hutch’s rucksack. They feed the fire with furniture and crosses. Above the fire, on a tent rope, they suspend their wet things to dry. Dom takes the crucifixes they haven’t burned and skulls off the walls. Luke thinks about how Dom hasn’t mentioned his wife, Gayle, during their trip and how he drinks heavily. Then, Luke thinks about Phil’s wife, Michelle, who has psychological problems. Both Dom and Phil have children and well-paying jobs. Luke doesn’t make much money, and recalls sleeping with Michelle before she and Phil got together.

Hutch is physically active and the most well-prepared for the trip. However, Luke notices that Hutch is troubled despite projecting good spirits for the others. As the men joke about the horrors they’ve seen to lighten the mood, Luke feels affection for his friends again. Luke voices his concerns about the forest being darker than others he has visited. Hutch, who is well-traveled, agrees that this forest is unique. Phil urinates in the side room with the tools, and Dom urinates in the same place after Phil, which upsets Luke.

Dom falls asleep quickly, and Phil appears to be sleeping. Hutch admits to Luke that he isn’t sure what to do. Luke wonders if the goat figure is a representation of the creature that mutilated and suspended the animal in the tree. Phil mentions he can hear Luke. Hutch says that they are losing touch with reality in the forest. Luke says he’s decided he never wants a cabin in the woods. Hutch tells Luke to get some sleep.

Luke dreams of being suspended by sticks. A horned creature approaches, and Luke closes his eyes in the dream. He can hear the creature growl and yip. Luke screams. He can feel the gross breath of the creature around him. When Luke wakes up, the other men aren’t in their sleeping bags next to him. He hears someone crying upstairs.

Hutch dreams of a horned creature, cries, and urinates on himself while sleepwalking. Luke finds Hutch in the attic, kneeling before the stuffed goat with human hands, and wakes him up. The two men look for their friends.

Luke and Hutch find Dom outside in his underwear, kneeling and crying while asleep. When Hutch wakes up Dom, he says that the creature is going to put them in the trees.

The men find Phil in the larder, naked and covered in urine. His arms are raised. Hutch wakes up Phil, who whimpers. Dom covers Phil with a coat and Phil sobs. Hutch says they need to leave the house. It is early in the morning.